We wandered north
up the east side of the river and then cross over back to the train
station and the Landesmuseum, Switzerland’s National Museum. It is
an ancient castle with a new wing added several years ago that is
ultra modern in contrast. The plaza in the center is the site of
summer concerts with its modern sculptures juxtaposed among century
old facades, turrets, and towers. One mirror covered sculpture
rotates and reflects the towers.
We then headed back
into the station in search of a gelato stand. No luck. To the
discount market we found last night to pick up cheese, bread, and
more wine (the prices were great and who knows what we will find in
Murren!) But….no gelato. :(
We swing by the
hotel and ask and are directed to restaurants down the street. No
luck. We finally find a small cafe where we can order ice cream
inside and do so. We will find a gelato stand somewhere later! This
is lunch and it is already 1:30!!
A relaxing rest of
the afternoon spent in the room or down in the breakfast room
reading, puzzling, etc. Dinner of meat stick, cheese, apples, and
bread. And wine, of course! Gourmet feast of the highest order!
And….we spent a total of $22 francs on food today, most of which
will last another meal! Bargains!!
(Sorry about these pictures jumping all over the page!)
FRIDAY, August 31
Traveling by
Train to the Berner-Oberland!
Zurich to Bern to
Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen to Murren
Train - Train - Train - Train - Tram -Train!
Oh! Our ‘wake-up’
call is at it again this morning, promptly at 6:30am as the loading
dock below us rings with the sound of breakfast delivery! That’s
ok….we have places to go today!
We are down eating
breakfast by 7:30, checked out, and at the rail station in time to
board the 8:32 train to Bern. The station is busy this time of
morning, but we manage to follow the signs and find our Gate 31 and
the right train! We could have gone the longer, more scenic route
through Lucerne, but the forecasted rain and clouds have arrived, and
we decided to opt for speed since everything might appear white
anyway!
The car is not full,
but most are already on with singles occupying most of the 4-some
seats on either side. But one young man nicely got up and said “I’ll
move to the other side, so you both can sit here!” We appreciated
his efforts! (I watched him work on school studies after that!)
I didn’t take a
lot of pictures between Zurich and Bern. The area is green,
agricultural, and industrial. Lots of factories, a nuclear power
plant, farms, cornfields, and graffiti everywhere train related! It
appears to be fairly well accepted. One roof was even covered with colorful figures and letters! The
train moved quickly so it was hard to take in-focus pictures! And
then the raindrops on the windows blurred things even more! The trip
to Bern, a distance of about 60 miles, took just about an hour.
 |
| Out of focus graffiti on an underpass. |
We switched to
another train in Bern that would take us to Interlaken, located
between two lakes that have very long names that I can’t pronounce!
Less crowded, and we had a newspaper from Basel to read. I did the
easy Soduko in it, because you don’t have to read the language to
do a number puzzle! The crossword was another story! I enjoyed
looking at the different picture images for the Horoscope and
figuring out the Swiss words for each sign.
 |
| Rick takes a moment to "read" the news! |
 |
| A brief sample of Swiss Horoscopes! |
 |
Village and steeple along Lake Thun as we near Interlaken.
(Ok Thun isn't a very long name, but the Swiss version was MUCH longer!) |
Once we arrived in
Interlaken Ost, everyone got off the train! End of the line. On to
a smaller local train that would take us through a narrow cleft in
the mountains (which we could barely see) and up to Lauterbrunnen.
The valley is beautiful with classic Swiss design homes and window
gardens overflowing with colorful flowers.
 |
| Small train station enroute to Lauterbrunnen. |
 |
| Houses and chalets on the hillsides. |
We wind up the
canyon along a raging turquoise white river, passing some military
installations carved into the rock walls of the mountains. Green
fields, cows, and quaint little houses.
 |
| Our railline to Lauterbrunnen winds up this notch in the rock cliffs. |
 |
| Disregard the window reflections! The massive rock wall that borders this canyon is awesome. |
 |
| Military installments are seen in several places along the line to Lauterbrunnen. |
 |
| Classical Swiss chalet on a green hillside. |
Once in
Lauterbrunnen, we switch to a tram that will lift us UP the hillside
to another village about 2000’ higher. The tram holds 100 people,
but it isn’t that full – maybe 30 riders. Few seats, most folks
have to stand. We could see an old funicular track below us, well
grown over.
 |
| The city of Lauterbrunnen below as we take the tram up the steep hillside. |
Then ANOTHER
train along the edge of the bench to Murren!! An exciting morning of
travel it has been. We debark and put on our raincoats as we finally
have to actually walk OUT in the rain to get to our hotel.
