By Colleen Thomas, Tribune News Service

I’m trekking down the side of a Swiss mountain, and I see my salvation far below in the lush green valley. The structure appears no bigger than a dot, yet it has what I’m craving: a hot meal and a bed.

On foot, it’s still three hours away. I breathe in, filling my lungs with fresh Alpine air, and I put my legs back to work as I exhale, revitalized.

My destination is Rotstockhutte, one of hundreds of hiker huts across the Alps that offer food, rest and respite from the elements amid stunning mountain scenery. Many can be reached only by trail or helicopter. All guarantee a memorable experience for outdoor adventurers.

A view of Rotstockhutte, barely visible from somewhere around 1,000 feet above. (Catherine Petrusz/Tribune News Service/TNS)

I had heard about Switzerland’s legendary hut system, and I was excited to see what the huts were like. Some require expert mountaineering skills to reach, but many can be accessed by hikers with less experience, including children.

But right now my hiking pals — my husband, my brother and his wife — and I have just a few hours of daylight to reach Rotstockhutte.

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Our trek started from the peak of Mount Schilthorn after a cable car from the town of Stechelberg dropped us and our backpacks off at the trailhead (elevation 9,750 feet). After hours of hiking, we still have about 1,000 feet of elevation to lose.

Though I am tired, the colorful wildflowers dancing in the breeze lift me. The small but frequent creek crossings keep me on my toes — literally. We pass through the wire gate to the hut just before dinner is served.

The goal for our visit to Switzerland was to stay in two different huts on separate hikes: Rotstockhutte in the Interlaken region, and Fluhalp in the Zermatt area, which has views of the iconic Matterhorn.

In our research we learned that huts offer varying levels of service, ranging from four-walls-and-a-roof types to large complexes with gift shops and restaurants.

Most require reservations, which typically include dinner and breakfast and a bed that’s either in a small shared room or a large communal sleeping space.

The sleeping room at Rotstockhutte puts you in close quarters with people you don’t know. (Colleen Thomas/Tribune News Service/TNS)

The thought of sleeping next to a stranger who’s hiked all day (and likely hasn’t showered) certainly makes hut life a no-go for some people. But I found my fellow hikers to be respectful of my personal space. Earplugs are a must, however. Guests tend to settle down by 10 p.m., but there’s no way to control anyone’s snoring.

The individually owned Alpine huts have house rules to keep order. Before entering Rotstockhutte, we were required to remove our hiking boots and grab a pair of Crocs from a shelf to wear inside. It was ingenious. So many muddy and dusty boots would make a constant mess.

Alpine huts may have rules such as no hiking boots in the house. One provides Crocs for guests to wear inside. (Colleen Thomas/Tribune News Service/TNS)

The dinner menu at Rotstockhutte was soup and homemade bread, with a piece of pie available for purchase for dessert. At our table were three young women from Germany, who chatted patiently with us as we muddled through what we could recall from high school German classes.

The dining room served as the gathering place, and there was time for conversation. I met Brandon from Washington, D.C., who had been hiking hut-to-hut for 17 days and was still going strong. I talked with another American who was backpacking solo through Europe before starting her postdoc program in the fall.

As the sun slipped behind the mountains, the guests began to settle into their assigned sleeping spaces, all lined up in a very spartan upstairs room. The shared bathroom was separate from the main house and had flush toilets and running water.

Hut “warden” Simon Furrer told me Rotstockhutte was built in 1946 and can hold up to 43 guests. It is often filled to capacity in peak summer months. A helicopter brings supplies weekly, but the milk and cheese served are locally sourced from the cows roaming the mountainside.

Our group stayed two nights, exploring the landscape during the day and bedding down just after dusk. We woke to the pleasant sound of cowbells the morning of our departure, and the four of us hiked two miles to Murren, then took a cable car the rest of the way down to Stechelberg. Next stop: the resort town of Zermatt and then up to Fluhalp hut.

We allowed ourselves one night in a regular hotel between hut experiences. The thick mattresses seemed like a luxury after sleeping on hut beds. Rejuvenated, we set off to find our second hut.

Hikers prepare for the funicular to leave from Zermatt, carrying them to the high-elevation trails. (Colleen Thomas/Tribune News Service/TNS)

Fluhalp can be reached via a long trek up from the valley. We opted for a shorter route, which began with us boarding a funicular at street level in Zermatt. The ride, mostly through a tunnel, brought us to a gondola, which we took to the Blauherd station and also to the start of an easy hike over to the hut.

I have to say that I wasn’t used riding up mountains instead of walking. In fact, it felt like cheating. But that’s part of hiking in Switzerland, and the Swiss take pride in their infrastructure of mountain trains, cable cars and gondolas. It is truly amazing.

From the windows of the gondola we could see the Matterhorn, standing like a gargantuan mottled witch’s hat against the clear sky. I’d seen it in pictures, and now here it was!

