26th September 2010

Yesterday as forecast was wet, cold and windy. So we once again took the train to Bern for another look around. There is snow on all the mountains, even the lower ones. Our apartment is surrounded by snow covered peaks at the moment. But I think the cold will be gone in a couple of days and it will probably melt quickly.
Our apartment is near Spiez which is on the Thunersee. Ray has been wanting to go for a boat ride on the see, so today was the day. We went across the see to a place called Oberhofen where there is an old castle sitting near the water. After a look around Oberhofen, we walked to Thun for a look around, then caught the train back to Spiez.

Castle near our apartment, at Spiez.

Looking back to our apartment at Hondrich, top middle of the hill in the foreground.

Oberhofen

Thun

24th September 2010

Getting to the end of our holiday and there are still so many hikes that I want to do. So which one to do today? We decided to go back to Meiringen where the train had broken down on us. We had big plans for the day. A hike of about 5 hours. But the start of the hike was so steep, I had lost my enthusiasm to go much further. We had caught a mountain lift from Meiringen to the Bidmi stop and headed towards Balisalp. But not far from Balisalp, we stopped for a break and decided to change our plans for the day. The wind was so strong and it was bitterly cold. And with our initial route being so exposed and with no protection, we headed in another direction and hiked to Kaserstatt and then to Magisalp where we took a cable car back down to Meiringen. Even though we cut the hike short, there were some magnificent views as we got up high.

We got back to the car and thought that we would go and have a look at the Aareschlucht, a gorge in Meiringen. The weather was due to turn bad and the forecast was for rain tonight and tomorrow with snow as low down as 1300m. So that should be interesting. Not sure about hiking in the snow though. Will have to see what happens.

23rd September 2010

Yesterday we headed off to a valley that we hadn't been to before. I had picked out a hike, but we didn't know where to park, where the train station was to buy tickets etc... So we were running a bit late. But we finally got everything organised, and with a bit of a dash, just made the train to the start of the hike. We had only gone about 5 minutes, and were making our way up this steep incline, when all of a sudden a crashing sound came from somewhere on the train, our carriage started rocking violently from side to side and we came to a screeching halt. We sat for about 30 minutes with no idea what had happened. Eventually someone came and told us that they had trouble with the engine and that they were working on the problem. An hour later we were reversed back down the mountain and back to the station. Our enthusiasm for the hiking was gone and we spent some time looking around the town, Meiringen, and then stopped at Interlaken for a look around on our way home.

Another great day was forecast for today so it was off to yet another valley that we had not visited, the Lotschental. The Lotschental is actually closer to Guttet-feschel where we had our previous apartment but hadn't had the time to visit. A bit of a marathon to get there though. We drove and parked at Kandersteg, caught a train through the mountain tunnel (the only way to get to the other side) to Goppenstein, caught a bus to Wiler in the Lotschental and then a mountain lift up to Lauchernalp for the start of a very popular hike. This all sounds like it took hours but is so well organised, it was very quick. The train took 12 minutes, the bus about 10 minutes and the lift about 8 minutes.Most of the people that got off the train were all doing the hike and the bus was waiting at the station. It drove us straight to the chair lift and the lift was waiting for the arrival of the bus to take the hikers up the mountain for the start of the hike. See what I mean about them catering to the hikers in a big way. All transport schedules are worked around the popular hikes. Our destination for today was a place called Fafleralp, just a small collection of houses at the head of the valley.
A beautiful hike, without any great steep climbs or descents, but with great views down into the valley and to the mountains across.

At the start looking towards Fafleralp, our destination.

Looking back to Lauchernalp, the start of the hike.

A glacier up a small side valley

Falfleralp.

21st September 2010

Another great day forecast, so it is off to the mountains, this time near Grindelwald. I wanted to do some shopping in Grindelwald after the hike. Most of the villages are too small to have shops, but Grindelwald is such a popular spot for the tourists, it has quite a nice shopping area.

From Grindelwald, we took the mountain lift to the third station on the way to First, Schreckfeld. From Schreckfeld we hiked to Grosse Scheidegg then caught the bus down to Obergletscher with the intention to do another hike from there. The hike from Grosse Scheidegg only took about 90 minutes and was graded as easy, just a stroll really. But the scenery was amazing with close-up views of The Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau.

When we arrived at Obergletscher, there was a signboard to a walk up a gorge and steps to above the glacier. We hadn't intended to do this, but after a bit of deliberation, decided we had the time so off we went. What a challenge that was. We saw the steps that went up to the top of a huge hill and thought yeah,we could manage this. But what we didn't realise is that, what we could see, was only a fraction of the steps up. The steps were only made of logs attached to the rock face and small bits of timber nailed to the logs as steps. It would never be allowed in Australia. By the time we had climbed to the top, our legs were like lead. And that fear of heights kept kicking in. And we still had to get back down. But we managed it and decided that it had not really been worth the effort. Especially as we did not end up doing our intended hike. So we had some lunch at the Obergletscher Hotel and caught the bus back to Grindelwald.

This is the gorge at Obergletscher. The small hill in the middle foreground near the trees is where we climbed.

You can just make out the hut at the top where we climbed.

View from the carpark at Grindelwald.