The hike up to heaven

Wednesday Aug 31

When we looked at the forecast yesterday it didn't look that great for today....but as has been the case for our entire trip, things went our way. We woke up to yet another beautiful sunny day. While having our breakfast we spoke to one of the hotel staff who had been following our daily adventures. We told her that we wanted to do a good hike today...she went and fetched a map of an area that I hadn't been before, but was interested in. She told us that it was quite nice and that there were a lot of different trails we could take. We studied the map as we finished our breakfast then went and geared up with a plan in mind.

We took the cable car up to Grutschalp where we started our hike. The first part of the trail was through the forest. It reminded us very much of some trails we have done in BC. Lots of trees, and lots of big moss covered rocks.

The trail started going up and eventually we started to work our way out of the forest and into a very lush sub-alpine meadow.

We got to an intersection in the trail, and sure enough, there were trails going every which way. The plain yellow signs are walking trails (Wanderwegs), the ones with the red and white stripes are the mountain trails (Bergwanderwegs). Of course you know which way we went :-)

We had decided to go up to the Lobhornhutte...all we knew was the name on the map, and nothing else. To get there we had to cross a gorgeous meadow with a big stream running through it.

From here we started climbing, then we climbed some more, and then some more. The trail was great and the views kept getting better and better the higher we went.

We continued to climb, making our way around a huge rock structure called The Ars, lol. Eventually we emerged into what I can only describe as a Hobbit valley. Green everywhere, and rocks and boulders strewn about like a giant playground. Of course there was a river running down through it, with several waterfalls. I took many pictures there, here are a few of them

We stopped at a farmers hut to fill our hydration packs. All of the cows here wear bells, and the prize winning cows are awarded with big championship bells. Here are some on display, the dates of some of them are back into the 1800's

We kept climbing and eventually reached a nice little alpine lake.....of course, the cows were there too - these guys get around!



We continued to climb

Eventually we reached the Lobhornhutte. Now mountain huts in Switzerland aren't just little shelters to get you out of the weather. At the mountain huts here you can always get drink and a meal, you can also spend the night if you like. There are also mountain hotels which can get very big with dozens of rooms to stay in. We decided that it would be nice to stop for a drink and something to eat. We had a local beer (we've had a lot of it this trip) and a great bowl of soup made with Sherry, fresh bread and some incredible mountain cheese.

The views from the mountain hut were spectacular no matter which way you looked

Even the mountain washrooms in Switzerland have a nice view....

One last look before starting the hike down

We both agreed that this was our favourite spot so far, and that the pictures don't really do it justice. You have to come here to experience this in person!

We took a different route back down the mountain, through the Hobbit Lands, past big waterfalls, and even running into so critters that seemed so out of place....

We eventually made it back to our little village to have nice hot showers, grab a bite to eat and settle in for the night. Right now I'm sitting outside on our patio, blogging, with Staubbach Falls all lit up behind me. This was an amazing day, and a great way to end August. Tomorrow is our last day in Switzerland.....what final adventures will await us, stay tuned and see.

An easy day

Tuesday Aug 30

After our adventures of the day before, we decided to have an easy day today. After breakfast we hopped on the train up to Kleine Scheidegg to check out the conditions. It was actually quite nice out, but I did spot this little fellow

From there we hopped on another train down to Grindewald. It's a much more touristy town, and we didn't want to hang around for too long. Just long enough to snap a few pics, grab some lunch supplies and get out of town again.

From Grindewald we walked down to Grund and hopped on the little two seater gondola for the ride back up to Mannlichen. The ride takes 35 minutes and the views are spectacular. You can see the entire Grindewald valley, the North Face of the Eiger, and the rolling green hills below. We even spotted a number of mountain marmots peaking out of their dens to sun themselves.

When we reached the top we decided to walk the Panoramic trail which follows the ridge and takes you directly towards the Eiger. Again, the views are stunning in every direction.

We stopped for a picnic lunch along the trail....it's so nice being able to drink a bottle of wine wherever you want...some good cheese, some local sausage, perhaps some Swiss chocolate. The cafeteria at work is gonna bite the big green weenie after this!