A view of the Matterhorn is reflected in Stellisee Lake. (Colleen Thomas/Tribune News Service/TNS)

The hike to Fluhalp took about an hour; we took our time to enjoy the scenery. When we came to Stellisee Lake, a small crowd was gathered at the far end of it. I soon discovered the attraction. The lake’s glassy surface reflected an image of the Matterhorn, allowing for a beautiful photograph.

We could see the Fluhalp hut and headed straight for it. After checking in, we checked out our room. It was little tight for four people and their packs, with two single beds and one bunk bed. But the space was comfy enough, and the view of the Matterhorn from our balcony made up for any annoyances. We waited our turn to use the coin-operated showers in the building.

The Matterhorn could be seen from the gondola going up the mountain. (Jonathan Thomas/Tribune News Service/TNS)

Fluhalp has a dining room that’s warm and inviting. Our room reservation included dinner, and the food was deliciously Swiss and simple. Same with breakfast the next day. No Michelin stars here, but isn’t it true that all food tastes better amid scenic outdoorsy settings?

During hiking season, the Fluhalp can host up to 66 people per night. It sits at 8,500 feet elevation with no nearby water source. Drinking water has to be piped in, so we paid for it by the liter. The hut is near a ski resort, and the restaurant stays open through the winter months, offering specialties like fondue, raclette and rosti.

The Fluhalp’s restaurant offers basics like pasta dishes but also fancier meals like fondue or raclette. (Tribune News Service/Tribune News Service/TNS)

The afternoon of our arrival was a good time to explore the area, and we made it back in time for a pasta dinner. After a full day, we slept very well in our extra-cozy room.

Hiker huts aren’t for everyone, but they are an intriguing option for those who love immersing themselves in the mountains. They allow hikers to connect with the agrarian culture deeply rooted in the Swiss Alps. Since there’s little or no cell service, a stay in a hut feels like a true escape from normal life. Huts also are an economical option, as most stays are priced much lower than at hotels in town.

But perhaps most importantly for our group, they offered a chance to interact with people of all ages and from many countries, sharing an experience that both stretched us and helped us appreciate the creature comforts of our own homes.

The Fluhalp Mountain Hut and Restaurant can hold more than 60 guests per night. (Tribune News Service/Tribune News Service/TNS)

If you go

Rotstockhutte

Phone: +41-33-855-24-64

Info: www.rotstockhuette.ch

The closest city is Murren.

Fluhalp Mountain Hut & Restaurant

Phone: +41 27 967 25 97

Info: www.fluhalp.swiss

The closest city is Zermatt.

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The crime drama “Night Always Comes” attempts to shine a light on the economic disparity in this country.

That’s admirable, but the film from director Benjamin Caron — an adaptation of Willy Vlautin’s novel “The Night Always Comes” debuting this week on Netflix — does so quite inelegantly.

In the film’s first few minutes, the lead character, Vanessa Kirby’s Lynette, drives by the homeless in the streets of Portland, Oregon, as heavy-handed, almost surely fictional news reports drone on about rising costs and frozen wages.

You’d think that maybe she’d eventually change the channel, given that Lynette certainly is feeling the crush of financial strain. Working two jobs, she stands at the precipice of losing the small house in which much of her troubled adolescence took place.

It is now home for her — as well as her older brother, Kenny (Zack Gottsagen, “The Peanut Butter Falcon”), who suffers from developmental disabilities, and her mother, Doreen (Jennifer Jason Leigh, “The Hateful Eight”) — but she does not own it.

With $25,000 from Doreen, Lynette will sign papers giving her the in-need-of-some-love structure, but Mom is a no-show at the meeting with the seller and an attorney. Turns out that instead of going to said meeting, Doreen was enticed by a Mazda sale and used the money as the sizable down payment on a sporty white number.

While Lynette is, understandably, furious, the seemingly obtuse Doreen is unsympathetic toward her daughter and dismissive of anger — an example of the kind of sophomoric storytelling that plagues “Night Always Comes.”

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We are given the impression that Lynette has come a long way from the type of behavior that earlier had landed her in trouble and cost her employment. Nevertheless, she decides she must do whatever she can to acquire the $25K before a rescheduled meeting with the house’s owner first thing in the morning.

She begins by trying to squeeze a loan out of a businessman, Scott (Randall Park, “Fresh Off the Boat”), who sometimes pays her for sex. Instead, he doubles the usual amount he pays her — to $1,000 — as a parting gift. More important, he forgets the key fob to his Mercedes in their hotel room, so she steals it without, it would seem, much of a plan for how to turn it into the money she needs.

Next is a visit to an escort friend, Gloria (Julia Fox, “Uncut Gems”), shacked up in the luxury apartment of a well-to-do individual. Gloria owes her money, but, when she refuses to give Lynette all of it, the latter hatches a plan to steal the safe from which her friend had retrieved some cash.

She recruits the help of a reluctant coworker and ex-con, Cody (Stephan James), who believes he knows where they can take the hefty locked container.

