Saturday, August 31, 2002 - Esther's Guest House, Gimmelwald

Breakfast served by Esther with enough bread and cheese left over to pack for lunch. Met up with John after breakfast for a hike: Spielbodenalp, Schiltalp, Mürren. We left at 10:00 and took our time climbing a fairly steep trail, through meadows and past farm buildings, and then through evergreen forest. We climbed down through a small gorge to walk under a waterfall (Sprutz). When we emerged from the woods, there were meadows, cows, and farms again, but the trail was still uphill. We passed the Spielbodenalp Berghaus and then continued another 200m in altitude up to Schiltalp, another Berghaus. These are alps (summer farms) that now offer meals and sometimes overnight accommodations to hikers. Many are still working farms and produce their own dairy products and sausage. At Schiltalp we ate a picnic lunch and then had milkshakes at the the alp. We also bought some of their cheese and some dried alpine plants to use to make tea. After lunch we descended to Mürren to buy groceries, and then on back down to Gimmelwald.

Note for Nancy G. O'C.: Schiltalp had three kinds of cheese: fresh, aged, and soft. We bought some of the aged and some soft. Both were delicious.

We cooked our own dinner, then met John at the only restaurant here, for dessert and coffee. Dessert was apple pie and "Rossbolle" (translated on the menu as "horse shit balls").

Sunday, September 1, 2002

Fog and drizzle all day. Went with John to the Trümmelbach Falls – favorite rainy day destination around here. All the snowmelt from the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau drains here and has formed waterfalls that have drilled through the mountain. Inside the mountain, the water tumbles in amazing twists and turns, carving out caverns and tunnels.

We had an afternoon of rest and planning. Apparently this weather is the same all over Switzerland, but we decided to try going SW (Esther said the weather is heading east). So tomorrow we take the train to Martigny and then the bus to Mauvoisin to stay at a mountain inn there.

Monday. September 2, 2002 - Hôtel de Mauvoisin

We took the 10AM gondola down from Gimmelwald, then the bus, train, etc. to arrive in Martigny at about 2:30. We went to the bus stop to get the bus to Mauvoisin, but a lady told us we first had to take "le petit train rouge" to Le Châble. The bus ride from there to Mauvoisin was an adventure. We didn't count the many narrow hairpin turns made by the full-size bus on a one-lane road. We passed through towns where the façades of the houses were about 2 ft. from the sides of the bus on both sides.

For dinner, Raclette was served and our host instructed us in the proper techniques. The hotel is in a protected area. There is a herd of a special breed of cows that pastures here. The cheese from these is supposed to be the best – it was very good. A half-wheel of cheese is heated in a special appliance that melts one layer at a time. As the layers melt, each is scraped off and served one at a time – taking turns among the guests. Accompaniments included pickled onions and gherkins, rösti (potatoes) and viande sechée (dried meat) – and wine!

Tuesday, September 3, 2002

Hike to Pierre-à-Vire and Tsessette Glacier

It rained all night and there was fog and drizzle in the morning. We put on our rain gear and set out for a hike at 10:15. It started with a steep climb on short switchbacks for about 1½ hours, when we reached high meadows. There would have been fantastic views if we had not been enveloped in fog. We saw the famous Herens cows – we heard them first with their big bells. Then we climbed some more – more gradually – and the sun came out! We had great views of the peaks and glaciers. Just below the Tsessette Glacier we turned around. As we reached the cows again, they were being herded to another meadow for the night. We had to take a little detour off the trail to make way. After the cows, we took a different route down. It took us through a series of tunnels cut into the mountain. There were windows where you could look out across the lake.

Distance: approx. 12k
Climb: approx. 700m
Time: 7 hrs (stopping for rest, photos, lunch, etc.)

Wednesday, September 4, 2002

Cloudy – Walked to Fionnay, took a short hike there, and then took the bus back. Weather forecast not good.

