Today we are going up
the Furca Pass, at 2436 meters, the highest one in Switzerland. We were ready
and began our drive. As we approached the beginning of the Furca Pass we
happened to pass Urs on his electric bicycle. We tooted and waved and Urs waved
back enthusiastically. In my eyes Urs would be the hero of the day. After all,
it was the Furca Pass and to get over it on an electric bicycle was going to be
no mean feat! Driving with the inimitable plug hunter himself I knew that
should it be necessary to plug in somewhere he would find one without any
trouble. We continued on and eventually reached a point where we needed to plug
in and as expected the plug hunter hunteth and the plug hunter pluggeth! Lo and
behold there was THE spot and we could stop and plug in for some battery juice
insuring our safe and continued passage over the pass. Gordon climbed out of
the Tapir, hauled out a cable, walked over to the steel hut on stilts, climbed
the few steps and attempted to climb onto the thin railing in order to reach
the targeted plug. This was not working too well for the railing wobbled
dangerously. As Gordon climbed back down Urs appeared on his e-bicycle, got off
and began to shove his bike behind the steel hut on stilts. Odd! Two minutes
later a police car drove by, passed us all and continued upwards a short
distance. They stepped out and proceeded to watch us all. Gordon asked Urs who
has a wiry build that would enable him to perform such an acrobatic feat, if he
might try climbing up to plug us in and so he did and succeeded. Once he
climbed down he told us of his plight. All that we understood was that the
police were not going to allow him to continue over the Furca Pass. I couldn’t believe it since, as he told us this two
cyclist came barreling down towards us from the opposite direction. What the
frack was going on? I took a few photographs and when I turned around the
police were there, talking to Urs and shooing us away. Ms. Cop came to me and
said that if we needed help we could use the orange pillar like thing to call.
This orange thing had a fence around it and so I replied that I had no idea
that that thing was used to call for help and that we did not need any help we
just needed to plug in, pure and simple. She showed me that it was open on one
side and again I claimed innocence and she believed me. Mr. Cop, in the
meantime, continued to talk to Urs who eventually called Louis in desperation.
They were going to arrest him, as it turned, for “stealing” electricity.
Pfffffffffff, how much might that have cost, 10 cents? Maybe and for that he
was to be arrested? Insane!!!!! They were also upset that Urs had photographed
them so in my urge to take more photos I made a point in asking if they minded
if I took some shots. Since I had gotten Ms. Cop to laugh, I was free to do
what I wanted. The police were now on the phone with Louis who was able to
convince them that Urs was kosher and all was good. They finally let him go and
on we all continued up the infamous Furca Pass.
We lost sight of Urs
as we climbed and about halfway we stopped to take some pictures. The view was
staggeringly beautiful. Some of the peaks were covered in snow while other
baked brown in the sun. One view offered a rippling, almost like water frozen
in time, stretch of mountaintops that shone blue in the sunlight. Clouds
overhead moved in an almost deliberate manner until one cloud appeared that
looked like an animal running headlong, leaning into a turn, as it raced across
the sky. I was witness to the Glaciator desperately trying to keep those peaks
covered in snow, battling against the change in climate that we humans had
caused.
A few more pics were
taken and we climbed back into the buggy and headed off for the top of the
Furca Pass. Once we arrived we were met again by an astounding view and a group
of soldiers having ice cream! They immediately glommed onto the Tapir asking
questions and mumbling to each pointed at our front tires. There was quite a
bit of hmmming and uh huhing when they announced that if we were to be stopped
by the police and they happen to notice the condition of our front tires we
would not be allowed to continue. You see, the front tires, suffering an
orthopedic condition, were some what pigeon toed and stood more on the inside
of the tire then just flat on the ground. Due to those facts the inside of both
tires were now, basically, bald while the outside had serious tread. We thanked
them for their advice, talked about their socks, which anyone who was at EMPA
last year will understand and off we drove. The decision was made to get our
hands on “new” front tires ASAP!
