Switzerland Alpenventure: Zermatt

The river connecting the two lakes that Interlaken is between.

After leaving the Lauterbrunnen Valley, I spent about 4 hours traveling to Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn (and a bunch of other mountains!).  Knowing I wasn't going to be climbing any mountains on travel day, I opted for the "scenic route."  Honestly, I'm not sure it was any more scenic than the other route because Switzerland is just pretty scenic in general, but according to what I saw while researching beforehand, it was supposedly so. 

The trip to Zermatt went as follows, cog to Lauterbrunnen, train to Interlaken Ost, train to Spiez, train to Brig, train to Visp, train to Zermatt.  Lots of transfers today and unlike in the past, I actually had to pay attention because my transfers occurred in the middle of routes, for the most part, not at the end of the line.  Because I had myself all packed up, I left town a bit earlier than I had originally planned.  The good news about Swiss rail, is as long as you are on the route you paid for, you can basically take any train.  You can get off and get back on.  All of that.  So I got on the train about 2 hrs before scheduled in Wengen.  Then I transferred immediately at Lauterbrunnen.  But then I deviated from my current schedule.  I stopped in Spiez and didn't take the next train.

Spiez

I had hoped to be able to stuff my bag in a storage locker for an hour and a half and go down to the edge of Thundersee (I have learned that in German, lake is apparently see, if that isn't confusing).  However, that didn't happen because the 20 or so lockers they had at the station were full.  Bummer.  I really didn't want to haul everything down 120m (vertical descent) for an hour and then have to hike back up it (it was a warm day).  So instead I went to a park that wasn't all that far and sat and read for an hour with a beautiful blue lake and mountains before me.  Not a bad decision at all.  Part of the reason I was delaying myself was I couldn't check into my place in Zermatt until 4.  The long route and this delay got me to Zermatt right at 4.

Oh hello, Matterhorn!

If you think Swiss ski village, Zermatt is probably what you'd imagine; chalets in a very "Swiss" style of architecture stacked up in the valley floor and the lower reached of the hillsides.  This was one of the places I opted for a fancy place over cheap.  I got a studio AirBnB with a balcony.  I wanted a place with a kitchen because I knew I would be at the point in my trip where I would be tired of eating out and would want just something basic for a night or two.  I also knew I was in a resort town which meant meals would cost more, so why not spend 30 CHF on groceries for a few days than 45 CHF for a single meal.  I did end up finding a spectacular bakery that had the most amazing chocolate croissants.  Like a whole, large piece of chocolate inside, not one little tiny piece of a Hershey bar.  I visited that shop every morning I was there.

I spent the evening wandering the village.  I got my first Matterhorn sighting as I was walking to my room, so after dropping my stuff off, I wandered back out to the bridge that I initially crossed.  Unfortunately Zermatt is in the middle of a building boom, so there were multiple cranes in the way of the perfect Matterhorn picture.  While I was wandering I also had a load of laundry in my backpack.  I had intended to do a load of laundry, but after stopping by the closest laundromat and seeing it was full (with people waiting) and that a load of wash was 14 CHF (like $15!!!!), I said nope!  I can wash these things in the sink and shower!

I spent some time debating with myself over what my hiking plans were for the next morning, before finally settling on doing the 5 Lakes Trail from Blauherd to Sunnegga.  I took a cog plus a gondola up, and set out.  The one problem with this is everyone started out at the same time because we all were on the same cog and then all (or most) got onto the gondolas, one after the other.  However, by the time we finished lake 1, the crowd started to spread out.

First up was picture time.  But there was a darn cloud covering part of the Matterhorn!  This would be a problem for like 80% of the hike.  

The first lake on the 5 Lakes Trail, or 5 Seeweg, was Stellisee.  This lake was up above the tree line and you could get some beautiful reflection photos off of it.

I then moved on through the next 4 lakes...see pretty pictures below...

Finally almost 4 hours into my hike, it happens!  The clouds clear from the Matterhorn and I get a gorgeous shot!  Mind you, I've been able to see the mountain for like 70% of the trail up to this point.  If you want a trail with continuous views of the Matterhorn, this is it (assuming the whole mountain isn't shrouded in fog or clouds).  Were these views the closest you could get?  No.  The 5 Lakes Trail is actually one of the further from the Matterhorn hikes, but it has something else worth seeing if the mountain is not visible.