It
is a short walk of maybe 200 yard to reach Hotel Edelweiss. We are
warmly welcomed and glad to hear that our room is ready, even though
we are a good two hours before check in time! We have a mountainside
room with a balcony that overlooks the Lauterbrunnen Valley. But
upon arrival I take a picture of our totally WHITE view!!
Occasionally as the day wears on we get peaks of the rock wall across
the valley, but never a peek of the 13,000’ peaks towering behind
and above that wall.
 |
| First look of our room at Hotel Edelweiss. |
 |
I took this picture of our bathroom just for Andi Conklin!
Look, a rubber ducky! |
 |
| Our initial view out the window .... pretty white! |
 |
| Brief time later, we at least can see that a mountain exists just across the valley. |
We
spend the next couple of hours wandering the town of Murren, checking
out shops and restaurants, admiring buildings and flowers. Found
a Swiss cowbell ornament in one shop to purchase.
We stop at the local grocery market and pick up some bread for our
dinner tonight (we ate it all last night!) Then back to the hotel
restaurant to grab our mid-day bowl of ice cream.
 |
| A rainy walk down the streets of Murren. |
 |
| ...but the buildings and flowers are incredible. |
 |
| Just another flower 'box' in front of a shop. |
 |
| More flower boxes along a wall. |
 |
| And this triangular flower and veggie garden by another chalet. |
 |
| This funicular goes up about 1000' in 4 minutes to another small village. |
Rick
takes a rest while I unload pictures, label, and edit. Throw out
about a third because they are out of focus from the train or tram!
We take time to read up on
possible adventures, allowing for the weather! Then another exotic
dinner of gouda cheese, beef stick, excellent bread (with every seed
know to man on it!) and wine! Oh...must have your fruit – a
handful of dried peaches, apples, and plums!
 |
| A clearing of the clouds around dinner reveals the village of Stechelberg over 1500' below us. |
 |
| Stechelberg and upper Lauterbrunnen Valley - there are 12,000' peaks in the distance! |
I left briefly after dinner to find the Edelweiss flower again - photo op!! You can't stayed at the Hotel Edelweiss without a picture of the namesake flower! (In actuality, I don't think this Sound of Music celebrated Swiss flower is all that 'pretty' - unusual perhaps, but not beautiful! The colors are just a little drab!)
 |
| Edelweiss |
The
forecast for tomorrow is forbiding….100% chance of rain and
potential half inch until 5pm. We may take the train and tram back
down to Lauterbrunnen in the afternoon and hope it clears enough to
rent some bikes for a ride along the river to see the waterfalls that
tumble off the walls of this valley. In the meantime….a very
relaxing evening!
Saturday,
September 1:
Exploring
Gimmelwald and Lauterbrunnen
We slept WARM last night. I’m not
sure I’m a huge fan of these duvets...fluffy blankets enclosed in a
sheet case. Our blankets here are down – sorta like sleeping in a
down bag inside a room. We had the window open, but not much because
there are no screens. I shall ask for regular sheets tonight that we
can blanket with, and then the comforter for extra if needed.
 |
| Morning view off the balcony! |
A good breakfast spread here at
Edelweiss – muesli, fruit, granolas, and yogurts; hardboiled eggs;
a great selection of breads and spreads – jams, nutella, peanut
butter, etc. A cappachino machine for coffee – it took Rick and I
a few tries to figure out when all we really wanted was straight
coffee! Our goal is to eat hearty during our free breakfasts and
then lightly the rest of the day (when we have to pay for it!)
 |
| There's hope! Mountains! |
The view across the valley when I
arise is solid white – no, I take that back! I can see a tiny
little sliver of mountain top to the north. But...wait a bit and
the clouds keep moving
around and more is visible!
