Day #3 Reaching Heaven ~ from Melschsee-Frutt to Meiningen and then Grindelwald

Day #3 Reaching Heaven ~ from Melschsee-Frutt to Meiringen ~ Grindelwald (Wednesday)

Note the ridge trail line! (upwards)

This day we start up a steep terrain and take 2 hours to the ridge trail at 7000 feet. Anna actually has chosen the easier ascent route for me over a more direct uphill route under the non-functioning chair lift.  Even so I am panting and constantly out of breath. I am no longer arrogantly feeling “fit” and tell Anna I don't like seeing the trail going constantly upward so I try to distract myself by staring at the beautiful flowers and thinking positive thoughts. 

Kind of embarrassing as others pass us by and I know Anna would have bounded up the hillside like a mountain goat.  I am comforted by the cow bell sounds and watching them as the cows lick each other gently.  I wonder how they managed to get up here so high. Did they take the cable car?

Once to the top of this strenuous hike we walk another 2 hours up and down along the narrow, rocky ridge trail which has absolutely stunning views of the peaks of Wetterhorn, Mittelhorn, Rosehorn and steep valleys below. I'm glad I made it to this version of heaven.

Ridge trail hike 

Anna coaches me with encouragement 

Really a mountain biker up here! 

I think all totaled this has been 1000 feet ascent (22,000 steps on my Fitbit) when we reach the ski lift top. Here we have lunch, ordering energy food, that is,  macaroni and cheese that includes much better cheeses than the Kraft version as well as potatoes and onion bits. (aka alplermagronen) This dish is paired with fresh apple sauce and local beer for Anna and again cappuccino for me. I decide having wine or beer at lunch would impair my ability to hike afterwards, although I break this rule later on.

alplermagronen

After 2 gondolas down (2 transfers) as well as a cable car we arrive in Meiringen known for its meringues and also for the place where Sherlock Holmes committed suicide.  Of course I buy a big box of meringues which are incredible and fast become one of my favorite hiking snacks. 

Meringue Snacks for sustenance 

Next we go back up the mountain again taking 2 buses on very narrow roads where cars have to back up to let us go by. Sometimes cows block our way and a bus rider gets out to shoo them away.

We reach the summit of Grindelwald with a view of the Jungfrau Region of the Alps.  While Anna would have easily hiked back down to Grindelwald she senses I am bushed;  I am wishing I had practiced with more stairs. 

View from our hotel deck of Eiger and Jungfrau

We arrive at Hotel Kirchbuhl which is my favourite hotel because we are given the Heidi room.  Do you remember the book about Heidi, a young girl in her grandfather's care in the Swiss Alps? In this case I would say I have the companionship of my daughter Anna/Heidi, whose intelligent and cheerful attitude makes me feel like a 20 year old again. Again we  have a great view although the room is hot and of course, without air conditioning.  

The deck at this hotel has the most amazing views of Jungfrau Alps and Eiger mountain. The Eiger mountain (13,015 feet) of the Bernese Alps overlooks Grindelwald in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. The emblematic view dominates our attention with its large glaciers which are disappearing. I wonder if my grandchildren will ever see glaciers?

Many climbers have attempted the north face of this mountain and at least 64 have died, earning it the German nickname “murderous wall”.  As I contemplate why climbers have been driven to achieve this dangerous ascent I also notice that at every new hotel we are saying “this is the best yet, nothing can beat this”. Perhaps these climbers are striving for new vistas and challenges as we are amazed by the beauty of nature. For pre-dinner this time I try a Hugo spritzer, another favorite Swiss drink while Anna continues to sample different local beers so she can send Zach beer pictures. Dinner on this deck is another meal to live for with amazing views. Anna has her first Cordon Blue while I have scallops.  We frequently share our meals which is lovely way to try different dishes. I feel so lucky to have this time with my daughter and think about how Heidi managed to bring joy to others despite being an orphan and not having the best parents. Perhaps it was nature that sustained her.

Day #2 Feeling Fit ~ Hiking from Engelbert to Melschsee-Frutt

Day #1 Feeling Fit ~ Hike from Engelberg to Melschsee-Frutt (Tuesday)

Reluctant to leave beautiful Lucerne we drop our bags at 8 am at the hotel desk and pack our day backpacks with cheese, apricots and cherries from a market.   We enjoy cappuccino and fresh croissants at the train station. 

We take the first of many lovely scenic train rides to Engelberg. We have prebooked a special Supersaver ticket which gives us half-price on trains, buses, gondolas and trams which otherwise would be rather expensive at full fare.

View through window from gondola

At Engelberg we board a gondola and as we go up I hear bells ringing and look around to see where the music was being piped into the gondola, only to realize these bell sounds were coming from the cows below! What an amazing symphony which we continually hear throughout our hiking trip. The gondola trip was followed by 2 chairlifts until we reach Jochpass area and then actually start the Alpine #1 Trail hike to Melschesee-Grutt.

We prepare for the hike with some apricots and cherries dipped in my melted chocolate bar. Yes it was hot! One tip to fellow hikers, taking chocolate in hot weather is not the best idea, unless eaten quickly. 

This day was mostly level hiking as we are serenaded by what I call a cow symphony; Anna however calls it a cacophonous. However, we wonder about the heavy looking bells on each cow and decide to look up their purpose when we have internet.

After several downhill miles I am feeling quite fit but happy to stop at an idyllic small restaurant called Rossboden Lutte in Engstlenalp for lunch. I was amazed to find a restaurant in this remote mountain height! You wouldn't find that on a Washington mountain hike.  We have sausage, salad and cappuccino for me and beer for Anna and then continue our hike around the beautiful Engstien Lake.