Note on Mauvoisin: Mauvoisin is not really a town. There is a hydroelectric dam, part of a series that provides power for the Valais. The dams are located in the river valleys that have been formed by the drainage from the glaciers. These rivers all flow into the Rhône. At Mauvoisin there is some temporary housing for the dam workers – and the hotel sitting up on a huge rock. Three buses a day come up here.

Thursday, September 5, 2002 - Hike to Le Col des Otanes 2848m

The sun was shining this morning! So we decided to stay another day and do the hike we came here for.

Distance: approx. 10k
Climb: 1000m
Time: 4hr 15min up and 3hr 30min down
Terrain: very difficult: steep climbs, boulder fields, scree, wet scree and rocks, steep rock and stream scrambles.
Rewards: Fantastic views in all directions:
  • Le Petit Combin 3663m
  • Le Glacier de Corbassière
  • Le Glacier de Gietroz
  • Combin de Corbassière 3715m
  • Becca de Sery 2863m
  • Glacier de Follâts
Friday, September 6, 2002 – Hôtel du Castel, Sion

We took the first bus to Le Châble, then "le petit train rouge" (actually the St. Bernard Express – and one of the locals had two St. Bernards with him on the train) – then the regular train to Sion, the capital of the Valais. The Swiss transportation system is amazing – we just hopped off one vehicle and onto another. When we arrived in Sion, the information office was closed so we went to a sidewalk café and had pizza for lunch. We went to the tourist office when it opened and got a map and the locations of the three hotels in town. The first two were full, but fortunately we got a room in the third. It's the weekend and there's a music festival going on.

Sion is on the Rhône and in the wine-growing region of the Valais. The hillsides are covered with vines. We walked around the old part of town and had dinner at a sidewalk café, looking up the cobbled street, past the old buildings with shutters, balconies, and window boxes, up to the vine-covered hillsides.

Saturday, September 7, 2002

We have tried in vain to find a laundromat and an internet connection here. People don't even seem to know what we're talking about. There are no English-speaking tourists here. The people at the train station and tourist offices speak English, but not the local people in hotels and restaurants. Gimmelwald was full of American tourists. Even though it is such a tiny village, it has apparently been written up in a popular guidebook. Most of the people there spoke some English.

Today we walked up to the two châteaux, each on a separate hill overlooking the city. They date from about the 12-13th centuries, but have been destroyed, rebuilt, added to, etc. throughout their history. Le chateau de Turbillon is mostly a ruin, but the Chateau de Valère still has an active parish church and houses a very interesting history museum in the old rooms of the castle. The oldest playable organ in the world is in the church. We picnicked in one of the courtyards overlooking the town. Later we went down and walked along the Rhône river. We had bouillabaisse in a sidewalk restaurant for dinner.

Sunday, September 8, 2002 – Hotel Weisshorn

We took a train, two buses, a funicular, and then hiked up 1½ hours to this hotel perched above the valley. The room is large with views on two sides. You can see down into the valley or across to the snow-capped peaks. There are several English-speaking guests here – British and American. Apparently this hotel is included in a popular walking tour from Chamonix to Zermatt.

Both of the mountain hotels that we've visited so far (Weisshorn and Mauvoisin) have ironing rooms: all the duvet covers, pillowcases, and dresser scarves are ironed. The beds have a sort of terry cloth bottom sheet and a duvet. The staff is always busy cleaning and scrubbing. We went for a short walk when we arrived and now we're having a four-course dinner (included in the demi-pension) – sitting looking out the window at the sun setting over the mountains.

The local (Valais – Rhône valley) white wines are Fendants and you can order different growers. In Sion there are wine-tasting rooms sponsored by a group of growers called "Le Verre à Pied"

Monday, September 9, 2002 – Hike to Pointes de Nava and Col de la Forcletta 2876m.