As I was getting closer to the end, I wandered through I'm not sure what.  It was a "street" with houses/buildings on either side that looked like they could potentially be occupied at certain times of the year.  I'm not sure who or when they are occupied, but they look OLD.  Sturdy old, like they were built centuries ago of good sturdy wood that doesn't exist anymore.

Those houses in the middle of somewhere?

I made it up to the last lake, Leisee and there was a little play area and beach there.  I took off my shoes and let my feet chill in the cold stream.  I had blisters forming on my toes and by this point was pretty sure this would be my last hike of the trip.  I made my way back to Sunnegga, where I got on the cog rail for the trip back down to Zermatt, then went home, showered, and cooked some supper.

Then I went for a walk around the village, because why not?  Also, I was looking for some postcards.  And I found a restaurant owned by Samwise Gamgee

Riding the gondola up to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.

On my last full day in Zermatt, I opted for the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise journey.  This wasn't part of the plan, but my feet had said no more hiking and this at least was something (and honestly, if you're planning a trip to Zermatt, this really isn't worth the cost).  I rode multiple gondolas and cable cars over the course of the day to get to the top.  Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is located on a mountain to the side of the Matterhorn, so theoretically you should have a great view of the mountain.  If there weren't clouds in the way.  You could look out one direction and see Breithorn nice and clear.  You could even count the number of people climbing it (like real climbing sort, not hiking)...I counted 21.  But if you turned in the opposite direction towards the Matterhorn, nothing! Bummer!  But at least I did finally get to use that coat I packed!  Because it was right about freezing and the wind was blowing faster than Kansas.

Mt Breithorn

The Matterhorn

MGP had a cinema area with multiple short films about the Matterhorn and surrounding areas that in total were about 30-40 mins worth of time.  Then I headed down to their Ice Palace under the mountain.  That was kinda neat.  I hung around for a while hoping it would clear out, to no avail.

And then I decided to make a run for Italy.  Well, actually, I made the decision in the morning when I bought my tickets.  The Matterhorn actually is an international border.  It sits right on the border between Italy and Switzerland.  In winter you can actually ride all the way down to the ski village on the Italian side, but that wasn't an option this time of year.  What the website also failed to mention was that most everything was closed at Testa Griga, so really you're just paying to ride the cable car over the glacier to the station on the border and ride back.  Still kinda cool, so while I was a bit disappointed I wasn't completely disappointed.  Also, glaciers in September are ugly.  The snow from last year has all melted so all you have is that sort of dirty snow look.  Though as I learned in New Zealand, that is important.  You want some dirty snow on top because it reflects the sun back and slows melting, though you don't want too much or it heats up the snow too much.  They had a bunch of machinery up there, making sure there were no crevasses or anything under what will be ski slopes, once winter comes.  

I'm standing in two countries at once!

One overall thought I had looking at everywhere I've hiked in Switzerland is that I understand why the Swiss are such good skiers at the Olympics.  Where they're skiing is kind of insane.  I can 100% tell you that there were maybe about 3 slopes I saw that I would have felt maybe comfortable on.  At least looking at them without snow.  

In the evening I took another walk around Zermatt, and wandered down some streets I hadn't been on yet.  I found some buildings with plaques on them saying these buildings dated back to the 16th and 17th centuries!  They were quite cute looking and I could imagine Heidi's grandfather having a cozy sort of house like that up high in the mountains.

I also wandered through the town cemetery.  I found there are basically 3 families that run the town and have been there for generations.  And that there are a number of graves of people who died climbing in the area.  Most of them have death dates that say "Matterhorn" or "Breithorn" or one of the other mountains.  There was one grave that was the resting place for two friends who died on the Matterhorn, and an unknown climber who was also found up there.  

In the morning it was dreary and rainy, so no final view of the Matterhorn.  And no Yeti sighting.  Disneyland was wrong.

Last "view" of the Matterhorn.

Switzerland Alpenventure: Wengen

Last morning views from Gimmelwald.  My scene as I was putting on my hiking boot.

After three nights in Gimmelwald it was time to move on.  Up next was Wengen, further up the Lauterbrunnen Valley, closer to the entrance, but also not accessible by car.  My friend Ben recommended the place, and I trust his taste in travel enough to give it a shot.  It also was nicely located on the other side of the valley so I'd have different views and have access to other travel locations.  I had done most of my packing the night before and finished up the last of it in the morning.  Up next was making the decision about travel and in the end I decided I would rather go all the way to Wengen (pronounced Vengen, you know, the German W=V scenario) and drop my stuff off and then head back down to the floor of the valley to spend my day as planned.  

