Team Cujo

The hike up to heaven

2011-08-31T15:33:00.001-04:00

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

2011-08-31T14:31:00.001-04:00

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!

2011-08-30T16:27:00.001-04:00

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......

To the top of Europe

2011-08-28T15:25:00.000-04:00

Sunday Aug 28

Woke up to a spectacular day in the valley. We went downstairs for breakfast and the friendly staff were telling everyone that it was going to be a perfect day. So we decided that today was the day.....for years I have wanted to take the trip from Kleine Scheidegg up to the Jungfraujoch. It's a cog train that goes right inside the Eiger and climbs it's way upwards. It's really a marvel of engineering and determination that went into service in 1912.

We finished our breakfast and made out way to the train station in Lauterbrunnen for the trip up to Wengen and then on to Kleine Scheidegg. We're here for a week so we decided to get special 6 day regional passes which are good on all the local busses, trains, cable cars and gondolas, and we've already gotten our moneys worth in the first few days. You do have to pay a bit extra to go up to the Jungfraujoch, but it is SO worth it.

The trip up inside the mountain takes 50 minutes from Kleine Schdeidegg with several stops along the way. The first is the Eigergletscher Station. It's the last stop before the train passes through big doors and enters the mountain. This is where you get off if you want to go and climb the Rotstock, which we did last summer, and it's also the starting point of the Eiger Trail for those that do it the easy way, from top to bottom.

Once inside the tunnel you make two more stops before arriving at the top. The Eigerwand Station is carved into the inside of the Eiger. The train stops here for 5 minutes so you can get out and peek through the gallery windows. They literally carved windows into the middle of the north face of the Eiger. From here you could see straight down to the foot of the Eiger. Just inside the gallery windows you could see anchor bolts embedded in the rocks. Every so often they have to go out through them in order to rescue climbers who have run into trouble on the climb. They are actually used in a scene in the movie The Eiger Sanction. The views are breathtaking and it was so cool to look out of a mountain from part way up. Here are a few pics:

Approaching the gallery window

Looking out across the valley to Grindewald

Looking down at Gridewald with part of the north face in view

We could have looked out the windows for a long time, but we had to get back on the train to carry on. The next stop is Eismeer Station where you look out a different part of the mountain....up here you're into glacier territory. The view was incredible:

From here it was only 10 more minutes to the top. Well you never really get to the top, the train station is completely inside of the mountain. There are a series of stairs and lifts that take you to the various things to see and do up there. You could really spend an entire day up there. Our first stop was the Ice Palace:

From here we headed out onto the Ice Plateau for some magnificent views:

Restaurants and shops in the building below which clings to the side of the mountain, and the Sphinx is up at the very top. There is an observatory and viewing platforms.

Then we went back inside the mountain for the high speed elevator ride up to the Sphinx which sits at the very top of the ridge. We walked out onto the outdoor viewing platforms and had spectacular views in all directions. We could see the Aletsch Glacier stretched out for miles, people walking on part of the glacier, a snow fun park, mountaineers making their way to the summits of the Monch and the Jungfrau mountains. It was an absolutely picture perfect day to be up here, and totally worth making the trip that had been on my bucket list for many years.

I even got to verify the accuracy of the altimeter on my new watch :-)

What a perfect day to go to the Top of Europe. We found ourselves dozing off and on during the trip back down inside of the mountain. Once we emerged from the tunnel we were treated to some great views of the north face of the Eiger. The Eiger is the triangular shaped face on the left, the smaller peak with the flat summit which is about a third of the way up from the bottom is called the Rotstock...we climbed it last year (see post way down from here).

We took the train back down to Wengen - a nice little town perched on a plateau above our valley:

We got off the train in Wengen, picked up a snack and then decided to hike the last stretch back down to our valley.

We stopped along the way to take a special picture...one of our friends from work had printed off a random picture of Switzerland and posted it by Jo's desk to wish us luck on our trip. It turned out that the picture was actually from the very town we are staying in, and I knew exactly where to go to get the same shot. So we just had to do it........this one's for you Nancy :-)

Then it was back to sip some of our Italian Limincello on our patio before having a nice relaxing afternoon at Airtime. It's a funky little shop/cafe where you can register for all kinds of sporting activities, surf the web, have some baked good, or do your laundry....oh and have a beer. So we had a beer, did some reading, blogging and laundry. After than, another fantastic Swiss meal, and now it's time to call it a day.