 |
| Tripods and trees to prevent avalanches. |
 |
| Leaving Murren, colorful homes. |
We decided to not let the day be a
wash! We put on clothing we didn’t care if it got wet and headed
out on the path down to Gimmelwald, ready to test the power of our
new raincoats! We drop down the paved trail the 20 minute walk to
this quintessential Swiss village of 120 year round residents, noting
several interpretive signs explaining how the valley is making
efforts to prevent devastating avalanches on these steep slopes. One
method is to erect wooden tripods and then plant trees – as the wood rots, the trees grow and provide a line that slows the snow down. The threat of avalanches is what the Gimmelwald residents used to keep their village local and tourism at a minimum. M
ürren is much more commercial. I
enjoyed the flowers, the local vegetables gardens, gnome villages set
within the green, the cow bells, goats, and the beautiful hillsides
of deep green. We saw the schoolhouse noted on Rick Steeve’s
travel shows, as well as the BandB operated by the former school
teachers.
 |
| Thick moss covered stone walls line the path to Gimmelwald. |
 |
| Naturally, the canyon is laced with streams....everywhere! |
 |
| Approaching Gimmelwald |
 |
| Rick follows the trail part of the path into town. |
 |
| We cut down a series of steps to enter Gimmelwald. |
 |
| One of the first houses as you enter the village. |
 |
| One of the houses had gnomes watching over. |
 |
| Probably one of the prettiest public drinking fountains I've ever seen! |
 |
| Looking back up the hillside from the middle of town. |
 |
| Street scene of Gimmelwald looking up a side valley toward glaciers! |
 |
Murren Falls drops down near
Stechelberg. |
 |
| Glacial waters! |
We took the tram from Gimmelwald on
down to the valley floor at Stechelberg (which I think is the village
I saw the other night during a rare clearing) From here we take to
the valley trail that winds along the Lochbr
ücke
River (glacial fed and raging with milky white waters) The steep
walls of the valley rise above us 2000’ or more on both sides. We
remark that it feels somewhat like Yosemite. Everywhere are
waterfalls pouring over the edges.
 |
| Rock piles! |
In
one spot I glance over to the rocks of the river and see hundreds of
rock piles, not exactly inuks, but merely stacks. I find it
fascinating to see!
We
pass worn wooden shelters, cows (one with a very black face), goats,
and grass greener than any I have seen in a while! There are a
number of walkers along the trail, but no bicycles (not a great day
for biking!)
 |
I looked up high above me and saw these spires rising
among the clouds! |
 |
| Typical views as we wander along the river. |
 |
| My black face cow! |
About
halfway to Lauterbrunnen, we come to a bridge over the river to the
road side of the valley and access to Trümmelbach Falls. We
decided to go explore this natural phenomenon of Lauterbrunnen. The
falls are actually a series of 10 waterfalls hidden within the
mountainside. Twenty-thousand liters of water per second are carving
deep channels and caves within the mountain. We take a lift about
1000’ up to the mid point between the falls. A series of cement
stairs and walkways carry visitors to the topmost waterfall. The
chambers are WET; the volume of water pouring through incredible.
Eventually we hike DOWN to the bottom past the lower falls (including
one called the Corkscrew) and back to the valley floor.
 |
| Heading up the steep incline inside the mountain! |
 |
Rick grabs a picture at an overlook -
you can tell how wet it was! |
 |
| Before we enter the myriad of caves and chambers. |
 |
| Rick explores the rock walls. |
 |
I think this is my favorite picture - with the tints
of blue! |
 |
| Lower section by Corkscrew peeks across the valley. |
We
grab the valley bus down the final couple miles to Lauterbrunnen,
where we explore the town and Stabbach Falls (one of the highest
freefalls in Switzerland at nearly 900’). We pass the town
cemetery, which has to be one of the prettiest I have ever seen, with
each grave bordered off into its own little garden. The flowers were
amazing.
 |
| Outskirts of Lauterbrunnen |
 |
| Steeple of the Lauterbrunnen Church |
 |
| Lauterbrunnen Valley southward |
 |
| Isn't this a beautiful cemetery?? |
 |
| Stabbach Falls |
We
grab a snack at a little cafe – soup and bread. Rick asks what
kinds of soup they have today. Just one kind – Zucchini Cheese.
Is there a choice of breads? Nope, just one! We order! And it is
delicious, but also a little different from other soups we have had.
Later Rick order a tart to share – a buckwheat ginger with
strawberry filling? (We weren’t sure of the last part!) It was
very good!!
 |
We sat outside at the cafe and could see
this waterfall pour out into the valley. |
 |
The bathroom at the cafe
had chalk available, so I left
our mark! |
We
explored a shop or two and I even tried on a shirt, but the European
cut on t-shirts is not MY body cut. I opted not to purchase!