Cable Car to Stechelberg

To get to Wengen from Gimmelwald, I first took a cable car to Stechelberg, followed by a bus to Lauterbrunnen, and then the cog railway to Wengen.  After dropping my bags off at my hotel (it was too early to check in), I took the cog back down to Lauterbrunnen and started walking a path through the valley.  The path itself was rather weird because was it a wide walking and bike path, or narrow road.  Turns out technically a narrow road, but there were only a few houses off of it so I assume cars only drive down it a few times a day.  

Lauterbrunnen Valley

The best way to describe the Lauterbrunnen Valley is Yosemite Valley if Yosemite had been homesteaded before the government preserved it.  The valley has tall walls of rock a couple of thousand feet tall, and waterfalls that flow off of them.  It being September, there are only a few waterfalls flowing at this time of year, but they say when the spring runoff is melting, there are 72 waterfalls.  It is said that this valley in particular inspired JRR Tolkein to create Rivendell.

Staubbach Falls

The trail runs up the valley, past Staubbach Falls first.  It still was flowing, but was definitely a more mild waterfall than pictures show it in May and June.  Further up the valley you could see tell-tale signs of waterfalls, but they appeared dry or didn't have enough water flowing down to do more than make the rocks glisten.  The one issue with the trail is the lack of shade.  It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky and that made it rather warm.  Where are the clouds when you want them? 

Trummelbach Falls

I decided the farthest up the trail I would go was to Trummelbach Falls.  Trummelbach Falls is a series of 10 waterfalls from the melting waters of the Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger glaciers.  The cool thing about the Falls is a lot of it is inside.  Somehow someone back in the 1800s realized that this waterfall was actually falling inside the rock walls of the valley before finally dropping the last bit of it on the valley walls.  And then they thought, how can I make an attraction out of this.  This resulted in them basically building an elevator inside the rock walls and tunnels so you can see the internal falls.  The falls are lit up and definitely worth a visit in my opinion.  It was definitely a neat place.

Trummelbach Falls

On my walk back to Lauterbrunnen, I decided it was necessary to buy cheese from a cheese vending machine along the path, because why not?  When in Switzerland...

Cheese vending machine

Upon getting back to Wengen, I got checked in and then quickly made my way down to the grocery store to buy a sandwich for supper because I really wasn't in the mood for a sit-down dinner.  I wandered the length of the town and sat down on some benches up by a church that had a great view of the valley.  I sat up there finishing an audiobook while the sun set.  

Sunset from Wengen

Then I headed down to the community center where they were having a Folkloric show.  This is something they seem to do once a month during the summer months.  It started out with people carrying in these GIANT cowbells.  So big.  Apparently these bells are used to ring in the New Year and are brought out for events like this.  Then we had Ost and his Alphorn.  He played some songs on it, one being Amazing Grace. In a way it is played like a bugle, by which I mean, there is no fingerings or slides used to adjust pitch.  We had some women do some traditional dances.  The host noted that the club seemed to be missing men, so women were playing all the roles.  There was also the band that played some polkas.  I think that hit everything.  It was just happenstance that I came into town the day they were having this event.

See?  Aren't those bells gigantic?

The following morning was birthday morning!  It's fun to be able to celebrate your birthday on a trip somewhere.  I've also previously celebrated birthdays in Peru and Spain, plus some domestic trips.  The plan for the day was Grindelwald.  I was hesitant about Grindelwald because I had seen a lot of people say that it is overcrowded and not worth the hype.  Honestly, after visiting, I feel that is an apt description and I'm glad I chose not to stay there, but instead to stay in Wengen.

The fierce, fluffy guard dog at my hotel.  So much fluff!

To get to Grindelwald from Wengen, I took the cable car from Wengen to Mannlichen, up on the mountain ridge above Wengen, and then rode in a 10 person gondola on the way down, though there were only 3 of in it.  On the Wengen side, the mountain is steep, but on the Grindelwald side, the slope is much more gradual and it is dotted with ski-lifts.  

Wengen side of the mountain, with avalache protection fences. Much steeper!

The Grindelwald side of the mountain.