Weather looks great tomorrow.......we're going to see how we feel in the morning and come up with a plan then. But whatever we do, it will be in the mountains :-)

Snow in August

2011-08-28T11:55:00.002-04:00

Saturday Aug 27

It was great that we got our storm on the first night here, and not during the day. Of course the only downside to a storm in the mountains is....SNOW! The storm dumped a fresh snow down to about the 2,000 meter level.

We weren't to be deterred. We have all the right gear, and we're not going to let a bit of snow slow us down. We had decided to tackle the Eiger Trail today. It's a rugged footpath that leads directly below the north face of the Eiger. We took the train from Lauterbrunnen up to Murren, then a cable car to Mannlichen, then another cable car down the back side of the ridge to the midway station where we got out to start our hike. After a bit of downhill we climbed up to Alpiglen (famous in climbing circles) and then began the Eiger Trail. We elected to do it from the bottom up....most people take a train up and do it from the top down.

We ran into a few people who told us that there was snow on the trail and they had decided not to carry on....we were here, we could taste the Eiger so we decided to carry on. It was epic! The views were stunning, and more importantly we were standing at the base of the Eiger. The mountain has fascinated me since I was quite young and it was a thrill to finally get to do this trail. Here are a few random shots starting in Alpiglen, and up into the snow:

Unforunately the weather had rolled in across the north face of the Eiger so we didn't get too many good views. Every once in a while it showed itself for just a moment, and then vanished again. It all added to the mystery and allure that surrounds this mountain. We continued to climb, eventually reaching the starting point of the first successful (and tragic) climb of the north face in 1938.

It was a real thrill to be standing in this spot. I'm currently reading a book called The White Spider, which specifically talks about that first ascent and what happened. The Eiger isn't the highest mountain in the world by far, but it probably has many more stories and tragic events than any other climb. There is even a movie called the Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood that was filmed on location....actually much of the filming was done on the Rotstock, which is beside the Eiger...we climbed that one last summer :-)

After reaching the top of the trail we grabbed the train back down to Lauterbrunnen where we got out of our gear, showered and headed for another great dinner at our fav spot.

Then we went for another stroll along the valley floor, passing below the waterfalls....and listening to the music coming from the heliport - apparently DJ Crazy Mofo was putting on a show tonight.....we listened for a bit, but decided on tranquility instead. As we walked back to our hotel a familiar sound caught our ears....the opening of a parachute. This is a very popular spot with B.A.S.E. jumpers. So we stood and watched for a while as they hurtled themselves off the 1,000 foot cliffs, opening their chutes just before hittting the valley floor. It's really neat wathching the jumpers in flying suits as they glide down the valley quite a ways. I want to try that!!! Jo's not so keen on that idea, lol.

Off to bed...tomorrow we're hoping to go to the top of Europe.

Ciao Italia!

2011-08-28T11:38:00.002-04:00

Friday Aug 26

Well we don't want to leave, but it's time to move on. One last breakfast on our gorgeous patio overlooking the ocean, and a few more lemons for our stash, and it was time to pack the car. We were very pleasantly suprized when we checked out to receive a nice bottle of Limoncello...that is going to go down great! If anyone ever wants to visit the Cinque Terre, make sure you talk to us because this was a fantastic place to stay.

We made our way up the mountain road and onto the highway, eventually turning our backs on the Med. A few hours later we reached the Swiss border. In Switzerland you have to have an annual highway sticker on your window to drive on the highways. If you get caught without it, they give you a hefty fine. If you come in through a small town you might not get checked, but if you come across at a large crossing they will pull you over on the spot. Luckily I knew this from past trips so we pulled in and got a sticker and drove in without a problem.

I had plotted all of our drives at home on the computer and then played with them a bit before loading them into the GPS. After crossing into Switzerland we had a bit of a wait to get into a tunnel....they have lights that stop traffic periodically so there aren't too many cars together at one time. After all, this tunnel was 18 kms long, and you don't want to have a problem in a tunnel that long. After exiting the tunnel, the computer had wanted me to stay on highways and keep going north, but I had altered the route to pick something the looked shorter.....I hadn't researched this alternate route but it turned out to be a fantastic choice.

We made our way over the Sustenstrasse Pass and were blown away by the scenery, and the road. It had started to rain a bit, but that isn't uncommon in the high mountains. But the scenery more than made up for it. Miles of rolling green hills, jagged peaks, and a road that twisted and turned every few feet, but it was in great shape. I will return and ride this pass on a motorcycle!!!

We stopped for a few shots along the way, but they really don't do it justice:

A short drive later and we were making our way back into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. This is my 4th time here, and Jo's 2nd.....and it feels like home to both of us. You drive a short way south from Interlaken and through a very narrow gap, then the valley opens up before you. There are 72 waterfalls in this valley, and it was J.R.R. Tolkien's inspiration for the valley of the elves in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. There is really no way to describe it easily, other than perfection.