So...after
a walk down the main ‘drag’ of Lauterbrunnen, we got back on the
tram for the ride back up the side of the valley walls.
Our
10 minute train ride after the tram takes us back to Mürren!
And it is STILL raining here! Fortunately, for most of the day the
clouds had cleared at valley level. The ride up the lift took us
right back into the clouds!
We
check the weather for tomorrow, but will make final decisions in the
morning when we see how accurate the forecast is! A good day today….
In spite of the weather!
PS...we
walked over 14,000 steps!
SUNDAY,
September 2
Hiking
the North Face Trail
Mürren,
Switzerland
We
wake up to the BEST sight ever….Snowy peaks casting dark shadows in
the Eastern sky. They were so much closer than I imagined! Right
outside our window – reach out and touch! The moon was also still
visible. Thank you, God! Happy Sunday!
 |
| Our view around 7am this morning. Taken from the balcony. |
 |
| The Breithorn and mountains of the Jungfrau. |
After
much debate and weather checking, we decided to hold to our plan to
hike. The trip to the top of the Schilthorn on the tram would be
awesome and we’ll do it tomorrow regardless of weather. But the
views are nearly as incredible from the trail, and we want to HIKE IN
THE ALPS!! So we are down for breakfast right at 7am (amazed how
crowded the breakfast room is already!) and with full bellies we are
headed for the trailhead shortly after 8 am. We could
take the funicular up to the trail’s end at Allmendhubel and save
about a thousand feet of climbing, but the lift doesn’t open until
9 and we don’t know how much clear sky time we will have! (Which
proved to be a good decision!)
 |
| Crazy lighting over the top of the 'Black Monk' as the sun rises. |
 |
| We follow these signs all the way! |
 |
| We are off on the North Face Trail! |
So
off on another paved trail toward Gimmelwald (only higher up). Rick
was very relieved when the trail turned to dirt. He wasn’t
picturing quit that refined a trail! All in all, the path was wet
and muddy much of the way from the recent rains, plus the cows
walking all over it don’t help much. In that regard we were glad
to be traveling uphill on the slick surface rather than downhill (the
usual route for this well used trail). The clouds swirled below us,
but for the first hour or so we had great views of the Jungrau, Monch,
and Eiger behind us, and a whole range of peaks in front! Rich green
grass and the sounds of cow bells marked our way. Also saw goats and
sheep with bells on.
 |
| Buildings as we wind our way out of Muerren. |
 |
One of the few forested areas we passed through. The forests are
one of the natural stops to the avalanches. |
 |
| Our trail will take us over part of this ridge. |
 |
| Fields and fields of lush green. |
 |
| This beautiful mountain scene deserves a full spread! |
We
traveled past four separate ‘alps’ - the summer pastures for the
cow herds. The herders tend to the milking morning and night and
make cheese by day. We didn’t find any out for sale, but I guess
the rule is you can buy it right from them. The cows are moved
around from pasture to pasture, all separated by electric fences. We
must have gone through a couple dozen gates. Sometimes the cows were
separated by the fence, other times we walked right past them – not
3 feet away!
 |
| Wandering through one of the 'alp' regions |
 |
| Rick talked gently to this cow as we hiked past. |
 |
| At least there was an electric fence between these cows and the trail! |
 |
| This alp provided a self service cafe. |
 |
One of the many
signposts. |
 |
| Harebells and bladder campion |
Wildflowers
were more in abundance than I expected for this late in the season.
We saw fireweed (nearly past), harebells, alpine pansy (which looked
much like a yellow violet), bladder campion, buttercups, some type of
gentian, yarrow, heather, and various berry laden bushes that I
couldn’t identify.
The
trail was well marked with Blue North Face signs, but a myriad of
other paths and local trails intersect and wind all over the
mountain. I was glad our route was clearly marked – it would have
been easy to go astray!
 |
At times it felt we were walking through the moors
of Scotland - cows, green, and thick mists! |
About
an hour into the hike, as we neared the stream that became Sturtz
Falls, we lost our distant views. And as the day progressed, the
clouds became thicker and thicker. By the time we got to
Allmendhubel, we could hardly see 30’ in front of us! At one point
we heard a whole symphony of cow bells, but we couldn’t find the
cows!! They were lost in the clouds!
