Thursday 14th May - First mountain from Grindelwald

I should say, that when I booked the various campsites for our journey, I sort of thought the one in Lauterbrunnen (booked through the CAMC), was closer to Grindelwald, and I was sort of disappointed that we were in a different valley.  I'd seen everything you could do from Grindelwald, and thought that was were I wanted us to be.  In my head, if we were ever to visit the area again, I would make sure I found a campsite in the right valley. 

So I was excited that today we were going to have a look at what we were missing.  Once again we walked to Lauterbrunnen Station, and then brought train tickets to take us to Grindelwald.  We'd have to change at Zweilutschinen, but the overhead screens showed us exactly where we were, and Peter is beginning to accept that public transport isn't all bad. (£37)

At Grindelwald, we got off the train and took a little while to find our bearings.  We didn't really know what we were going to do whilst we were here and found the Tourist Information Office to get a few ideas.  I was thinking we'd take it easy, seeing as we'd already walked quite a bit over the last two days.  Grindelwald is quite a big town.  As I looked around, I decided I was glad we were stopping in Lauterbrunnen, I think I much preferred it. 

In the end, we opted for a cable car up to First, (£152), which is named for its location as a minor summit on the slopes of the Schwarzhorn.  There are a couple of cable car stations on the way up, and we watched with fascination the system of transporting bikes and scooters as they were attached the outside of the cable cars at Bort and Schreckfeld. 

The weather at First was a lot cooler than down in Grindelwald.  In fact it was snowing.  Good job we'd brought hats and gloves then!  There are a few things you can do from First, such as riding the scooters and cycles down the hill, or taking a "Flyer", which is basically whizzing down with your friends on a zip wire. 

After a good look around and loads of photographs, we opted for lunch inside before doing anything else.  We opted for burger and chips, - the portions were MASSIVE, and we sat down opposite a German couple on who I inflicted my very poor german. (I was determined to practice it somewhere).

After lunch, during a bathroom visit, I bumped into another resident from our campsite.  A single lass, with a toddler and a baby, who had travelled from the UK.  I was amazed at her resilience, as she took the often crying baby and her very patient little boy everywhere, such as the showers, the bins, the shops and up First mountain in a cable car, pushchair and all.  I told her so.

Next, it was time to tackle the Cliff Walk.  I wasn't sure, knowing my abject fear of walking over platforms where you could see the hundreds of feet of drop below through it.  This is why I hadn't been able to do it at Birg, on the way down from Piz Gloria.  But I felt I had missed out, and really wanted to try it.  This time I took it on, with Peter in front of me.  I thought if I didn't look down, I wouldn't find it so scary.  

Pfffft to that idea.  I was absolutely petrified.  I knew I couldn't look down, but I couldn't look out at the views either, I just wanted to get across as fast as possible.  So I stared at the back of Peter's head and willed him on.  We got to the other end, I regretted not being able to enjoy the views, and I wished my head could work the same as everyone else's and understand that the walkway was perfectly safe.

So, that challenge complete, we decided we'd like to walk to Bachalpsee, something we'd planned to do as soon as we got on the cable car.  According to all the write ups, it was quite beautiful.

When we had left Grindelwald far below, the weather was a bit glum, but not too bad.  When we had arrived at First, it was cold and overcast, with plenty of snow on the ground, but not too bad.  Now we were getting the odd flurry of snow, but it wasn't too bad.  We had hats and gloves, so we set off.

The walk to Bachalpsee is actually quite long, nearly two miles.  It's probably really lovely in the summer, surrounded by green and mountains.  Today everything was grey and white, and the odd snow flurries turned into extended stretches of wind blasted frozen sleet. It turns out a brolly is quite useful in such circumstances.  There were several couples also making the trek, one or two of which turned back.  I had to admit I wasn't sure it was a good idea to carry on, but Peter was sure it would be fine.  We ended up with a lad from China as company, because he didn't want to be in his own, (wisely), but he did talk a lot.

We got to the lake, which was disappointing because you couldn't really see it as it was frozen over (we had been warned), although the sky did clear a little and the sun showed through the clouds for a few moments.  We got our photographs, and then it was time to walk back. 

 The weather didn't ease at all.  Back at the cable car stations, and the adventure activities (flyer, cycles and scooters), had all been stopped.  In the cable car on the way down, we could see (or not see to be honest), why.  Visibility had reduced to nothing, with the cable cars and cables in front of us disappearing into the cloud. 