We checked into our hotel....the Hotel Staubbach is a fabulous place if you make it here. It was originally built in 1890, has amazing views (pay the few $'s extra for a south facing room - it is SO worth it), friendly and very helpful staff, and a great breakfast. We had emailed when booking our room, and as promissed we got the same room that we had last year, with a 15 x 35 foot patio overlooking the valley and Staubbach Falls (I believe it's the 12th highest free falling waterfall in the world). There was a nice suprize waiting for us, chocolate on our pillows, and a bottle of champagne on the desk. I could sure get used to waking up to a view like this!

After settling in we went for a short stroll down the valley floor to have supper at one of our favourite spots. There is a very big campground which has a restaurant, and their food is to die for. Big beer, grilled chicken with alpine butter, a huge helping of salad and the local specialty rosti....yum!

Then it was back to our room to enjoy our treats. Just after we settled in we heard a little bit of rain......last year we were treated to a spectacular thunder and lightning storm and we had hoped for a repeat this year. We got all that and more.....if you like storms then you must come to Lauterbrunnen to see one. The lightning lights up both walls of the valley and the thunder is louder than a canon, and it echoes down the valley over and over again. Each time the thunder goes it seems to echo for about 30 seconds. It lasted for hours and was awesome. Eventually it let up and we managed to drift off zzzzzzzzzz.

Exploring the Cinque Terre

2011-08-26T15:43:00.000-04:00

Thursday Aug 25

Sigh, another sunny day, another breakfast overlooking the ocean, how much can one take? After our hike yesterday we decided that it would be a good day to take advantage of our train passes and revisit the towns we hiked through yesterday so we could explore some more. Here are a few random shots from the day.

After some exploration we headed back to our air conditioned room for a bit of a siesta, and to escape the heat. Then it was off to the beach......we decided to bring our goggles with us to see if we could spot anything under the water....we did

Then I swam over a bit to take a picture of Il Gigante, it's a statue of Neptune that was made in 1910 by an Italian sculptor. Sadly it was damaged by bombs in World War 2 and he lost an arm and his trident, but it still looks quite impressive.

Being the ham that I am, I couldn't resist the obligatory self portrait looking back towards the beach....I actually have a whole album of self portraits from everywhere I go.

For all of our friends back at work who were worried that we would miss pizza day today, don't worry, we didn't :-)

After a light snack, lol, we got all cleaned up and hopped on the train again to explore Riomaggiore a little more. We didn't realize that there was more to it than the train station, and it was certainly worth checking out.

Then it was back onto the train to return to Monterossa. We decided to try out a restaurant that the owner of the B & B had recommended and it didn't disappoint at all. Linguini with fresh lobster, some more veal scallopini, salad and local wine. Then it was a sunset walk along the waterfront capped off with some VERY GOOD gelato.

Time to rest again. It will be very hard to leave here in the morning, but at least we're headed to the Swiss Alps. Ciao!

A stink hot hike

2011-08-26T15:05:00.001-04:00

Wednesday Aug 24

We woke up to yet another gorgeous day. Opened our door and picked up a few more ripe lemons to add to our collection and then went up to grab our breakfast. We elected to eat outside on one of two terraces with a view of the olive grove and the ocean. Can't decide what was best, the view or the automatic machine that made any kind of coffee drink you wanted, over and over again.

The morning view:

We made the short walk to town, stopped at a shop to get some water to fill our hydration packs and then walked to the train station to pick up our trail/train passes. There is a small fee to hike on the main trail between the towns, and for a few euros more you can get a train pass that is good for unlimited travel between all the towns of the Cinque Terre. Once we had our passes we were off.

The main trail links each of the 5 towns. Each section is a little different, and unfortunately one of the sections is closed right now (between the 3rd and 4th town) because of a landslide earlier in the year. There are a series of higher trails, and trails that link the two. A lot of people just do one or two sections at a time, going back to do another section another day. We decided that we wanted to tackle the whole trail in one go.....and we elected to go from north to south, which is the harder direction to go in.

The trail has existed for years and was once used by the locals to move supplies back and forth, as well as the tend to the crops of olives, lemons, limes and grapes that cover the hillsides. The first two sections between Monterosso and Vernazza, then Vernazza and Corneglia are said to be the hardest as you climb from sea level far up the terraced hillsides and back down again. To say that the views are spectaculcar would be the understatement of the century....here are a very few of the shots from the first part of the trail.

Looking back on the old part of Monterosso as we leave:

Jo on an easy part of the trail

Looking back to where we started from pretty high up

The view coming down into Vernazza

When we got to Vernazza we spent some time exploring, it s really neat town with ferries coming and going and people wandering around taking in all the sites. We filled up on fluids and had some grapes and hit the trail again....the thermometer was climbing, it was already 38 degrees and we were sweating buckets. The next section to Corneglia was challenging as well, but the views were equally rewarding. Here is a shot coming into Corneglia, it isn't at sea level, it sits above the water on a point of land....if you look in the background you can see Manorola.

Closer to Corneglia

Normally the walk from Corneglia to Manorola isn't that hard, but that is the section that is closed. We wanted to do the whole trail so we took a detour which took us straight up to one of the mountain towns through steeply terraced vineyards. We gained a lot of elevation in a short period of time. Here is a shot taken part way along the detour, you can see Manorola in the distance.

It seemed to take forever to make our way down to Manorola, but from there the last part of the trail is a cake walk. It's litterally a paved sidewalk linking the last two towns, but it has a name, and some tradition to it.

We made it to Riomaggiore, hot and tired. Normally the entire trail takes about 5 hours to hike. We had to do the detour which added quite a bit of distance and elevation gain, but we were pretty pleased that our total hiking time was only 4 hours...total distance of about 14 km. And we did learn one valuable lesson along the way.....in Europe they sell water with gas or without. When you put water with gas into your hydration bladder and hike up and down a mountain, it expands quite a bit....the bonus is that the water shoots out under good pressure, lol.

We hopped on the train in Riomaggiore and took the quick ride back to Monterosso and made out way back the our B & B to shower up and relax a bit. Then it was back to have another lovely dinner on the ocean. Spaghetti carobonara, veal scallopini with local lemons, insalata mista, some local wine and tiramisu to finish it off. Not a bad way to end the day, and to replenish after the hike. Then it was back to relax a bit more under our lemon tree.....ah la dolce vita!

If it's Tuesday, it must be Italy

2011-08-25T17:21:00.002-04:00

Tuesday Aug 23

Before leaving Alpe d'Huez I had to have a pain au chocolat so we stopped at a little bakery I know in town and grabbed a few goodies. We also posed for a few pics at the finish line of the climb...not the real finish where Le Tour ends, but where people who do the ride can stop and go into the Tourist Office to get a certificate saying that they rode up the climb....maybe next time.

Down that crazy road we went and then drove through another amazing valley headed east. We made our way down out of the Alps, passing some amazing scenery along the way, then eventually turned and crossed the border into Italy. After a few more mountain passes we hit flat ground and got onto one of the big highways. It was pretty boring, but we were able to do 130 which allowed us to cover ground quickly.

After passing Genova we drove for a little bit before turning off the highway and onto a small road down towards Levanto. Just before we got there we turned onto yet a smaller road to get down to Monterosso Al Mare. It was quite the drive, but our Fiat was up to the challenge. We found our way without a single wrong turn, thank goodness for the GPS.....gotta love technology. We had to be at our B & B by 6:00 or we risked losing our room. I had predicted that we would be there by 5:30, and at 5:25 we were on the last stretch. We turned down the road that the GPS told us to and we couldn't find the place. The road was so narrow that even turning around in a small car was a challenge. Eventually we parked and started to walk up and down, it sure didn't look like the brochure! We found a place with the right address, Jo rang a doorbell but no one answered. I kept looking at my watch at the time ticked away. "This isn't right' I said, and we hopped back in the car and backtracked a bit. We drove down the last road again and spotted a little sign that was hidden by some branches. We turned down the little road and after passing a sign that said Private Road we wondered if we were on the wrong track again. Just around the next corner the place came into view.......

WOW, we found a piece of heaven on earth! We checked into our room and were blown away by the place. The place is built in the middle of an olive grove which is still actively farmed. Our room has a spectacular view of the ocean, and we have our own private garden patio complete with a lemon tree.....every so often a huge juicy lemon drops to the ground and we scoop it up :-)

Here is the view:

After settling in we decided to go for a stroll and find something to eat. Monterosso is the only town in the Cinque Terre with big sand beaches, so it's very popular with the sun worshippers.

We strolled up and down the pathway that runs along the ocean for a while and then decided we should find something to eat. We'd read about a place online that people raved about, it was called Miky's. We got to sit on the patio out front and it didn't disappoint. We had read about the seafood risotto so we ordered it, along with a bottle of the local wine.....yum hardly works!

They had some other fresh seafood as well...

We ended up sitting between two elderly couples, one from Australia and the other from Luxumberg. We shared stories, wine and Limoncello, and had a wonderful evening. And anyone that watched The Tour de France this year knows the irony of us sitting between a couple from each of those countries, especially after we had just been in Alpe d'Huex. After and amazing meal we wondered back to our oasis to get some sleep before the big hike tomorrow.

Our first hike in the Alps

2011-08-22T16:50:00.001-04:00

Monday Aug 22

After a great sleep we got up and had breaky at our hotel, mmmmm great coffee and the croissants melt in your mouth. We geared up then went for a short walk to fill up our hydration packs with fresh mountain water and then started our hike. From the town of Alpe d'Huez we ascended a nice trail that lead us to a series of trails which made their way past 5 stunning alpine lakes. We did a fair amount of climbing, and it was hot - the hottest temp I saw on my watch was 38.6 degs. But the views more than made up for the effort....here are a few of the many pics that I took today, but they really don't do it justice.

We arrived at our turn around point, we can in search of the Wizzard, but sadly, he wasn't here :-(

We took a different way back down that treated us to some amazing views along the way. At one point we got buzzed by the local Search and Rescue patrol, it was pretty cool.

It was hot and we had been out for about 4.5 hours, so we knew that we needed some food and drink. We decided to find some shade and have a French picnic. We stopped at a local store and picked all of this up....for about $10....you certainly can't do that at home!

After our picnic we headed out of town in another direction to check out some ancient ruins....I believe they are Roman, but have to confirm. There was a whole group of students who are currently excavating more ruins. We climbed up a hill to check out an ancient church site, as well as an old fortification, that was used to keep an eye on the valley.

On the way back to town we checked out what has been called the worlds scariest airport to fly into and out of. It's a short strip that is perched on the side of the mountain. The runway is on an insane angle, you have to land flying towards the mountain, and land on a runway that slopes up. Then you have to take off downhill and hope you have enough speed before you run out of runway and plummet several thousand feet. The pics aren't great, but Google it or look on YouTube....the guys that fly into and out of here have some serious balls!

By now we were pretty spent.....20kms of mountain hiking and the temp was never below 35. Nice cold showers then we went out for a quick bite to eat. Oh yeah, most of our hiking was at over 2,000 meters. We did ok considering we just came form about 80 meters above sea level, and the jet lag. Now it's bed time.....tomorrow, we're off to Italy for some time on the Med.

And so it begins

2011-08-22T16:21:00.001-04:00

Last time we went to Europe we left early in the morning....between the flights and the time changes we were totally fried when we got there. Driving to our first location was an experience. This year we tried something different, electing to fly at 7:00 in the evening. It worked out great! I took some melatonin before the flight and was able to sleep off and on through most of the trip to Frankfurt. We had a few hours to kill there, Jo flaked out on a row of chairs and got some sleep. A short one hour flight to Lyon, with Lake Geneva and the Alps outside of our window and we were ready to hit the road, bright eyed and busy tailed.

We picked up our car, a nice little Fiat Punto that goes like stink and has awesome breaks...they'll come in handy on some of the mountain roads we'll be on. It was only an hour and thirty minutes, the last part through a really neat valley, to arrive at the town of Bourg D'Oisans. To anyone that knows about cycling, this is the Holy Grail of the sport, it's the start point of the legendary climb up to Alpe d'Huez. I've been here twice before to see stages of the Tour de France, but this was Jo's first trip. She couldn't believe the drive, or that people actually ride up it, let alone race up it. We found our hotel no problem at all, it's a great little chalet with an amazing view. Our room is on the second floor, with a great balcony.

After settling in we headed out for some local cuisine. We found a great little spot that served up a wonderful meal. Escargot, steak and veggies served on a hot slate, potatoes that were to die for, and a nice bottle of wine. At the table beside up they had huge pieces of meat hanging from some kind of spit, it looked very tasty. Here's our dinner...

After our meal we rubbed our bellys as we walked back up to our hotel for the night. Here's a few shots of the view from our balcony. You can see some mountains, some remnants from Le Tour, and an outside skating rink with real ice. That's right, the NHL can't maintain good ice an it indoor arena in the southern states, but France can have out ourdoor rink that has perfect ice in 38 degree heat today.....hmmm.

And now it's time for a few more melatonin, and a nice long sleep. Au revoir!

We're off again

2011-08-20T06:20:00.002-04:00

Eurofest 2011 starts today......wheeee!

An easy day

2010-08-03T11:51:00.001-04:00

We were pretty tired after our long hike so we decided on an easy day today. We grabbed our gear and hopped the train the Wengen and took the cable car up to Mannlichen. We decided to try another way to Grindewald today, the little two seater cable car was an awesome ride. It took about half an hour and we spotted many cows, goats, and even a number of Swiss marmots running around on the slopes. We also had a great view of the Eiger, and the Rotstock, which we had climbed a few days before.

Jo's new friend in Wengen

After arriving in Gridewald we hiked for an hour or so along one of the many rivers in the area. It was nice and relaxing after our previous days adventure. Eventually we arrived at the Gletscherschlucht, which means Glacier Gorge. It lies beneath the Grindewald Glacier, and the lake that it's run off forms. Years of glacier run off have carved an amazing gorge. For $7 admission you can walk for well over a km into the gorge. In places you are on platforms which are bolted to the sides of the gorge, in other places you walk through man made tunnels. Along the way you can see pink and green marble in the rock walls. There is a quarry nearby. There is also some great information about a huge tunnel which was made several years ago leading up inside the mountain to the glacial lake...it's a sort of pressure relief valve to prevent the lake from overflowing into the valley below, an affect of global warming.

Here are a few shots from within the gorge

After the gorge we hiked back to Grindewald and picked up some picnic supplies at the Co-op (local store). We got some grapes, local cheese, sausage, wine, gummy bears and paprika chips (like our BBQ). We decided to take the cable car back up to the ridge and have a picnic. Part way up we could see that the weather was turning so we had part of our picnic in the cable car. When we reached the top the weather had totally come in and it was pouring rain like I've never seen before. We only had about 300 meters to go from one cable car station to the other in order to get back down off the mountain and into our valley, but we got soaked!

At least it had stopped raining by the time we made it down to Wengen and then back to Lauterbrunnen. We made our way back to the hotel for a hot cup of tea, and then ended up staying in and having the rest of the picnic for supper. Another great day, even with the short downpour.

Swiss National Day - the long hike

2010-08-02T15:28:00.001-04:00

August 1st is Swiss National Day and we weren't really sure what to do. The weather forecast wasn't great, so we decided to go for a train ride and a short hike, but brought our gear with us in case we decided to go further. A short train ride and we were in Wilderswil. There we transferred to a very old cog train (1893) that took us up to Schynige Platte. It was amazingly steep on the way up, but the views were incredible. It took almost an hour to get up to the top where there is an amazing alpine flower garden.

From here we had several options, go for a short hike and take the train back down again, or commit to a much longer hike. We looked at the skies, check the barometric pressure, and decided to go for it. To say it was spectacular would be the understatement of the century. We hiked along a knife edged ridge overlooking the Thunersee and Brienzersee on one side, and the Alps on the other. It was probably the most perfect alpine trail you could ever imagine.

Climbing to the ridge

After some time we left the ride and began to hike through some amazing rock formations. There was a lot of up and down, but the scenery made you forget how hard you were working.

About three hours in we rounded the edge of a peak and spotted a mountain hut in the distance. We climbed up towards it knowing we would be able to get a cold drink, and sit for a few minutes.

We enjoyed a nice cold Coke...good for the blood sugar, and then carried on. We still had a long ways to go. We climbed even higher, stopping for a quick snowball fight along the way

We continued to climb another high mountain ridge where we eventually passed the Faulhorn, the highest mountain hotel in all of Europe.

From here it was a few hours of steep descent until we reached the Bachalpsee, an amazingly beautiful alpine lake with the Swiss Alps as the backdrop.

From this beautiful spot we descended to First. Total elapsed time was 5 and a half hours from when we started, and we were hiking for 5 of them. Boy were we glad to get onto the little two seat cable car for the 30 minute ride back down to Grindewald. A short train ride and we were back at our hotel where we showered and napped for a bit.

After another wonderful Swiss meal we headed back to the hotel and discovered that the parade was about to start. I've never known a parade to start at 9:00 at night, but what the heck. We sat on our balcony and watched the parade go right by. As soon as they reached the end of their route on the other side of the river, the skies opened up. A huge thunder and lightning storm was passing over the valley. I have never heard thunder like that before, each crash echoed up and down the valley and you could feel every one....it was amazing!

At 10:00 the fireworks started. It was an amazing show, puts most of the ones I have seen to shame, and this town only has about 900 residents. They take Swiss National Day very seriously. The best part was the flashes of lightning which lit up the sky behind the fireworks......a perfect end to am amazing (and very tiring) day!

Time to catch up

2010-08-02T14:47:00.001-04:00

It's been an amazing few days, it's raining out now so we're relaxing and it's a good time to catch up. Saturday we geared up after breakfast and headed up to Wengen on the train and then took the cable lift up to Mannlichen. From the cable car station it was a short hike up to an amazing view point. We could see forever in every direction. One way was the Alps, the other beautiful lakes and in the distance the Black Forest of Germany.

Looking towards the Alps

From the lookout we hiked a great trail towards Kleine Scheidegg, it takes you directly towards the Eiger. Along the way we spotted/heard many cows grazing in the alpine meadows, their bells ringing.

Trail towards the Eiger

After arriving in Kleine Scheidegg we hopped on the train up to Eigergletscher station. This is the last stop for the train before it enters the mountain and makes it's way up to the Jungfraujoch. We hiked the first part of the Eiger Trail, which passes directly below the north face of the Eiger. At a high point we watched for rock cairns to show us where to leave the trail so we could climb the Rotstock. We found the spot and made our way up to the base of the face where we donned our helmets and harnesses in preparation for the climb. The trip up the Rotstock is a Via Ferrata. Here is a borrowed picture which shows the location of the Rotstock in relation to the Eiger.

On a Via Ferrata you are clipped in to protection the whole time. Although it can be very steep and exposed, you are always safe. It was quite challenging, we started in a section of vertical ladders, climbed up a chute past flowing waterfalls, and even had to traverse some sections which were covered in snow. Reaching the summit was a great experience, and the view was breathtaking.

About to go past a waterfall

Going up...final destination in the background

Jo moving her pro (protection)

Going up

Final push to the summit

Summit of the Rotstock

After summiting the Rotstock we descended the West Flank, which is the normal route that people who have climbed the north face of the Eiger use to descend. A short hike back down the Kleine Scheidegg and then we took the train all the way back down to Lauterbrunnen for a well earned supper.....grilled chicken with fresh herb butter melted on top, rosti, big salad, and some very tasty Swiss beer.....ah, life is good!

What a day

2010-07-31T15:57:00.001-04:00

Too tired to write a long story today, but here are some highlights:

- watching base jumpers from our balcony
- a perfect day in the mountains
- climbed the Rotstock Via Ferrata....this is right beside the North Face of the Eiger...it was AMAZING!
- got to pet some friendly goats
- was serenaded by cow bells
- laid on the grass and listened to Alpenhorns while overlooking the lush green valleys and the snow covered mountains

Ho hum......LOL

North Face of the Eiger on the left
The Rotstock is above the chimney
of the hotel on the right

Jo walking towards the Eiger

Top of the Rotstock

Another up and down day

2010-07-30T16:45:00.001-04:00

We hopped on the train first thing this morning and headed down the valley to Interlaken to explore. There were a few showers so it was a good time to wander and do some shopping. Jo bought a ski jacket and some pants...I think she forgot that it's July. OK, well they were a really good deal. After lunch we hopped back on the train and headed back up into our valley. This place truly is magical....if you have just one thing on your bucket list, make sure it's a visit to the Lauterbrunnen Valley. It really is an incredible place where time stands still and the power of nature is totally restoring.

We woke from a short nap to see that the clouds had vanished and the sun was out so we geared up and decided to head up again....up the hills. We took the trail to Wengen, a town which perches on top of the plateau which forms the east side of the valley. The sign said it would take 1 hour and 30 mins, but we reached the top in exactly 1 hour. We rewarded ourselves with a nice cold beer at the top. I sure wish you could walk into a store in Canada, buy a cold beer, and enjoy it while sitting on a bench with a view....cause you can here!

We explored Wengen a bit - there are a lot of very posche hotels up there. I suspect it's a bit of an out of the way escape for some of the worlds jet setters and well to do people. Then we decided to take the train back down to the valley floor - our 6 day passes are turning out to be a great investment.

Then it was out for another fabulous meal, and an amazing sunset on the snow covered mountains. Jo made friends with two Swiss cats today. They are just as sucky as Canadian cats are. And we discovered that there are some new born chicks (sparrows I think) in a nest which is hiding in one of the trees on our balcony. Another great day in paradise. Tomorrow we are heading even higher and will be doing some climbing on part of the Eiger.

Sunset in the mountains

Here kitty kitty

We started on the valley floor

Standing guard over the chicks

An easy day

2010-07-29T16:31:00.002-04:00

OK, so maybe we overdid it just a bit yesterday, but the weather forecast wasn't great for today, so we had a chance to relax and recover a bit. After breakfast we hiked down the valley about 45 minutes to Trummelbachfalle. All of the glacier run-off and melt from the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau funnel down into this narrow gorge. Years ago it was a waterfall, but now it has carved it's way inside of the mountain. The water has carved an amazing series of passageways through the rock. A funicular takes you part way up inside the mountain and then you climb a series of stairs to the top. From the top you can see a sliver of daylight overhead, but you can't even hear yourself think as millions of gallons of water thunder past you. You slowly make your way down a series of steps and tunnels carved into the mountain, with viewing ports and platforms placed every so often. I took a number of pictures and some video, but I'm sure they won't do it justice. It's something you have to see in person!

