We arrived in Interlaken to weather reports predicting up to 25mm of rain over the following few days. We thought our little tent probably wouldn't hold up to this level of moisture so checked into the 'Balmer's Tent Village' - a hostel made up of tents that were significantly more waterproof than ours. The hostel also had great common areas with a bar to hang around while waiting out the rain.
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| Jungfrau (4158m) from near the Tent Village |
The rain wasn't forecast to start until the following afternoon; so in the morning we headed up the Harder Kulm funicular (thanks Aussie Bill for the free ticket!). The views, 700m above Interlaken, were stunning. The two lakes either side of the town were an unreal blue colour and hogsback clouds over the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau signaled the bad weather on its way.
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| Interlaken with Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau above |
We hiked up the ridge a bit further to get away from the crowds before walking back down to Interlaken. Our legs are conditioned for cycling after 5 months on the bikes - both of us were a bit sore after the steep two hour descent!
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| Descending from Harder Kulm with Lake Thun in the distance |
Sure enough, the rain started late afternoon and continued for the next 24 hours. It was a good time to catch up on the blog and photo editing, and also chat with fellow travelers.
The day off also gave us time to rest our legs before hiking the 'Faulhornweg' in the mountains between Grindelwald and Interlaken. The 16 km alpine track from First to Schynige Platte to First is considered one of the best day walks in Switzerland, if not the world. We had to take a train to Grindelwald and then a cable car to First at 2168m. The walk up the main street of Grindelwald past the flash hiking gear stores made us wonder if we looked the part - we had no poles, no bright new soft shell jackets and sneakers half destroyed by six months of cycling!
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| The Eiger (centre right) looking mean |
The clouds hanging around from the previous day's weather made for atmospheric scenes as we started up the hill towards the alpine lake of Bachalpsee. There were hundreds of people heading up to the lake, many of them in shiny new hiking gear, presumably purchased on the main street Grindelwald for their two hour venture into the mountains. The outdoor industry has a good racket going on here; the track is a highway and we shouldn't have worried about being unprepared. It's a bit sad that people are made to feel they have to spend all that money just to go for a walk in the hills!
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| Bachalpsee |
As we were finding a spot to sit by the lake and eat our bananas ,I heard someone shout "Shearer!". We turned around to find an Aussie couple (James & Yasmin) we'd met in the hostel sitting admiring the lake. It's a strange feeling to have someone yell your name like that in a foreign country! We were surprised to see them as they'd planned to head to Bern that day, however had decided to stay an extra day in the area to enjoy the good weather.
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| Schreckhorn (4078m) centre left and Finsteraarhorn (4274m) behind |
We left the crowds behind at the lake and headed to the summit of Faulhorn (2681m) where we joined James & Yasmin for lunch. We'd heard there was a hotel at the top of the peak - a strange concept for us Kiwis - and sure enough there it was, selling cokes and schnitzels to hikers. We`re beginning to understand why some tourists in New Zealand think they'll be able to buy drinks at the tops of mountains or on the Great Walks...
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| The ridge descending towards Schynige Platte |
From Faulhorn it was nearly all downhill to Schynige Platte. We passed through different alpine terrain ranging from rocky moonscapes to green meadows with glimpses of the high peaks in breaks in the cloud.
Arriving at Schynige Platte we got on the train back to Interlaken. We hadn't found the walk as strenuous as we thought we might after reading warnings about it's difficulty, however weariness eventually won out and we both fell asleep on the ride down.
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| Sarah cycling beneath the Eiger's infamous north face aka "Mordwand" (Murder wall) |
The next morning we left Interlaken behind and headed up to Grindelwald once again; this time with our bikes. It was only 20km, but with 500m of climbing and tired legs from the day before, we spent the afternoon enjoying the sun and being surrounded by such impressive mountains.
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| Campsite in Grindelwald |
The next few days, with four alpine passes, were probably going to be some of the most challenging of our trip and we were a little nervous as to how we'd go. An afternoon with nothing to do in a Swiss mountain valley is a pretty good way to relax though, and the next morning we were all set to go.
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| Last rays of sunlight on the Eiger |
- David
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