After we finished our stroll we hopped back on another train and made our way back down to the valley floor. We headed back to our big patio to relax in the sun a bit and do some reading. Then it was a light supper (ha ha ha, not) and then off to bed. Even on an easy day we still managed to get in some mountain air and a nice little hike. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Life on the edge!

Monday Aug 29

We got up to another gorgeous day in our sleepy little valley. We tossed around a few ideas about what to do, finally deciding that today was the day that we would tackle the Murren Via Ferrata. When we were here last year we managed to do the one on the Rotstock, but we ran out of time and never got to do the Murren one. I'd read some reviews and seen a few pictures, so we knew that we wanted to give it a go.

After breakfast we loaded our packs with our gear and headed to the cable car station in Latuerbrunnen for the short trip up to Grutschalp. From there we hiked along the Mountain View trail to the town of Murren. It's a very easy hike, but the views are stunning.

After arriving in Murren we stopped for a few pics and then made our way quickly to the start of the Via Ferrata. We had checked out the starting point last year so, although it's a little hidden, we had no problems finding it. As we approached the start point we ran into a friend who was in the same spot last year...

The nice thing about Via Ferratas in Europe is that you don't normally have to pay unless you want to go with a guided group. They are quite common here, and as long as you have the right gear, you can do them free of charge. All I can say is that this particular Via Ferrata was AWESOME! I would have paid to do it, and would gladly do so again......Jo is still pondering, lol.

At the start point we geared up in our climbing harnesses, Via Ferrata slings and helmets, clipped in and started down the trail. I set up my GoPro camera on my helmet to take pics every 5 seconds....unfortunately something dripped onto the lens about 5 minutes in so a number of shots have a spot that appears to be out of focus on them, but there are enough good ones to give you a sense of what it was like.

The start of it was pretty easy, just a walk down a steep trail

But we could see the valley through the trees below, so we knew that the terrain was about to change. It wasn't long and we were going almost straight down a series of steps, basically pieces of re-bar that were drilled into the rock to act as steps.....here is a shot looking down past my feet

Here is Jo starting down a small vertical section......with the stupid drop of something on the lens

This was a neat little section where we descended a bit and then went past a cave in the rock face. If you look to the left you get a bit of a teaser of what is to come, that is the valley floor below.

We continued to descend, passing more caves in the rock face, but knowing that we were getting closer to the edge the whole time

At one point we came across a platform used by BASE jumpers....it was literally suspended out over the abyss. I stepped out on it for a look down.....WAY down. At this point we knew that we were close....

The next section was unfreakinbelieveable.....we had to traverse a series of iron rungs that were drilled into the shear face of the cliff. It was a straight drop to the valley floor.....600 meters below. For reference purposes, the very top of the CN tower is 553 meters, and the observation deck is only about two thirds of the way up.....so imagine this.......you're one and a half times as high as the CN tower, standing over open air on a one inch piece of re-bar, clipped into a half inch piece of steel wire rope, with nothing else to hold onto. Can you spell adrenaline! Here are a few of the many shots.....the drop on the lens is a real bummer, but you can still get a pretty good persepctive

We made it back from the abyss and then were treated to a nice trail walk before we encountered our next challenge. We had to cross a small gorge carved by one of the many waterfalls in the valley, the only way across was a wire tightrope, with two other wires to clip into/hang onto

The next challenge was a series of vertical ladders....again, into the abyss. We had to go down them

A few more technical sections, and a few nice easy ones, and then our last challenge......a Nepalese bridge that was suspended across a wide chasm, over 500 meters up from the valley floor. It had metal platforms to walk on, but only a single wire to clip into.

When we were part way across, one of the gondolas passed us....I waved, I think they thought we were mental

After crossing the bridge it was a short and easy walk up to the exit point. It took us about two and a half hours to complete, the sign said that the average time is about three hours, so we were pretty happy with that. For the record, Jo was a real tropper and didn't complain once, although she did admit to being a wee bit scared several times.

The rest of the day was pretty anticlimatic after that. We hiked back up to Murren and had a picnic lunch, returned to our town for a nap, and then had dinner before calling it a day. Then it was off to sleep to dream about hanging from high places......