Engstien Lake

Our hiking notes have said this place is “like hiking in heaven.” We agree and hike into another idyllic community where we stop at a traditional dairy for fresh chocolate milk.

Delicious chocolate milk thanks to the cows

At the end of this lake walk we arrive at a small community of perhaps 50 people called Melschsee-Frutt. However, it has a James Bond like stark white government looking building and we wonder what that is.

We reach our typically Swiss Inn called Feschers Alpin Hotel. While our room is spare and the service non existent it has a spectacular view of the lake surrounded by mountains. 

On this day we have walked 6 miles and are at 6300 feet altitude and are still in a heaven consisting of aperol spritzer on our hotel deck with a cow symphony in the background. I delude myself by thinking how fit I am! The repetitive cow bell music reminds me of water fountain music and is rather meditative perhaps acting in the same way as water by putting us to sleep. 

 

Alpina #1 National Trail Hike in Switzerland ~ Gift of a Lifetime

ALPINA #1 NATIONAL TRAIL HIKE IN SWITZERLAND WITH MY DAUGHTER ~ GIFT OF A LIFETIME

The hills are alive with the sound of music... 

Can you imagine my delight when my daughter said she would like to go on a hiking trip with me in the Swiss Alps? While I was absolutely thrilled by the prospect I was also somewhat daunted by the task at hand.  You may remember my blog a few years ago about a 3-day hike we did together in the State of Washington? On that trip I became dehydrated with vomiting, a headache and barely made it to the camp grounds for the first night with my heavy back pack. The 40-year difference in our age might have made a difference to my stamina plus the fact I had rarely hiked in 20 years, nor did I drink much water on the trip despite Anna’s urging. This time I vowed I would “train in advance”, drink adequate water and arrange to have our bags delivered to each place we were staying. Thus we would only carry small backpacks to hold our snacks, extra warm clothes and rain jackets, I-phone, my notebook, 1 ½ liters of water, poles and of course, my brush and my incredibly heavy Nikon camera!  

As I have a bad habit of bringing too much stuff, before leaving I asked Anna to check my bag to be sure I was bringing the “right things”. She laughed when she saw my stack of chocolate bars.  “Why you are taking chocolate to Switzerland, the most famous chocolate makers in the world?” Of course, this time she did not dare to take away my hair brush and while she encouraged me to take only my I-phone for taking pictures by giving me a wide angle lens to attach to the I-phone, I still stubbornly persisted in packing my heavy camera along with the I-phone lens. Actually I ended up packing two bags, one for my trip to Berlin where I was giving a professional
 presentation at the World Congress for Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology which included bringing a large 4-year old puppet which took up most of the bag. 

The second bag was for the hike which I swapped with my professional clothing puppet bag at the Zurich airport and picked up on the return trip (note the puppet did not come with us!)

Our web site search revealed the possibility of self-guided hiking trips 

https://www.distantjourneys.com/trips/self-guided-trips/ and we contacted an agency called Echo Trails run by Euro trip who would help arrange our inns and transfer our luggage to each night’s destination. For this proposed hiking trip I read in their information pamphlet that we must have a “reasonable level” of fitness and they suggested preparation of aerobic exercise three times a week for three months prior to the trip. While I did train, upon reflection post trip I wish I had done more stair climbing as I found the ascents most gruelling. 

Day #1: Arriving in Lucerne

Our hotel room view to the right

We met up happily at the airport and were transported to Lucerne by the Echo driver Rudy. We stayed at Les Balances Hotel which was a lovely hotel with a deck balcony from our room that had a spectacular view of the river and city. Little did we know then that all but one of our chosen inns would have spectacular balcony views and each one we would think was the best view yet. 

Our room was at the very top

View straight ahead

In Lucerne we started what became our nightly predinner balcony habit of cheese and wine on our deck, usually meaning we didn’t eat dinner until much later.  We enjoy dinner on the hotel deck and breakfast by the river in the morning. The first of “to die for breakfasts” including bircher muesli, yogurt, curd, cheese, brioche, eggs and pretzel rolls.  



On this relaxed day we did some shopping, bought a mountain trail map, checked out our train tickets for the next day, checked out the chocolate stores and finally cooled off from the heat wave by swimming in Lucerne Lake. While Switzerland may be landlocked many cities are located on lakes and for about 7 Swiss francs anyone can enter a Strandbad for a refreshing dip. It is not necessary to join a club to enter these places and this first one we tried also offered food, wine and beer.  Imagine swimming in a fresh lake the perfect temperature surrounded by mountain views! We commented how nice it would be to end a hot Seattle working day by a dip at a community place where you don't have to have a club membership.

Chocolate to die for

I was particularly impressed with the breathtaking covered, wooden bridges first built in the 13^thcentury which we are lucky enough to see from our hotel room deck. 

Spreuer Bridge

The Spreuer Bridge contains paintings in the interior triangular frames created from 1616 to 1637.  Of the original 67 paintings 45 are still in existence. I wished I could read the explanations written below the images but it was clear death was the dominant theme. 



After a wonderful day, sampling chocolate and more wine on our deck we had a late dinner by the river (sausage of course) viewing the lighted bridges. 



Anna introduced me to “aperol spritz", a traditional Italian pre-dinner sweet and bitter drink (think orange peel and rhubarb) made with Prosecco, Aperol and soda water which fast became one of our trip rituals and I suspect one I will adapt at home to drink on our deck. Okay the next morning we will start our hike well fuelled!