The Lauterbrunnen Valley must be the closest place to heaven on earth that there is. Apparently it was J.R.R. Tolkien's inspiration for the Valley of Rivendell in Lord of the Rings....
LINKY and I can see why. Our room, complete with 15 x 25 foot balcony, overlooks the length of the valley, with Staubbach Falls in perfect view. I read somewhere that it is the 12th highest waterfall in the world.
Today was our first day in the Swiss mountains and it was a big one. After filling up on breakfast at the hotel we geared up and hit the trail. From the town of Lauterbrunnen (bottom of the valley) we hiked up for two hours, gaining close to 1,000 meters in elevation. Once we reached the top of the ridge we walked a nice easy path to the town of Murren. It is perched high above the valley, a quaint little town with no access by car. If you want to go there your only options are foot or gondola then train, well unless you have a helicopter.
After exploring Murren we began a steep descent into Gimmewald - a very sleepy village with a guest house where you can sleep in the barn with the goats. From there an even steeper descent all the way back to the valley floor, and then an hours hike along the river and back to our hotel. We passed over and under at least 20 of the 72 waterfalls that line the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Many of them are spectacular, and water it deliscious!
We were hiking for a total of 6.5 hours today. 2 hours up, about 2 hours of steep descent, 2 hours of flat, and about 30 minutes of sitting along the way. And talk about hospitality....as we walked in the front door of our hotel, we were handed two cold bottles of local beer, before we even walked past the check in desk. I could get used to this lifestyle!
After enjoying our beer and a short nap we headed out and had a spectacular dinner in a very suprizing place...the small restaurant in the local campground. We will be going back for sure. An amazing day, but we might be a bit stiff in the morning. However, many more mountain adventures await.
Will post some pics soon, they take forever to upload so eventually we will also post an album on Facebook.
P.S. As I post this, they just lit up Staubbach Falls, they do it with huge floodlights for a few hours every night.
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| View from hotel |
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| One of many falls on the hike today |
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| Looking down into the valley |
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| Typical Swiss Mountain chalet - no chicken here! |
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| Your guess is as good as mine! |
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| The reward after 6.5 hours of hiking! |
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Staubbach Falls by day
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