Given we currently live in farm country Germany, hiking on my birthday takes a bit of effort. Last year I was lucky enough to recruit a friend to venture over to Echternacht, Luxembourg to get in a short but great hike. This year the stars aligned and not only was I able to hike on my birthday, I fulfilled a life-long dream by hiking in the Alps. Our destination was Grindelwald, Switzerland which was about a 2 hour car ride from Biel. I have to say that once you enter Interlaken and make your way up to Grindelwald the views are amazing.
There were two downsides to this great opportunity however. First, the weather was not ideal. Clouds with some rolling rain showers for most of the day. Second, Andrea was coming down with a sickness of the century! Even though she mounted up and was ready and willing to get in some hiking, the sight of her laying down in our backseat of the car with eyes closed and almost lifeless was a good clue that she should rest up and skip out on the hike. But anyone who knows Andrea is familiar with her kind heart and generosity....she always thinks of others. Which is why I was not surprised when she insisted that I leave her behind and get up the mountain and take in the sights for my birthday. I don't know why I agreed to it but I soon found myself on the gondola alone with a map and little sense of the route I was going to take.
Hiking in the Alps is a bit different in that the vertical ascent is such an extreme pitch that unless you are a native (translation: in wickedly good shape), it is best that you take some sort of transportation (gondola, funicular, cog-wheeled train, etc.) to the top of where you want to go and then hike down. As I mentioned earlier I had not yet formalized my plans for hiking back down to the car. When I purchased the tickets for the gondola I inquired about some good routes from the top. I was told that given the time of the day my options were fairly limited to hiking straight down the nearly 4,000 vertical feet descent to the main village. My first thought.....actually, I believe I said it out loud....was that I hike faster than normal and I could surely cover more ground than they thought. They gave a generous smile, kindly disagreed, and told me to "trust them". I would soon discover the reason for their smiles.
The ride up the mountain was filled with great views of the valley and hillsides.
Arriving at the top of Mannlichen (7,317ft) looking down on the village of Wengen (4180ft).
The views at the top of Mannlichen were great in every direction.
One of the lodges at the top of Mannlichen
During the time of taking pictures I decided on my route: I would zig-zag my way down the mountain versus the straight down route I was recommended. Even though I was told that this option would take nearly 5 hours, I thought I could easily get it done in 3 if I did some trail running in the flat sections. Oh the power of positive thinking intertwined with complete naivety. Here is the start of the journey looking down on the village of Grindelwald.
My route would take me straight across under the shadow of the Tschuggen mountain.
The views were amazing and somewhat distracting. Here is the view of the Eiger mountain....or the bottom half anyway. The top was concealed in clouds unfortunately.
I took this picture for my younger sister who LOVES these lil' fellas.
A map showing the different climbing routes for summiting the Eiger mountain (13,026ft)
More of Eiger in the clouds
I have shared the trail with many animals in my days.....but this is my first time sharing with cows. They were friendly enough I must say......
The beauty of hiking the Alps is the convenient lodges placed throughout the hillside. A great strategy to hike for a few hours and then take a rest, enjoy some food/drink, all the while taking in the incredible views.
It was late in the day, so the patio was closed....or else I would have loved some cake and coffee!
While I was hiking up on the mountain, Andrea was busy walking around the village and enjoying the sights (when she wasn't sleeping that is). Some pictures from her adventures....
Hang gliding is a popular sport here.
Getting closer to my final destination. This picture is a good reason why I was offered a simple smile when I proclaimed that I could hike faster than most as I made my way down. Uh, no....hiking nearly straight down for 4,000ft slows everyone down eventually.
Looking up to Schreckhor (13,380ft)
After finally reaching the valley floor in about the time I was quoted (humble pie was consumed about half-way down, FYI), we found a great place to eat that offered amazing views from the deck. So we enjoyed a wonderful meal all the time staring at Eiger as the sun set.
Happily fed and tired, we make our way back to Bern and our hotel. The clouds had sinced rolled away and offered some great views of the surrounding mountains as we drove out of the village.
The day was nearly perfect.....the only thing missing was Andrea on my hike. I tried my best to describe the views and terrain, but some things must be experienced first-hand to understand. Lucky for us some good friends were coming in a few days and they mentioned a desire to visit Switzerland and get in some hiking.....hmmm......a plan to return to Grindelwald was taking place.....I like it! If you thought the pictures in this post were neat.....just wait for the next few posts.....
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