These mountain trails are old and you have to be amazed at the people who
live high up on these hills, even if just in the summer time.
Everything is built of wood and dampness penetrated all. So
beautiful though.
We
arrived at Allmendhubel shortly after 11am and went into the little
restaurant to warm up and have some coffee and hot chocolate. Not
cheap, but worth it!
 |
| Rick awaits the funicular. |
There
is a ‘Flower Walk’ near the funicular that features many of the
local flowers. I took lots of pictures of the signs to help me
identify some of what we saw and to get an idea of what usually is
growing in the summer months. Well done. There is also a kids
playground that is awesome with giant flowers to climb on, a
butterfly zip line, slides, swings, etc.
 |
The town of Murren lies at the base of
the funicular |
We
took the funicular back down, opting not to hike the additional miles
steeply downhill. Trips the length of town twice to find the ATM to
pull out a few more francs (and visit the local little church) and we
are back in the room by 2pm.
 |
| The church that sits in the middle of Murren |
We
went down to the restaurant a little later to get a bit to eat.
(Can’t go shopping at the market on Sunday...it’s closed!) We
decide on a pizza to split and find we are able to take it back up to
the room to eat! Nice!
Afternoon
spent editing pictures, blogging, writing postcards, etc. The
forecast rain has not come yet, but we are definitely socked in with
clouds. Nothing but white!!
 |
| The flowers we saw (plus fireweed!) |
MONDAY,
September 3
SCHILTHORN
PIZ GLORIA and RAIL to ZERMATT
We
left it last night that we would look out the window this morning AND
check the TV ‘view-cam’ and make our decision about heading up
the mountain to the top of the Schilthorn at 9500’. The cable car
was free (with our Swiss Travel Pass!) so money didn’t enter into
the decision! It was going to be strictly visibility!!
Well,
this is what we found when we woke up around 6:15: Decision made!
Hallelujah and thank you, God!
 |
| The Eiger, Monch, and top of Jungfrau with Black Monk in front. |
Breakfast
was MUCH quieter as the large Asian tour group had left and there
were only 3-4 couples eating. We paid up our bill, and then decided
to NOT check out completely, figuring we would be back down from the
top before check-out official time. A fast walk down to the lift
station at the other end of town, but we managed to be the last ones
on the 7:40 ride. Whew! Murren itself was totally socked in by
then. We were now going on hope and a prayer!
 |
| Heading up from Birg Station.... |
 |
| On top of the Schilthorn! |
And….around
the Allmendhuber elevation we broke free of the clouds into beautiful
sunshine! The entire car (which was packed full!) erupted into a
cheer! On up to
first stop Birg, which has viewing platforms and a thrill walk
suspended out over the valley. It was clear, so we opted to grab the
other cable up to the top. Our one poor choice of the day – the
Piz Gloria was more fogged in! But we did get some great views of
the mountains south of the Piz – the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau
were all caught in the silhouette of the sun rising right behind
them. We spent about 25 minutes up on top, taking pictures, and
enjoying the COOL air (still icy snow out on the one platform!)
 |
| Looking back down at Birg from the top. |
 |
| A nice couple from Salt Lake City took our picture for us. |
 |
View of hills above Allmendhuber, fog filled Lauterbrunnen Valley,
and distance peaks. |
 |
| Dropping down the cable car into Lauterbrunnen. |
We
dropped back down to Birg in a nearly empty car – just three
American couples, Baker City, Salt Lake City, and New York City. We
had a fun time hearing their stories – one couple had just come
from Zermatt. Birg by then was socked in, so we just hopped over to
the descending tram and made our way back down to Murren. Quick stop
at the Coop to pick up more bread and cheese.
We
gather up our stuff, turn in our keys and bid Murren and the
Edelweiss goodbye! We get to the train station just as the doors are
closing, but catch the little engine over to our cable car connection
down to
 |
| Lauterbrunnen is in such a cleft! |
Lauterbrunnen. The views are much better today than they
were on Friday and Saturday – we can see Wenden set on the bench on
the valley opposite above Lauterbrunnen, more waterfalls, and in
general a better feel for the ‘lay of the land’.
