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.