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Microadventures in the Swiss Alps

This article is a short introduction to microadventures and shows a few images of my latest microadventures in the Swiss Alps.

Summer 2019.

• What is a microadventure?
  How to live your dreams, go wild and be back in the office in 24 hours
• Example: My latest microsadventures in the Swiss Alps
  • Preparation
    • Waxing clothes
    • Crazy waxing knife and saving the world
    • Packing
  • Going Wild and Crazy
• Conclusion – shall you try it?

 

What is a microadventure?

A microadventure is an adventure that is short, simple, local, cheap – yet still fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing and rewarding.

Source: Alastair Humphreys

 

There is no common definition for a microadventure. Typical examples would be to spend a night out in the wild, on a mountain, in the wood; or doing a long hike to work overnight – it always must be fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing and rewarding (see Alastair Humphreys). A microadventure is something unusual, going wild and crazy. It takes only a very limited time, usually one day or one night.

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Example: My latest microadventure in the Swiss Alps

Step 1: Preparation

My latest microadventure started even before going outdoors by preparing my equipment – I crazy waxed my 22 years old Opinel No. 8 pocket knife – and I saved the world with it. And of course my outdoor clothing. Let me explain.

Excited anticipation

 

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Since I prefer natural and sustainable materials based on wood and cotton to modern synthetic materials, a lot of my outdoor equipment and clothing is made of wood and cotton (or at least of a mixture of cotton and nylon – for example my beloved Fjallraven Sten jacket and Fjallraven Karl Pro trousers). To make the fabrics water-repellent, wind-proof and mosquito-safe I use my own mixture of beeswax and paraffin (having an extra low melting point) – it is similar to Fjallraven’s Greenland Wax, but contains more beeswax than the original Fjallraven Greenland Wax.

So I thought, why not waxing my old Opinel No. 8 knife as well, to make it’s blade open and close smoothly and have the wooden grip water-repellent?

Crazy waxing my Opinel knife

After carefully melting my beeswax-paraffin mixture (1 part beeswax : 9 parts paraffin) I dunked my wooden old Opinel No. 8 knife into the liquid beeswax-paraffin for a couple of minutes, opening and closing the blade again and again; I even dunked the wooden grip – and finally took it out and let it cool down. As a result the blade opens and closes smoothly again. Even completely wet the wooden grip does no more swell up and block the blade, and beside that the wooden grip is perfectly water-repellent.

Afterwards I casted the remaining beeswax-paraffin into two bars – this is enough for waxing my outdoor clothing several times! Then I started waxing my outdoor jacket and trousers – see this post how to wax G1000 – and finally my Fjallraven G1000 clothes are water-repellent, wind-proof and mosquito-safe – and most important: I had a lot of fun waxing all the stuff – who else waxes his Opinel knife? Crazy!

That’s what I call excited anticipation – even before the microadventure has started.

Now let’s move on with the packing.

Rough packing list

• Rucksack, perhaps some Dry Bags
• Tent, Trekking Poles
• Sleeping Bag, Cotton or Silk Liner, Sleeping Pad
• Cooking: Stove, Dishes, Knife, ‘Spork’
• Foodstuff and extra Foodstuff for 1 additional day
• Clothing, Rainwear, I love my Poncho!
• Toiletries
• Navigation, Electronics (GPS, Map; Phone, Powerbank; Headlamp)
• Camera and Ink, Paper – some of my first single ink drawings see here.

 

Packing all my stuff takes no more than 1 hour, and the total weight of all the equipment does not exceed 16 kg – so it’s still portable and fun to go in difficult terrain as well.

Step 2: Going wild and crazy

Microadventures in the Swiss Alps – some images

Muotathal: Hinterthal – Huerital – Seenalp

Bisisthal: Mettlen – Naegeliberg – Torloch – Torstoeckli

 

Conclusion – shall you try it?

I couldn’t recommend it more! Going for a microadventure will make you happy and takes you back to life again.

 

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Photographs: RICOH GR II, GR Lens f=18.3 mm 1:2.8. .DNG RAW format. Title image: Samsung Galaxy A5.
Edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

 

What do you think?

Please let me know your opinion in the comments field below, and tell me your microadventures. Thank you!

 

 
Photographs: RICOH GR II, GR Lens f=18.3 mm 1:2.8. .DNG RAW format.
Edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

 

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