Another
last minute catch of the train in Lauterbrunnen and we are on our way
to Interlaken Ost! Ten
minute wait for the train to Spietz, during which ride we stood the
whole way. That was an interesting ride, as a group of a dozen
Indian folk poured into the landing area between cars where we were
standing. The number of people wasn’t bad, but they all had giant
rolling suitcases. The men of the group just kept loading them on
and Rick and I kept moving closer to the opposite wall! They
eventually stacked them all up and much of the group managed to find
seats. A couple of them sat on the steps next to us!
 |
Random church we passed
along the way! |
But
we were in Spietz within 20 minutes or so – the train traveling
about halfway along Lake Thun to the west. From Spietz we had our
longest layover – about 45 minutes to wait for the direct express
down to Visp and Brig.
 |
I felt at home!
A Shell station!! |
The
Matterhorn Gotthardbahn is the private railway that operates between
Visp and Zermatt. It is the only way by rail into Zermatt.
The
railway travels up the narrow canyon of the Visp River, with views of
Mount Rosa in the distance (the Matterhorn is off to the west) It
doesn’t travel fast, but you can see why avalanches can close the
railway in the winter months. The walls are steep!
 |
| Mount Rosa beckons at the end of the valley. |
There
is a road into Zermatt, but once in the city cars are not allowed.
There are, instead, tons of little electric taxis darting all over
the place along
very narrow one lane roads. Nearly every building has decks laden
with geraniums and flowers. We made a few wrong turns, but using the
little map in Rick Steve’s book, we found the Hotel Astoria!
 |
| Not a great shot of this awesome bridge span. A double decker. Later we find a new bridge being built downstream. The gorge must be 200' deep! |
 |
| One of many waterfalls crashing down the steep walls of the canyon. |
 |
| The unique church towel in St. Nicklaus. |
 |
| Quick look at our train as it rounds a corner. |
 |
| Our old world HEAVY key |
Trish
outdid herself here! We are booked on the third floor, in what I
would consider the second best room in the place (the best has a
slightly
bigger view of the mountain). We have a huge wrap-around balcony,
flower boxes, comfy chairs for sitting, deck chairs, entry closets,
and old world charm! Frilly curtains! More
duvet coverings for the beds, but the windows here have some screens,
so we can leave them open at night!
Impressive! And….the best news? We catch glimpses of the
Matterhorn all afternoon as the clouds dart in and around it. Never
the whole mountain clear as a bell, but enough to know for sure that
it is there!
 |
| A few photos from the Hotel Astoria. |
 |
The bell tower of the
Catholic Church rings
every quarter hour! |
There
is an old Catholic church just up the hill on the other side of the
river, and we can hear the steeple bells rings on the quarter hour.
 |
The flower boxes on our balcony. Matterhorn in
in the clouds. |
We
got settled and then took a walk around town to explore and find a
place to grab a bite to eat. We couldn’t really decide on WHAT we
wanted (other than Rick was hungry!), nor find a place for take-out,
so we wandered checking menus in front of lots of places. We did
pass the local MacDonald’s which Rick quickly nixed! Found the
Tourist Info center down by the rail station and that answered some
of our questions about possibilities for tomorrow. We are hiking!
Taking one of the less popular lifts up Mount Rosa aways, and then a
trail that links 5 little lakes – all with views across to the
peak. The
forecast is GOOD!! Sunshine!
 |
| More window boxes on a downtop shop. |
We
walk back to the Homemade Cafe and grab a couple of sandwiches for
dinner, taking them back to the room with us. (We don’t like
paying the price they charge for a glass of water around here and we
had water and wine in the room!)
What
a pleasant evening as the sun sets behind the ridge to the northwest
of us, the clouds still dancing around the peak, time out on the
balcony listening to the myriad of languages wandering the street
below us.
 |
| Zermatt at night from our balcony. |
 |
| Our wake-up view! |
Tuesday,
September 4
HIKING
near the MATTERHORN!!
 |
Walking down the long tunnel to the funicular
lift up to Sunnega. |
 |
| Finally up to Blauherd. |
I
cannot even begin to decribe the awesomeness of today. We woke up
around 6:30 to see the Matterhorn clear as a bell in the pre-dawn
light. Breakfast downstairs in the hotel – what we have come to
assume is the usual Swiss fare: cheese, meats, breads, yogurts and
mueseli, fresh fruit juice and fruits, and coffee – served in a
myriad of ways! We walk down to the Sunnega lift around 8:45 –
this is a funicular that climbs 3000’ up the mountain in a short 4
minutes to
an elevation 2228m.