Before going down the gondola to Grindelwald, I hiked up to the peak of Mannlichen where there was a great view of the Lauterbrunnen Valley and the Grindelwald Valley.  You could also see one of the lakes on either side of Interlaken.  On the hike up, there were a number of signs talking about the three peaks in front of us (Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger).  The signs talked about everything from composition, to how they inspired painters and poets, to those who have climbed the Eiger North Face, and their names.  Each one also had a fun little game.

Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau from Mannlichen

After making my way back down, I got into the gondola and headed down into Grindelwald.  Upon getting to the station in Grindelwald, I was hot and sweaty, thanks to being inside a glass box on a very sunny and warm day.  Good news was there was a Lindt chocolate shop inside the station, and I got myself a delicious birthday ice cream.  I also decided it was my birthday and I wanted to be lazy, so instead of walking the mile or so to the city center area, I hopped the train.  Yes, I spent a whole 2.20 CHF because I wanted to be lazy on my birthday (with that said, I still walked over 10 miles over the course of the day).

First ice cream of the day!  Because I'm the birthday girl!

Step one upon arrival in the city center, was to find a pharmacy to buy some more ibuprofen, because I have developed shin splints, and I don't exactly have time to rest them, and my stash I brought with me was already almost gone, thanks to headaches my first two days (jetlag), and pain in my body after my hike down from Schilthorn.  From there I wandered the town, making my way towards the Grindelwald-First cable car, which will take you up to the First peak, which sits above Grindelwald.  Up there they had a bunch of hiking trails and some things like a zip line and bikes to ride down the mountain. 

View from First looking out over Grindelwald and the Grindelwald (?) Glacier.  Idk if that's its actual name.

The views were great and you could see the glacier up on the mountain above Grindelwald really well.  Unfortunately it was hot and I was hot because I had packed for cooler weather, expecting I'd think 60-75 would feel cool after all the 100+ degree days I'd been living in.  This meant I packed no shorts.  At least I did pack a few short sleeve shirts, but I was still hot and a bit miserable.  I ended up ending a planned hike only about 1/2 mile in (1 mile round trip) because I just wasn't into it.  I made my way down the mountain in a gondola with 3 Chinese men, who had matching Discovery Travel shirts so I assume they were on some guided trip and had the day in Grindelwald to do what they wanted.  

Once back in the town, I set out to find more ice cream because I was hot.  And I managed to find what has to be the cheapest ice cream spot in the country.  I got three scoops (it's my birthday!) and it was only 6 CHF.  I'd paid more for a single scoop in Zurich.  And then after finishing my ice cream, I headed down to the train station to ride the train back to Lauterbrunnen and then the cog back up to Wengen.  After a shower, I went out for supper.

My last day in Wengen, I spent hiking above the town.  I took the cable car back up to Mannlichen and then set out on the Panorama trail.  The day was cool and perfect for hiking.  I had specifically made this decision, when I saw it was going to be cooler.  Grindelwald on the hot day, hiking Mannlichen to Kleine Shieddegg to Eigergletscher on the cooler day.  The Panorama hike was a pretty easy hike for being on the side of a mountain.  The one unknown for the hike was how the Jungfrau Marathon was going to impact me.

A very different sort of weather morning from up on Mannlichen.

Yes, I happened to pick the day of the Jungfrau Marathon to hike.  The marathon started in Interlaken and climbed almost 2000m up to the Eiger Glacier.  The first half of the trail is pretty flat, before it then takes a turn for the steep as they run from Lauterbrunnen (812m) to Wengen (1283m) to Eigergletscher (2320m).  I got passed by the winners about 5 minutes before he crossed the finish line.  It took me an extra 12 or so minutes to make it up to the finish line area (obviously they weren't going to let me cross the line).  The female winner would have finished 10th overall, which I consider to be pretty impressive.  I would just like to say that at the time I reached the "finish", I had been hiking for roughly 2 hours, and had gone 4.66 miles.  

After watching some of the racers make their way up, and then eating some chocolate (insert Professor Lupin saying "eat it"), I started back down to Kleine Shieddegg, while I figured out what my plan was.  I came into the day having multiple plans.  I could take the trail across and up to Eigergletscher and back down to Keline Shieddegg and hop the cog down to Wengen, or I could hike back across to where I came back up on a different trail.  After seeing how crowded the trains were, and the fact I was feeling pretty good still, I decided to hike back.  I finished my day hiking a total of 10 miles (almost exactly) in 6 hours.  Though my Garmin tells me only 3hr 56 m of that was moving time.  I spent some time snacking, taking photos, and watching racers so that checks out.  And then I spent some time dying on my last uphill trek of the Romantic Trail (misnomer, there was nothing romantic about it!).  