We hiked along the ridge south of the hotel. It is wild and rocky and desolate, with a series of jagged points along the top. After we came around the end of the ridge we climbed 270m to a pass, Col de la Forcletta. It was cloudy so we only got glimpses of the snow-capped peaks on all sides as the clouds moved. We descended on the same path and then returned to the hotel on the other side of the ridge. The trail was less well marked and disappeared at times, but after a few wrong turns we made it back – 6 hours total. Fauna: cows, sheep, marmots, one fox.

We're having dinner, looking out the window at --- nothing! Completely fogged in. Tried another local wine, a very light red Dôle.

Later: the clouds moved just in time to see a sliver of sunset.

Tuesday, September 10, 2002 – Hike to Lac de Toûno 2659m.

We woke up above the clouds. The villages in the valley were hidden and so were the mountain peaks. But there was sun here. The weather has gotten colder and the wind is blowing. We took a short hike today, found a sunny spot to eat a picnic lunch, and then rested in the afternoon. My legs are tired!

Thursday, September 12, 2002 – Hotel Dufour, Zermatt

Yesterday we walked 2 hours down to the bus stop in St. Luc. (it would have been about 1½ hours but we took a wrong turn and had to climb up again). St. Luc is a really charming town with a hotel (Hôtel Bella Tola), a funicular, and skiing in the winter. We took the two buses (roller coaster rides again) to Sierre, picked up our extra bag and then took the train to Zermatt. The Zermatt train hugs the side of the gorge and goes through picturesque towns. The roofs of the houses are made of huge slabs of locally quarried green quartz. When we arrived at the train station in Zermatt it was a huge disappointment after the charming towns we had visited so far. The station is dirty, the town is jammed with hotels, and the main street is lined with souvenir shops and crowded with tourists. There are no cars allowed in the town, but there are little electric carts everywhere. It was cloudy when we arrived so we didn't even get to see the Matterhorn. However, the hotel has made up for it. It is a little way off the main street, very quiet and comfortable, with the best breakfast in Switzerland! We also found a quiet restaurant for dinner last night and finally had fondue.

Friday, September 13, 2002 – Suppenalp

This morning blue skies! Yesterday we took the lifts (underground funicular and gondola) up to Blauherd and then walked to Flualp and a little beyond. We climbed a small ridge to look down on the Findeln glacier. We then hiked across to Riffelalp and took the Gornergratbahn down (cog railway). The clouds parted at times so we could see the mountains. There were lots of people out hiking – in contrast to the other areas we've been, where we rarely ran into other hikers.

Last night we had dinner at the same restaurant (Stockhorn), but had leg of lamb roasted over a wood fire. They were also roasting chicken over the fire on a spit turned by a gear mechanism driven by a weight, which was suspended up over the main archway of the room.

We left Zermatt and took four trains, a bus, and a cable car to Mürren, then walked to this old farmhouse (200m climb). Our window looks across at the Jungfrau and the sheets are ironed! This is just above where we started out (Gimmelwald) but now the skies are clear and we can see all the mountains.

When we went down to dinner we realized we were the only overnight guests (although they're booked for tomorrow – Saturday). Some locals were having beer but they left while we were eating dinner. Then the one of our hostesses left to go home (when we arrived one showed us our room and the other was ironing). Towards the end of dinner, the other woman said – "So, you're not afraid to stay here alone, I'm going home. Don't worry if you hear someone outside at 4AM. It's just Danny the farmer next door." So here we are bundled under the duvets, keeping warm, drinking our schnapps (a new habit we've acquired - so far we've had apricot, pear, apple, and plum.)

Saturday, September 14, 2002 – Rotstockhütte 2040m.

