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From The Desk Of Rebecca Gates: Swiss Walking Paths

More than 10 years have passed since Rebecca Gates put out her solo debut, Ruby Series. The former member of the Spinanes mostly shifted her energy to other projects: coordinating and managing exhibitions for museums, lecturing at arts centers, composing music for dance and film, participating in performance pieces and stylizing photos for magazines. She also did some bookkeeping, retreated to Rhode Island and helped friends build a movie theater. But as time and money allowed, she also popped back into studios to put together her follow-up, The Float (12XU). Gates will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with her.

Gates: The Swiss train and bus system is well known for it’s precision and thoroughness. Less publicized is their extensive network of walking trails, with three levels of difficulty, ranging from grandpa-style walking paths to mountain goat slender trespasses requiring a healthy dose of alpine spidey skills. I waited at a bus stop (a pole dug in next to a one lane road), at the lowest point of an open valley. Exactly on time, a red bus pulled up and I climbed on. My plan was to ride to the top and walk back down, over the crest of the valley, but as I watched various folks get on and off, hats, packs and ski poles in hand, my courage flagged. When we reached the turn around, I asked the driver if he thought my plan was a good one. He looked down at my shoes and said, “The last bus down will be here in three hours.” I found a suitable trail, began walking up and up and up. Had I not been wearing, yes, sadly, clogs, I would’ve been able to hoof it down. My wandering loop was a stunning hike and worth everything my lowland lungs could give. Stay on the easy trails and you can walk in clogs for miles.

Video after the jump.