Then we take the cable car from the ski lift to Blauherd,
final elevation of 2571m.
You can’t go clear to the top of the ski area right now because
they are doing work up there. We exit around 7500’ - 8000’
elevation into a vast panorama of peaks. I think it takes Rick 20
minutes to even move past the 50’ mark because he is absolutely
entranced with the geology of the area.
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| Grand Gendarme 4500m across the valley from Mount Rosa. |
 |
| Our route for the day...more or less! |
It
is a glorious morning!! We couldn’t have asked for anything more
amazing. Crisp, clear, and sunshine! Our intended route for the day
is the 5 Lake circle called the 5 Seenweg. From what we
 |
| Matterhorn from Blauherd |
can figure,
See has something to do with lakes, and weg is a trail! Our trail is
to pass by 5 lakes! It is presumably mostly downhill, as we will end
at Sunnega, having started at Blauherd.
 |
| Blue lakes, jagged peaks with snow, and fireweed - is this not a perfect picture?? |
We
opted to add to our hike and forge upward to the Fluhalp hut which
used to be at the base of the Findelgletscher (glacier).
Unfortunately the glacier has retreated and is a long ways up from
the hut! Elevation
at
Fluhalf probably around 3000m, but it isn’t noted on the map. We
found a potty break there, even if we didn’t stop to have coffee,
etc. We
are impressed with the Swiss concentration on family values – there
are often playgrounds at all the sites with areas for children to let
loose! Even the hut had a playground!
 |
| As we leave Stellisee and head up to the Fluhalp Hut. You can see the lake seems to teeter right on the edge of the cirque. |
 |
Rick tackles the last portion of the scree slope -
one of the nicest I've hiked since they put flat rocks
to mark the trail! Alderhorn in background. |
 |
Quick stop for pictures. Rick takes a photo of Ging
taking photos (not hard a picture to capture!) |
 |
| The Fluhalp hut (and playground) with glaciers in back. |
 |
| I just can't resist a rock cairn! |
 |
| There's my happy man! |
 |
| Willow gentian |
 |
We hike down glacial scrubbed valley
to Grindjisee. |
We
hiked with far less company for the next mile or so as we wandered
DOWN a small glacial valley (complete with snow making hoses) toward
a junction with the trail from Stellisee. Fascinating area,
especially with terrific views back (albeit into the sunshine) toward
the peaks just west of Mount Rosa.
 |
Found two such
crosses along the
trail. |
Our
next lake was Grindjisee – set down in a hollow formed by morraines
and the outlet creeks from Stellisee and the upper glacier.
Grindjisee was fairly shallow and very overladden with moss and
algae. There was a thick grove of larch in the area which was a
surprise to us. In fact, the predominant tree of the hike was larch.
 |
Waterfalls from Stellisee and the creek came together at Grindjisee, which
was a small algae filled lake in a morraine hollow. |
 |
| Trees lined the trail between Grindjisee and Grundsee. Grand Gendarme. |
 |
| I never would have expected the Matterhorn framed by LARCH trees! |
 |
| Flower! |
From
Grindjisee, we contoured in and around until we came to Grundsee at
2300m. Grundsee
was glacial with a deep turquoise color. The hillsides above it were
beginning to show evidence of fall with the reds or low growing
plants emerging. Just below Grundsee is a hut with a full restaurant.
We got ice cream cones and sat on the terrace and enjoyed! The
Matterhorn by this time was gathering a layer of clouds, at one point
it looked like it had a halo!
 |
Twisted old tree
along switchbacks. |
 |
We've seen this flower
often - it opens only
when sun shines! |
Then
DOWN through a series of switchbacks, passing a hiker who we admired
greatly. He had just one leg and was using arm crutches. Obviously
well adjusted to the option, saying ‘its just a leg!’ But wow –
it was not an easy trail to negotiate in places. At the bottom of
the switchbacks we came to the creek again – now gathering momentum
and soon to be a source of hydroelectric power for the valley.