The cog coming down from Eigergletscher.

On the cable car ride back into Wengen, there were some marathoners on it, which means they made it to the top and then chose to hike another like 2-3 miles back to this cable car after!  Insane!  Of course they run marathons, so we already knew they were insane.

I suspect fall colors are starting to creep into some of the alpine brush.

Up next is Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn.  And as Disneyland has taught me, the Yeti.

Switzerland Alpenventure: Gimmelwald

I woke up my last morning in Luzern, packed up and pulled up the SBB App.  This app is where you can buy transport tickets throughout Switzerland.  Tickets for trains, cable cars, pretty much everything, I think.  It is nice because I was able to put in Luzern to Murren, and not have to buy separate tickets for each different leg or type of leg of my journey.  The trip from Luzern to Gimmelwald (my final destination) involved a train from Luzern to Interlaken Ost; a train from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen; a cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grutslap; a train from Grutslap to Murren; and lastly, a cable car from Murren to Gimmelwald.  I intially only bought a ticket to Murren, because I hadn't decided if I wanted to take the walking path from Murren to Gimmelwald or the cable car.  By the time I arrived in Murren and trekked from one side of the village to the other, I had decided I was paying the extra 3.20 CHF (roughly $4) to take the cable car.  I still stand by my decision to only pack in backpacks though, because nothing sucks more than suitcases on cobblestones and hauling them up stairs.

The trip from Luzern to Murren was roughly 3 hours and boy was it a beautiful 3 hours.  I did seem to be on the wrong side of the train though.  I hadn't really thought about it when I boarded.  There was a map on the little ledge in my seats and I saw that for about 2/3 of the trip I'd be on the wrong side, but then the last part, I should have all the views of the lakes out my window.  Even being on the wrong side, things were gorgeous.  Bright blue lakes!  Green mountain sides!  Farms!  On my side there were a lot of backyards with small gardens and fruit trees.  Lots of apple trees.  It makes me want to plant an apple tree in the community garden.  Then we pulled into a town and I thought I was going to be on the right side to see the lakes and everything, but it turns out that was were the train pulled into the station in town and backed out, so I was still on the wrong side!

One of the many lakes we passed on the train.

At Interlaken I had about a 10 minute layover between trains.  Then I got on for the short trip to Lauterbrunnen.  The train actually split into two somewhere between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen with half the train going to Grindelwald and the other half going to Lauterbrunnen.  At Lauterbrunnen, I stopped by the bathroom and then headed to my first cable car-as-transit-between-towns cable car.  The cable car to Pilatus was more of just a ride up the mountain and seemed like a tourist attraction; but here it was actual transportation.

Up at the top of the cable car line I got onto a 2 car train.  I don't know how they got the train up there.  I seriously want to know.  The ride from Grutslap to Murren was maybe 15 minutes.  You were traveling up on the ridge of a mountain getting peaks of what lay across the valley through the pine trees.

View from the train between Grutslap and Murren.

Upon arrival at Murren, I walked the length of the town, stopping at the grocery store in town to get some food for the next day or two.  Overall, while the prices were probably higher than in Luzern, they weren't as bad as I expected, considering that all the food has to arrive in Murren via cable car/train.  With another bag in hand now, I was for sure taking the cable car to Gimmelwald.

The view from the hostel window.  See, totally worth it!

So how to describe Gimmelwald?  A Swiss Hobbiton.  It's rustic, beautiful, built on the side of a grassy hill.  I read about Gimmelwald in a guidebook, which I soon learned was very old fashioned of me as the two others I was talking to while eating supper and hanging out after learned of it from TikTok.  They were both in the 18-25 range, so just mere babies.  Haha!  One was from Estonia and the other from New Zealand.  The girl from Estonia had never seen mountains before and was so excited!

Gimmelwald

See, couldn't you imagine Samwise Gamgee living here?

I'm staying at the Mountainhostel which has room for like 60 people in 3 dorms, where you're literally sleeping side-by-side.  Luckily for me I at least am on an end, so I'm only sleeping next to one person and it is a lot easier for me to get in and out.  But the bed really isn't that bad and the views are just stunning.  Everyone is like, "honestly, I'm here for the views and the bed works."  

