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.