Wanderweg

Wednesday, October 13

Hiking Adventure

Last night during McKayla's birthday celebration we met a fellow college junior from Idaho, TJ, and a British friend of Amie's from Oktoberfest, Steve. We made plans with them to go hiking this morning. We met the two guys at breakfast and then walked down the road to the train station, where we caught a train from Interlaken (576 m) partway up the mountain to Grindalwald (1034 m). It was cold and cloudy. From there we walked through town and then began climbing straight uphill through cattlefields on paved pathways/roads to Brandegg.

We then hit the true mountainside and followed a more traditional hiking trail upwards toward Eigergletscher. We crossed the couldline, could see blue skies, and the begining of many spectacular views. To our left (East) side was a large, snow covered cliff. Behind us and to the right (Northeast) were views of Grindalwald and more of the Swiss Alps. We hiked in hopes of getting past the cliff on our left and above the ridge, where the sun would be shining and where we would be able see the mountains in the South. As we walked, everytime we felt we were getting closer we also felt like the cliffside was getting longer and longer. While I (Erin) knew we could make it up past the cliff without a problem, I was worried as we hiked longer and longer that we would have a tough time getting back down the mountain (people don't die hiking up Everest, they die hiking down Everest... well some people die summiting Everest but you get the point). TJ and Steve were motivated to get past the cliff and were not phased by this thought, and so they pushed us onward.
I was glad they did so, I was very happy when we crossed over the ridge and could see the sun shining in front of us. We quickly walked into the sunlight and saw stunning views of the snow covered mountains to the East and South, as well of the town we walked up from. We were at an elevation of 2320 meters (1300 meters of elevation gain) and we think we walked about 6 miles. We enjoyed a late lunch in the sunshine, crisp fall air, and blue skies. While walking back down the mountain, the whole time we were all saying to each other, "wow, I can't believe how far up we walked." The hike was one of my favorite parts of the trip so far.

Dead tired, we rode the train back to Interlaken and stopped at COOP to pick up dinner food. Amie cooked up am amazing meal of sausages with onion, pepper, and potatoes. We fell asleep early and woke up today, Thursday, with extremely sore legs. The weather here is very cold and cloudy so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then walked around town with Steve. Now we are catching up on our journals and chores while hanging out on the fantastic couches in the hostel, watching CNN with our friends.