The ridge

Not being on the ridge means taking no risk – so there will be no fun.

The ridge. Lägern (Switzerland). 3.5 hours photo hike towards the Sun. May 15, 2021.

[Click the images for full size.]

Near Burghorn.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Towards the early morning sun.

View back.

I started early in the morning at 7:30 a.m.. At 8:30 a.m. I reached the Lägern ridge at Burghorn. Then I followed the ridge towards the early morning sun, i.e. to the East for about 1 hour until Hochwacht. I was back at 11:00 a.m..

---

The enemy comes after midnight

Here’s a story my dad told me when I was a small boy. The story reminds me of ‘Beverly Hills Cop episode 1, 2, 3, 4, and later …’ – it happened during my dads time in the Swiss Army. It’s about a manoeuvre of my dads troops, some kind of ‘war-gaming’, fortunately not real and not in WW1 or WW2 or in any other political conflict – as you probably know, Switzerland was not actively involved in WW1 and WW2. And exactly this is why I am not so sure if I am allowed to tell this story – it’s about a war-game … Today I seriously doubt if ‘war-gaming’ is really fun – far too many horrific things have happened in wars, and unfortunately they still continue today.

I apologize for telling this story anyway, it’s full of bitter irony.

There is a mandatory military service in the Swiss Army for all able-bodied male citizens, who are conscripted when they reach the age of majority, though women may volunteer for any position. Conscripts make up the majority of the manpower in the Swiss Armed Forces. (Source Wikipedia, see here).

During one of the Swiss Army’s manoeuvres (I dare to call them ‘war-games’, in my opinion they are in between playing ‘cops and robbers’ and ‘hide and seek’ 😉 ) my dads troops were stationed on the Hochwacht on the Lägern ridge, right where I stopped by there too this morning.

“The enemy came by bicycle, fast and silently; right after midnight.” – my dad said, and by ‘enemy’ he meant the opposing party, Swiss troops as well – were they the ‘cops’ or the ‘robbers’? – “I was in the security office at this time.”
“What happened then?” – I asked.
“Well, they caught me. I had no chance.”
“And then?”
“Nothing happened. They let me go again, I was as free as before, because the manoeuvre was over.”

Well – this is part of Switzerland.

When I was a small boy, playing ‘cops and robbers’ and ‘hide and seek’ made me smile. Years later, when I was nineteen I was conscripted as well, and one year later I joined the friendliest army in the world.

---

Home
Thank you for reading.
You can sign up for my newsletter here.