So from Grindelwald, it was back on the train to Lauterbrunnen, a visit to the COOP for a few more supplies (and chocolate) and then back to the van.  Bearing in mind I thought we would probably have an easy day of it, we'd walked around 9 miles.  Absolutely shattered!  But tomorrow the weather is going to be really bad, so we are going to have a quiet day in the van, just chilling. Phew! 

Wednesday 13th May, a Wengen Walk

We knew the weather today was going to be nice, and we'd already used up the plan to go up the Schilthorn, so I spent last night working on what to do today.   One of the things I wanted to do was walk in the lovely green flower filled meadow plateaus up in the mountains, such as we'd seen at Murren from our cable car journey yesterday.  The railway station is just a short walk (about 3/4 mile), from the camp site, and I'd worked out we could get a cogwheel train from there to Kleine Scheidegg for about £40 each.  We'd be about at 6760 feet which is extraordinarily high in comparison to our mountains back in England, and there are several walking trails up there.  All prepped and ready, we set off quite late, (after 11 I think), got to the station, and were flabbergasted at being told the price was close to £200 for the both of us! We left the ticket booth for a think. 

After a stressful discussion, we eventually decided to go to Wengen.  It's the same cog wheel train, just an earlier stop, and only cost about £30 for the both of us.  Tickets bought, off we went.  Peter managed to find a walking route on Komoot for us, we had sandwiches and drinks in the rucksacks, and the sun was out.  Just perfect.

And it was.  We ended up in a flower filled meadows above Lauterbrunnen exactly as I wanted.

The cogwheel train on it's way up from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg

At one point, I jotted down all the flowers I could see alongside the path, Yellow Rattle, Early Purple Orchids, Tormentil, Rock Rose, Violets, Birds-foot Trefoil, Cowslips, Wood Cranesbill, Germander Speedwell, Black Medick, Bugloss, Wood Forget-me-not, Red Campion, and Ladies Mantle.  And they were just the ones I could see and identify.  It was absolutely gorgeous up there.

We did end up walking through the woods for a bit though, which is never my favourite, but it was sort of interesting, and then we were back out at the beautiful village of Wengen.

It seems to be a popular holiday destination.  There were loads of people with luggage using the cog wheel train to get back and forth from the village.  What a fantastic place to wake up in every morning.

View up the valley from Wengen

We took the cogwheel train back to Lauterbrunnen, and popped into the COOP for supplies.  I think the COOP might be the Co Op in disguise, but I'm not entirely sure.   It had everything we needed, except red peppers? 

The weather is supposed to be a bit dreary tomorrow, but I've worked out how to get to Grindelwald, in the valley next door, so that's where we are going next.  

Monday 12th May - Day 1 in Lauterbrunnen (or should that be Rivendell?) Trummelbach Falls and a Bose moment

Lauterbrunnen is a small town in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and the valley is absolutely stunning!  Created by glaciers, there are large stretches of vertical cliffs up to 1000m high running along it's sides.  With 72 waterfalls falling dramatically over the cliff walls, and the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains towering above, you can see how it would be the inspiration for Tolkien's Rivendell. 

The Jungfrau, towering over Lauterbrunnen Valley

Our plan today wasn't too athletic or hectic. We knew that if we took a walk alongside the river that runs down the valley,  we could visit the Trummelbach falls, about 1.7 miles away, and if we walked a bit further we could get to the Stechelberg cable car station which will take you up to Piz Gloria of 007 fame.  With the weather forecast distinctly glum, we decided to visit the falls,  and maybe walk to the cable car station afterwards and get an idea of the prices, lay of the land etc. 

Dressed for wet weather, we set of on the 45 minute walk to the falls. The Lauterbrunnen valley is spectacular. The sheer cliffs rising up around and above us, the snow covered mountains, the waterfalls and the flower filled meadows at the bottom.  Even in wet weather, the landscape is outstanding.  I just loved every step.

Low clouds are hiding the mountains

The tourist description for the falls is: "the largest underground waterfalls in Europe...... Feel the power of the glacier water of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau".  As usual, I had an idea what to expect, cos I looked at the website.  Peter lets me surprise him. 

I find it amazing how other countries are prepared to invest the time, work and money to make places accessible.  The falls are inside the mountain, but the Swiss have tunnelled and then built walk ways to allow people to visit, and I am so glad they did, we had a fantastic time.  First a funicular lift takes you up 100m inside the rock towards the highest sets of falls.