Our hostess returned in the morning and served our breakfast. She also answered Kent's questions about the farming and the life in the Lauterbrunnental. We left some of our stuff there – we'll be returning Sunday night – and started out at 9:30 for Rotstockhütte and Sefinenfurgge – the pass over to the next valley, the Kiental. We stopped at Rotstockhütte and dropped off more of our stuff before our climb to the pass. It only took an hour and a half – we thought it would take longer – not as hard as Col des Otanes. The pass is at 2612m. We turned around and took our time coming down – back to Rotstockhütte where we will spend the night – sleeping side by side on mattresses on the floor with 50 other people, three dogs, and a baby! It's Saturday night and the dormitory is full. There is a shed outside with two latrines and a washroom – two cold water faucets over a metal trough. One French family here is talking on their cell phones! The couple who run the hut is French and used to have a famous restaurant in Montreux. The husband does all of the cooking. It was a delicious gourmet meal – to make up for the cold weather, cold water, and cold latrines. We saw the alpenglow on the mountains after dinner – and later a clear sky full of stars.

Sunday, September 15, 2002 –Suppenalp

We breakfasted and were on our way by 8:45, arriving back here in a couple of hours. We just sort of wandered around the Mürren and Gimmelwald area, deciding what to do for the last three days. We are tired from yesterday's hike. We have a different room this time. You have to duck through the doorway. Depending on where he is in the room, Kent's head touches the ceiling or has about an inch of clearance.

Monday, September 16, 2002

It has been getting colder and colder. It goes down into the 30's at night, but warms up when the sun comes over the mountains.

Tuesday, September 17, 2002 – Esther's Guesthouse, Gimmelwald

We're back at Esther's for two nights. We got to cook our own dinner last night and have vegetables!

After breakfast yesterday we walked down to Mürren, bought groceries, and took the cable car the rest of the way down to Gimmelwald. Then we checked email at the hostel and found out about the broken skylight. It was too early to call anyone so we left for our day's excursion: cable car, bus, train, hike, cable car, train, bus, cable car – to go down to the valley (Lauterbrunnental) and up the other side. We're getting our money's worth from the Swiss pass. We took the Junfraubahn up to Kleine Scheidegg, then hiked up to Männlichen, a little peak with a 360° view if the surrounding mountains and valleys. We could see just about every place we'd been in this area: the lake at Interlaken, the little towns we passed through on the train, Gimmelwald, Mürren, Lauterbrunnen, Schilthorn, Grindelwald, the way up to Suppenalp and Rotstockhütte – and of course all the mountains including Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau. Kent's comment: "The Swiss really do a good job with their scenery" and I add "and their ironing". This is also a great ski area where the lift system (chairs, gondolas, funiculars, cable cars) allows you to ski everywhere all along both sides of the Lauterbrunnental.

After dinner we went to the pension (the only restaurant in town) for our schnapps (apple-pear) and there was a tour group there, being entertained. Kent finally got to realize one of his goals - seeing how an alpenhorn was played.

Later...

Today we took the usual cable car and bus to Lauterbrunnen and then took BOB (Berner Oberland-Bahn) to Grindelwald, the town at the other end of the valley. We took another cable car to Pfinnstegg and then hiked up to Stieregg. This trail (300m climb – 1½ hr.) traverses the mountainside across from the east wall of the Eiger and the Untergrindelwald glacier. At Stieregg there is a small Berghaus perched on the mountainside with a restaurant and a dormitory. We had a picnic lunch looking across a the glacier, watching and listening for pieces breaking off. It was kind of sad – our last hike.

Thursday, September 19, 2002 – Zürich Flughafen

We spent most of yesterday traveling from Gimmelwald to Zürich. We were a little overwhelmed when we arrived at the Zürich train station, after being in all the small towns. We went to the tourist office to find a hotel. We got a room for the night a few minutes walk from the train station – trains go to the airport every few minutes. It is the weirdest hotel room we've ever seen. There are two twin beds, one on either side of the room, and in between there is a wall with two orange closet-like structures – one the shower and the other the toilet. There is a sink on one side of the room and a small desk and TV on the other -–and narrow aisles to walk among all of these features.

We walked around this part of the city, which includes many of the attractions: lake, opera, old city, shopping street; then found a restaurant and sat outside for dinner. Afterwards, we sat outside at the hotel for our schnapps.

Other Notes