After arriving and setting up my bunk, I grabbed my computer to type up my Luzern post and then headed out for a walk around the village.  The town is a farming village, so there are goats and cows out and around (you can hear them clanging).  On the walk I passed multiple houses that had mini-fridges where you could buy cheese and some other homemade things from them.  They just have an honesty box to put money into or a QR code to send money to.  In the evening I had some ham and cheese sandwiches, chatted, and then played some Estonian card game.

Buy yourself some cheese!

In the morning I ate breakfast and then headed out for a day on Schilthorn.  Schilthorn is a peak on the west side of the Lauterbrunnen valley and the perfect place from which to view Jungfrau, the highest peak in the area, and home to the Jungfrau Glacier, though from the look of things, there are a bunch of glaciers in the area.  To get to Schilthorn, I took the cable car to Murren, and then another one up to Birg.  Birg sits most of the way up and was about a 5 minute trip.  Up there at the visitor center there is a walkway clinging to the side of the mountain and some great viewing sights of not just Jungfrau, but also Monch and the Eiger.  I was familiar with the Eiger from a Jon Kraukauer book.  It is known for its rock climbing North Face, which appears to be a fairly vertical climb.

Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau (Peaks from left to right)

I hadn't been up there for more than 5-10 minutes when clouds moved into the valley.  NOOOOOO!!!  And right as I hit a point on the walkway with a sign that said "Photo Point", you couldn't see a thing other than white in the valley.  Bummer.  I made my way back up to the viewing point and sat there for another 10-15 mintues, hoping it would clear out before giving up.  I figured I might as well make my way to the top as I still had tickets up there, even if I don't see anything.  But it turns out we were just in some clouds because as we climbed higher up to Schilthorn, it cleared and you could see all three peaks right there!  Stunning!

Above the clouds

I real quickly make a quick pass around, getting photos in every direction just in case the clouds moved in.  Luckily though, for the time I was up there it was just intermittent clouds and nothing that blocked the view for long.  From up on Schilthorn, you can see not only the 3 peaks right in front of you across the valley, but in one spot, between two mountains you can see Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe; but it is so far away it isn't all that impressive.

Mont Blanc is the snow-capped mountain almost dead center, way in the back.

One of the things Schilthorn is known for is its ties to James Bond.  Apparently a lot of filming for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, a late 1960s post-Sean Connery Bond film, was filmed atop the mountain.  At that point in time they hadn't completely finished building the restaurant and other fixtures in the building, so they let the film take over.  What a great way to bring in more tourism after it was finished.  In the building is a whole display on the filming of the movie.  And it appears I failed to take a photo of the building with my phone (where I get the pictures for my posts from), so I guess you'll just have to create something up in your mind.  I was too distracted by the mountains!

Quick break from eating lunch, to take a picture.

I had a great classic Swiss lunch of ham, cheese, and bread before taking one last round of photos and taking the cable car back down to Birg.  Instead of taking the cable car the rest of the way down, I was going to hike down to Gimmelwald.  According to AllTrails, the route I was planning to take would be a little over 5 miles.  A pretty steady descent.  I failed to notice it was a 4400 foot descent!  Oh my knees!  But it was pretty and the views worth the pain of the following day.

On the way down, I passed some paragliders who were about to take off, and watched them go.  I got my required handstand photo(s).  I got to walk past cows in a field.  I also got to the point where I was afraid if I sat down, I wouldn't want to stand back up, so I didn't let myself sit.  Just keep moving, moving, moving.

The views the whole way down were amazing!  I eventually walked out on that ridge on the right and down into the valley you see.

Cows!

When I reached the top of Gimmelwald I was so thrilled.  Upon returning to the hostel, I grabbed a quick shower and change of clothes, and some ibuprofen for the knees.  Then I went next door to a proper three course Swiss dinner, which was absolutely delicious!  I went to bed early as I was exhausted, taking another round of pain pills before bed.

Sunset as the mountains reflect the sun.  It didn't hit like this the following evening.

I slept soundly and woke up rested, but sore.  It was obvious that the via ferrata plans were being scrapped.  It was just going to be a fairly lazy day.  I walked the 1.5 miles to Murren, slowly, working out the soreness in my hips.  Then I took a slow loop around town before getting some hot chocolate and a cookie.  Sometimes a nice relaxing day is what you need.  Especially after hiking 4400 feet down a mountain.  

Road to Murren

Murren

Up on the ridge in the background is where I hiked from the day before.