Moosjisee
is our fourth lake – an intense turquoise and the site of a small
dam and the hydro plant. It was also where we began the process of
climbing back UP to the Sunnegga lift station! And a steep UP it
was! But we passed some flowers and otherwise great views on the
way!
 |
| Looking down on powerplant just above Moosjisee. |
 |
| Moosjisee and Matterhorn. |
 |
| View back up canyon at Moosjisee and peaks as we climb STEEPLY back up! |
Our
last lake was Leisee, which is right below the Sennegga station. It
features a self-propelled ‘ferry’ system across the lake, a
children’s playground, and a swimming beach. Leisee is advertised
as a family destination!
 |
| Village of F....rests on a bench. We climb up above it! |
 |
| Para gliders dot the skies all day long! |
 |
| More beautiful vistas....uphill climb - had to stop and take pictures! |
 |
| Leeisee - the last lake stop. Grand Gendarme background. |
 |
| Children's playground area at Leeisee |
 |
| Grand Gendarme north of Zermatt. Major avalanche danger area! Hill on right was laced with fences. |
We
are tired...at least I am! My pedometer says we have traveled nearly
9 miles since 10am and 16,000 steps!! We go through another long
tunnel and get on the funicular back down to Zermatt. It seems to go
very fast downhill. I had to hope it would stop at the bottom!!
We
walk down to the train station to clarify a few things for tomorrow,
with the nice guy at the Info center printing us a departure schedule
for tomorrow. We have to be out of here early in order to make our
connection in Brig!
We
stop at the Coop and pick up some 50% off salad for dinner, plus
treats for breakfast tomorrow, since we will have to leave before
breakfast really opens. Then back to the room to eat, relax, edit
pictures, and try to post things from the day! The wifi on the top
floor is less than ideal for posting pictures!
We enjoy some folk music for about an hour or more from the pub below us - a wide range of music from the states with a young man with a great voice!
Tomorrow
we are off for Italy and Bellagio!
Wednesday,
September 05
Leaving
Zermatt and Switzerland
 |
Matterhorn's final display as we
walked to leave Zermatt. |
We
are up around 6:15 (after a restless night for me I’m afraid!) to
make some connections today. Prolly the reason I didn’t sleep
well! Grab a couple of apples from the breakfast counter (we had
received permission the day before since we were leaving before they
officially opened.) On our way to walk back down to the train
station, but stopped to enjoy one last view of the Matterhorn as we
left. It promised to be another glorious day in paradise!
 |
| Zermatt Station |
Early
enough that Rick had time to go use up the last of our Swiss Francs
in a coin op coffee machine at the station. He came back with two
LARGE cafe mochas – the only choice! Happy, since we are leaving
with only 40 cents in Swiss currency! Maybe I’ll make earrings
from them!
Beautiful
train ride back through the narrow canyon, watching the sun creep
down the hillsides and lighting up the waterfalls and rocks. We
could see Mount Rosa reflected in the windows behind us much of the
way. But….a little tense because our train was running late and we
had a
QUICK
connection to make to get our train to Brig. We had to be in Brig on
time because that was a reservation!!
 |
From center of Brig rail station - peaks to the north.
There were villages up on every 'shelf'! |
Yet,
we made it! We were late getting in, but Rick and I actually
boarded an earlier train than we intended! We had about a 45 minute
layover in Brig, which isn’t much of a station for waiting! But we
both took a stroll and in general enjoyed the mountains north of town
– mountains we hadn’t been able to see earlier in the week.
Our
train pulled in – a sleek EuroExpress and the cars had numbers. We
started to get on the wrong car, and then I lost Rick temporarily….he
was already on the right car! We found our seats, but Rick had to
seek out a place for the big suitcase. Fortunately, no one was in
the seats that rounded out our ‘Foursome’ so we had a little
wiggle room!
The
train almost
immediately entered a long dark tunnel that basically ended the
Switzerland portion of our trip. We emerged about a half hour later
in Italy!!!
 |
| A rough map of our route through Switzerland! |
About
halfway to Lauterbrunnen, we come to a bridge over the river to the
road side of the valley and access to Trümmelbach Falls. We
decided to go explore this natural phenomenon of Lauterbrunnen. The
falls are actually a series of 10 waterfalls hidden within the
mountainside. Twenty-thousand liters of water per second are carving
deep channels and caves within the mountain. We take a lift about
1000’ up to the mid point between the falls. A series of cement
stairs and walkways carry visitors to the topmost waterfall. The
chambers are WET; the volume of water pouring through incredible.
Eventually we hike DOWN to the bottom past the lower falls (including
one called the Corkscrew) and back to the valley floor.
