Yesterday, Monday, I decided to take my chances with an uncertain weather forecast, and to walk from Rheinfelden to Stein (Aargau). The route is entirely along the banks of the Rhine, and is never far from a town or village, so what could go wrong?
With that in mind, I took the train from cloudy Basel to Rheinfelden. The first drops of rain started to fall just as I left the station in Rheinfelden. But I was not turning back. I went on through the little town to Marktgasse. Turning east, I went on to the Parkhotel, where a public pathway through the grounds brought me to the riverbank and the Rheinweg. The pathway stays among trees all the way to the Wasserkraftwek Rheinfelden power station. A dam across the Rhine there generates electricity. But I was all powered up anyway, in spite of the rain which had now settled into a steady drizzle. Others too were not deterred by the rain, and there were plenty of walkers and runners about.
Upstream of the power station, the route follows the bank as the river makes a small loop. Because the river has to go around some high ground, the route is not flat, but goes up and down with the contours of the rocky outcrops on the riverbank. And then I came to the second power station: Kraftwerk Rybog-Schwoerstadt. After that, the trail levels out somewhat, going through nature reserves, fields, and some more woodland before emerging into the little village of Wallbach. It was at this point that the rain eased off. It was not as if the sun came out; no, it was still cloudy and damp, but at least there was no more rain
At this point, the route left the woods, and was on the edge of suburbia. It continued through Mumpf, and after a short while the high road bridge linking Stein to Bad Saeckingen came into view. Just past the bridge, I could see the island of Fridolins Insel in the middle of the river. It is one of those curious anomalies that exist sometimes at international boundaries, belonging to both the German community of Bad Saeckingen and the Swiss community of Stein. At just 125m long and 40m wide, both countries had the good sense not to fight over it. And just beyond it was the final point of my riverside journey: the wooden bridge at Stein. This has been a crossing point on the Rhine for hundreds of years, and the wooden bridge here is reputed to be the longest in Europe.
After that, I left the river, making the short walk to the railway station in Stein, and the train home. In Basel, it had not rained at all during the day.
There is an attitude that says that there is no such thing as bad weather, only being badly prepared for the weather. This attitude is essential for the walker. If you have planned to do a walk, and you are determined to do it, then within the limits of safety, you should not let the weather stop you. And a day of mild Swiss drizzle should not stop anyone, as the runners and other walkers also seemed to think.
And now the distance walked: 30,000 steps.
Walkingman 