6th september 2010

Well today it is one of the biggies. The Matterhorn!! But the weather is looking a bit ordinary. But we only have a few days here, so we have to make the most of them. The base to see the Matterhorn is Zermatt. Zermatt is a car free town at the head of the Visp Valley and the only way to get there is to drive to Tasch,a town 7km away,park and catch the train to Zermatt. Zermatt is very touristy, people everywhere and the shops geared to selling to the tourists. I prefer the quieter places myself.

Our plan for the day was to catch the train to the top of The Gornergrat mountain, have a look around then catch it back to the first stop from the top, Rotenboden and walk to another cable car for the trip down to Zermatt. The train trip was nothing short of amazing with tremendous views the whole way. Both down into the valley and to the surrounding peaks. When we got to the top though, the weather was freezing and blowing a gale. So we took a few quick snaps and then got back on the train for the start of our hike. Unfortunately, The Matterhorn never came completely out of the clouds but we got some reasonable shots any way.

Ray on the trail heading towards The Matterhorn

Zermatt on the valley floor

Small church at a place called Riffelalp, a stop on the mountain railway. It is here where we also changed direction for our hike and headed over to another mountain, but this time below the tree line.

The Matterhorn. Not hard to miss it's hooked shape.

Mountains on our way to the Sunnegga Mountain Railway.

You can see the path as it winds up the mountain.

During the middle of the day, the weather improved, but as the afternoon started to close in, so did the clouds and cold. But overall, a great day. The Matterhorn stands at 4478m and is an impressive sight. But so are the surrounding mountains and glaciers. And it is an amazing contrast to be hiking in barren cold surroundings with mountains covered in snow and no colour anywhere and then look down into the valley where everything is so green and picturesque. We hiked for about 4.5 hours and then caught another mountain train down to Zermatt. This train was entirely in a tunnel and was so steep, you had to hold onto your seat to stop from sliding off. We certainly have had some experiences with the mountain lifts/trains.