Fast water below! My first sight of the Alpenrhein, the upper Rhine where it drops out of the mountains. Waiting for my friends with the kayaks. We begin in the morning!
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Dragging the boats down a dike to the Old Rhine for the final 11 or so kilometers to Lake Constance.
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Launching from our night on the shore of Lake Constance.
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I don't know how it happened. I was riding (around canton Schaffhausen) and the derailleur seized up and I fell over forward. I think it got bent during my "bike-whacking" expedition through the bushes and vines. Notice the broken bits near where the wheel should attach.
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At the tip of the "iron finger" where a sliver of Switzerland juts into Germany. This is by far the oldest border stone I've seen: 1717. Note the three lines indicating three states coming together - long before there was a Germany.
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The Jungschar Aadorf Camp group from Weingarten visiting the Landskron Castle on the French-Swiss border.
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A particularly wet spot.
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A lax border control.
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The "menu" lunch in Roche d'Or was a spectacular feast of cabbage, potatoes, sausages and ham. More than three tired, hungry and cold bikers could eat.
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Early fog in the Doubs valley during our climb over the divide between the ends of the great bend.
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Gérard Cattin, the secretary general of the Association for the Parc Natural Régional du Doubs, with whom I visited over a trout lunch in Goumois.
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The trail on the Swiss side of the Doubs offered hundreds of hanging sections with cliffs above and below.
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Good fun in the snow. Wish you were here!
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When Jay asked David Barney (to my left) at Cern (European Laboratory for Particle Physics) what he hoped to learn from his current experiment, he replied "Life, the universe, and everything."
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End of the bike journey! On the shore of Lake Geneva, at the beautiful little town of Hermance, complete with a medieval castle.
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Transferring everything back info a boat for the final leg this year.
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The Montreux tower, love it or hate it, dominates the skyline as the sun makes inroads on burning off the clouds.
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Pulling in to St-Gingolph, the start and the end of this year's border journey.
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Extreme changes in weather and bike trouble along the border.
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John Harlin, swissinfo.ch
John Harlin experienced it all during the second stage of his Swiss odyssey.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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Using the latest technology including GPS and Google Maps as well as integrating Facebook and Twitter, swissinfo.ch is providing Harlin with a digital diary to tell the story of his journey along the rivers and ridges that form the frontier. Stage two of the adventure begins at a point on the Rhine River where Lilliputian…
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After Dad’s death in 1966, the family moved to the United States, where my mother became a botany professor. During my teenage years I spent as much time as possible in the wilderness, including several month-long hiking and kayaking trips to the North Slope of Alaska. Following my graduation from the University of California at…
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And what about those mountains: Can I possibly climb them all in one summer? Border Stories layers a challenging physical adventure over an exploration of the history, culture, and environment of one of the most fascinating places on earth: Switzerland. I’ve been enthralled with Switzerland ever since I moved there from Germany at the age…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.