Stephan James as Cody in “Night Always Comes.” (Allyson Riggs/Netflix/TNS)

From here, Lynette becomes increasingly desperate — and, as a result, the narrative grows more and more depressing — our protagonist eventually encountering other unsavory types portrayed by Michael Kelly (“House of Cards”) and Eli Roth (“Inglourious Basterds”).

Penned by Sarah Conradt, “Night Always Comes” eventually fills in some of the blanks regarding Lynette’s tragic and traumatic past, and the character seems to care deeply about Kenny staying out of government-ordered care.

All of that, and given the fact that Kirby (“The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “Pieces of a Woman”) is an extremely talented actor, should lead the viewer to become relatively invested in Lynette. It’s simply tough to get there, though, seeing the choices she makes, even while acknowledging the circumstances.

The strongest performance is turned in by James (“Race,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”), who comes the closest to tapping into something that is convincingly emotional. If we struggle to muster empathy for Lynette, we do dig up some, if not a ton, for Cody.

With several episodes of “The Crown” to his credit, as well as a few installments of the excellent “Star Wars” series “Andor,” Caron’s previous film was the predictable 2023 con drama “Sharper.” Disappointingly, “Night Always Comes” is a step down from that, the director never succeeding in the admittedly tall task of finding a way to make a story like this one engrossing.

Ultimately, if “Night Always Comes” has a message, it’s perhaps that for many facing economic uncertainties, things are hopeless.

True as that may be, we’d hoped for something more.

‘Night Always Comes’

Where: Netflix.

When: Aug. 15.

Rated: R for language throughout, some sexual content, drug content and violence.

Runtime: 1 hour, 48 minutes.

Stars (of four): 1.5.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — An unidentified flying object crashed into a cornfield and exploded in eastern Poland early Wednesday, the country’s news agency PAP reported.

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Local police said they received reports of the crash around 2 a.m. and found burned metal and plastic debris at the scene, near the village of Osiny. As a result of the explosion, windows were broken in some houses but nobody was injured, PAP reported.

Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command said Wednesday on social media that no violations of Polish airspace from neighboring Ukraine or Belarus were recorded overnight.

Officials initially said the explosion may have been caused by a part of an old engine with a propeller.

Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz later said the object was most likely a drone, adding that an analysis was underway to determine whether it was a military or smuggling one, PAP reported.

Lublin District Prosecutor Grzegorz Trusiewicz told reporters several investigators — both civilian and military — were examining the crash site.

“We have a lot of manpower, we have the army to help us. I hope that we will be able to finish the operation by the evening,” Trusiewicz said.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, there have been a number of intrusions into Polish airspace, raising alarm in the European Union and NATO member state and reminding people how close the war is.

By Linda Gassenheimer, Tribune News Service

For a quick and easy barbecue-style dinner, I prepared these flavorful pork kabobs under the broiler instead of on the grill. They cook in just minutes but still deliver that deliciously charred taste.

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A simple sauce made from honey, mustard, and soy sauce adds a perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavors. It’s used both to glaze the pork and as a dipping sauce on the side. To round out this easy summer meal, I paired the kabobs with corn on the cob, quickly cooked in the microwave for a no-fuss finish.

HELPFUL HINTS:

Any type of mustard can be used.

Worcestershire sauce can be used instead of soy sauce.

COUNTDOWN:

Assemble ingredients.

Microwave corn and place on plates.

Make the kabobs.

SHOPPING LIST:

To buy: 2 ears corn on the cob, 1 small bottle honey, 1 small jar Dijon mustard, 1 small bottle reduced salt soy sauce, 3/4 pound pork tenderloin, 1 large red bell pepper and 1 can olive oil spray.

Staples: butter

Sweet and Tangy Pork Kabobs with Corn on the Cob

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

2 ears corn on the cob

1 tablespoon butter

olive oil spay

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon reduced salt soy sauce

3/4 pound pork tenderloin, cut not 1-inch cubes

1 red bell pepper cut into 2-inch pieces

2 skewers

Husk the corn and wrap each one in plastic wrap. Microwave corn on high for 5 minutes. Remove from microwave oven and set aside. They will be hot. Use tongs or a large spoon and fork. Remove the plastic wrap from the corn and place one on each plate. Spread the butter over the corn.

Preheat broiler. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray with olive oil spray. Combine mustard, honey and soy sauce in a bowl. Divide the mixture, pouring half into 2 small bowls or ramekins to be used as a dipping sauce. Coat pork kabobs with the remaining sauce by dipping the cubes into mixture. Wash, seed and cut red pepper into 2-inch pieces. Thread pork on skewers alternating with red pepper. Place skewers on the sheet pan and place in the boiler about 6 inches from the heat. Broil 3 minutes. Turn skewers over and broil 2 minutes. A meat thermometer should read 145 degrees. Place on two dinner plates and serve with the dipping sauce.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 497 calories (25 percent from fat), 13.8 g fat (5.2 g saturated, 5.3 g monounsaturated), 124 mg cholesterol, 40.9 g protein, 57.2 g carbohydrates, 4.6 g fiber, 754 mg sodium.

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC