Hiking in the Alps

Today was Hike-in-the-Alps Day! After eating breakfast with a very nice couple from Hawaii who are also staying at Walter’s, we took a casual stroll through Gimmelwald. This morning we really took time to “smell the roses” before going ahead with our activities we had planned for the day. The morning views were refreshing, and we paid special attention to the flowers, the cows with their bells jingling, and the local farmer feeding his chickens. We stopped by to visit with the local goats, and Olen read aloud the 23rd Psalm. (He and I were edified…the goats…probably not.)

We had planned to hike today, and we have learned that hiking in the Alps is much more enjoyable if you take a train or a lift to a high location and hike down! I am conquering my fear of heights somewhat and now find that I am actually comfortable in a lift high above the ground.

Our first hike was from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen, which is a hike on the valley floor. From the valley floor there are wonderful views of the mountains on each side, the beautiful waterfalls which are everywhere in the area, and an occasional misguided hang glider coming down from the tops of the cliffs. This was about a two-hour hike.

Once in Lauterbrunnen we visited the public facilities (WC) before boarding a train to Wengen. I have to stop and say that Switzerland has wonderful public facilities. Every restroom we have visited has been spotless and well-supplied. All of the public buildings and trains are the same. Everything is so very neat and tidy. We love Switzerland!

Anyway, we took the train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen where we got on another large lift which took us to a location called Manlichen, at the very top of a mountain. In the photo you will see my favorite hiker/photographer in action. We had lunch there and then took a hike along the ridge of the mountains which provided glorious views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau in the distance and grassy hillsides with grazing cattle not far from the hiking path. The sound of cowbells echoed through the hills, a delightful sound. I have already mentioned how serious the Swiss are about their hiking paths. In the photo you can see the signs to help hikers. The signs often have numbers beside the destination. This is not the distance of the hike, but is the time in hours and minutes it should take to complete the hike…an interesting way to put it. (However, we have found that the time does not allow for gawking or photography so for us it is just an estimate.) We took the route to Kleine Scheidigg. Toward the end of the hike we were as close to the Eiger as you could get without using a rope and a pick. The trail ended in Kleine Scheidegg, where we caught the train back to Lauterbrunnen and eventually back to Gimmelwald for the night.

We returned to the local mountain hostel for supper again tonight and then took the “long” way back to the hotel, enjoying a stroll through Gimmelwald once again.

Tomorrow we must leave this area, but we leave with wonderful memories. Perhaps someday we will be fortunate enough to be able to return. We hope your day was full of activities you would like to repeat.