After hiking back into town we walked down to the train station and picked up some regional passes. Good for unlimited travel on the local train, bus and cablecar systems for 6 days. As it was raining we decided to ride the rails. We headed up the next valley to explore Grindewald. It's a bigger town than Lauterbrunnen, but it's much more touristy and doesn't have the same feel that it does here. We grabbed a bite to eat, and then stopped at the Bakerei for some treats. From there we decided to head up, up to the Eiger that is. We rode the train from Gridewald up to Kleine Scheidegg which sits at the base of the North Face of the Eiger. Anyone who has ever seen the old Clint Eastwood movie The Eiger Sanction, will be familiar with this place.

We got out and had a quick look around. The weather wasn't great and we couldn't see the entire North Face....but it did clear long enough for us to make out the Rotstock, which we will be climbing in the coming days. From there we took the train back down the mountain to Wengen and then back to Lauterbrunnen. The train ride is amazing, and the views are spectacular.

At dinner we ended up sitting beside a couple who are both school teachers in England. We were sharing stories about what we'd done and what there was to do in the area. It turns out that he had seen the Eiger Sanction years ago and wanted to come and see the Eiger for that very reason....just as I had.

Our legs are feeling rested up and the forecast looks to be improving for tomorrow......hmm, which hike/climb to do? So many choices, and so little time!

Near the bottom of Trunnelbachfalle where the
water emerges to daylight once again

Flower growing from the rock

Looking down into the falls with another
viewing gallery in the distance

2010-07-28T15:28:00.002-04:00

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.

View from hotel

One of many falls on the hike today

Looking down into the valley

Typical Swiss Mountain chalet - no chicken here!

Your guess is as good as mine!

The reward after 6.5 hours of hiking!

Staubbach Falls by day

If this is Tuesday, it must be Switzerland

2010-07-27T16:07:00.000-04:00

Was sad to leave France today, but we know what lies ahead. After breakfast and some more shopping (at the best store on the planet), we did an amazing drive from Chamonix, up over a number of Cols and down into Martingny, Switzerland. From there some more amazing back roads to Interlaken, and then up into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Tomorrow the real mountain adventures begin. More to follow...

Chamonix, France

2010-07-26T17:33:00.001-04:00

Today we went for a morning walk around the town and shopped at the best outdoors store on the planet. It puts MEC to shame! Then we picked up some picnic supplies.....baguette, cheese, sausage, fruit and wine. After loading up we headed for a gondolla ride up to the Aguille du Midi. Amazing ascent with a spectacular view of Mont Blanc. You can actually take a gondola down the other side to Courmayer, Italy, but we decided to stay in France today. We ate out lunch at the summit before heading back down in the gondola.

Once back down, we found a trail that we had spotted from the gondolla and decided to stretch our legs a bit in preparation for the mountains of Switzerland. Part way through out hike we discovered and old ski jump...possibly a remnant from the winter Olympics which took place in Chamonix a number of years ago.

Then it was back to the hotel to relax for a bit before wondering out for an authentic French dinner. Salad, escargot, fondue, chocolate mousse, and some local wine....a great way to end the day.

Here are a few pics from our journey so far:

Hotel in Chamonix

View of Mont Blanc from balcony

Typical scenery

I think they went that way!

Aguille du Midi - we took a gondola up there

Aguille du Midi top left - Mont Blanc on right

Relatives?

The adventure begins

2010-07-25T16:52:00.000-04:00

We've arrived safe and sound. We flew from Ottawa to Boston, then the Frankfurt (that is a HUGE airport), and then on to Lyon, France where we picked up our rental car. A short drive and we are now sipping wine on our balcony overlooking the river l'Arve in Chamonix. What an incredible place to start this journey! We napped for a bit and then wandered the streets....tomorrow pictures and excitement!

Hiking in the Jungfrau

2010-07-02T17:38:00.001-04:00

This is a great video of the area we will be spending most of our time in

Our upcoming adventure

2010-06-14T19:03:00.000-04:00

Won't be long and we'll be here. The North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland. We won't be climbing it, but we will be climbing a via ferrata on the Rotstock, which is the smaller peak to the right of the North Face.