You can walk up a little further, and then follow the walkways and platforms down to see all ten sets of falls as the Trummelbach river drops 140 meters inside the rock.  The sheer power of the water is amazing, looking up, you can see where it had carved it's path downwards through hundreds of meters of rock.  We loved it. 

The first five or six drops are inside the mountain, and then the route takes you outside to follow steps down the mountain slopes down to the floor of the valley.

Mountain Cowslip

Eventually we reached the bottom.  Time for a loo visit, quick snack on mini cheddars and 10 minute rest.  The sun had come out  and everything was drying out and looking a lot less grey.  Next stop Stechelberg cable car station.

So another 45 mins or so of walking, and it's beautiful.

The snow topped mountains, dramatic cliffs, paragliders,  green meadows full of flowers and waterfalls  (I know, I'm repeating myself) under blue skies and glorious sunshine.  We even heard the cowbells echoing around the valley.

One of the valley's 72 waterfalls

Before too long we were at the station.  The plan was find out where everything was, timings, costs and possible discounts, and then walk back to the campsite.  The cable ride was to be tomorrow's day out  when the weather was going to be much better.  But the weather was already lovely, and we had already walked the three miles to the station, and we had good four hours before we would have to get the last cable car down.  With a 30% discount on the price, bringing a £230(ish) trip down to £162 we decided to go for it. 

It's called a Bose moment.  A moment when we suddenly and unexpectedly decide to spend a lot of money on something that we weren't really planning to buy or spend that sort of money on. 

From the first cable car - looking down on the valley to our right

So one Bose moment later, we were on our way up to Piz Gloria.  You have to change at Murren, a pretty and much visited village, then Birg, which has a Skyline Walk and a Thrill Walk, (more about them later), and then the final stop in on top of the Schilthorn. 

Looking down on the valley to our left - our campsite is a way off, around the corner

Still going up. There are lots of little villages on these mountain plateaus - their main mode of transport to get up here is the cable car.  

Piz Gloria is the revolving restaurant there - it got it's name from the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service - (the film makers contributed financially to it's completion).  007 and the film are very much part of it's attraction, including a whole exhibition dedicated to the film.

You can see it a the top of the mountain, a revolving restaurant - who else but Blofeld would think of it?

I can't put into words how beautiful, overwhelming, amazing and incredibly fantastic the views were up there.  First, we wandered around the terraces and platforms, trying to take it all in.  Photo's and film just cannot do it justice, and you wander around trying to burn it all into your memory. 

Then we went inside to try and get something to eat, since it was about 3pm and all we'd had since breakfast was a packet of mini cheddars.  There is a small informal cafe, but it wouldn't take card, and then we found the stairs to the restaurant!   Once inside we realised that the way it works is that the outer section of the floor rotates inside the building.  As you sit, your table moves, passing different windows and views, travelling the full 360 degrees within the circular building every 45 minutes.  It was quite exciting to be sat in the place designed for the rich and famous of the film, watching the mountains and scenery change.  We absolutely loved it.  (Reasonably priced too.)

Keeping an eye on the time, we checked out the OHMSS display, bought a little momento from the shop and then took the cable car down to the next station, Birg

Views from the Birg cable car station

As I mentioned before, there is a Skyline Walk and a Thrill Walk.  The Skyline walk isn't much really, a platform built out over the side of the mountain to enjoy the views from.  Except.....  as I discovered as I strode on down the stairs and out onto it.......  The floor is see through!  And the barrier fence at the far side is made of glass.  I shouldn't have looked down, but I was suddenly in a panic.  My brain looked at the massive drop beneath me and decided NO! NO! NO!  So I scurried very quickly back to the safety of the platform with a solid floor.  Weird innit?  I know that many of the platforms and terraces on these mountains are built out over drop, but I can't see it, so I don't care.

I did try again to walk out on the Skyline Walk, but I failed. 

Peter on the other hand was having a whale of a time.  The see through floor and glass barrier didn't phase him at all, so he decided to take on the Thrill Walk.

Peter on the thrill walk.

I could see him from above - it's basically a path attached to the cliff wall with a see through floor.  There was also a part with a rope walk.  Peter took it on, although I think even he was a little scared by it cos it wobbled.

And then it was time to go back, down to the next station, Murren, change cable car, down to Stechelberg and from there 1.7 mile walk to our van in Lauterbrunnen. 

Murren seen from the cabl car.  1638 m (5374 ft) above sea level.

What a absolutely fantastic day.   Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat.   And again and again and again.  But tomorrow we are going somewhere new.