The Day After...(7/9/12)

We enjoyed our first morning in almost two weeks without having to put on our boots...it was great.

There was a great bfast at Le Petite Hotel. Soon after we left for the train station where we ran into Ed and Alex who had just finished a portion of the trip we were on (though they were a day ahead of us).

It was fun to see them and catch-up on our respective trips...we left them on their way back to Chamonix as we went on to Lausanne. We picked up a ferry that took us about Lake Geneva and dropped us in Montreux for lunch, shopping and the TdF ITT.

Had a great catch up with an old college buddy, John Carmichael, for dinner (first sushi in almost two weeks, thanks John!) and then on to Geneva for our last night in Switzerland.

Stage 10: Gruben -> Augstbordpass -> St Niklaus -> Zermatt

Our final day of hiking began with very rainy weather and another long way up - although not as long as the day before. Today we covered 1000 meters in 2-1/2 hours to reach the highest point of the entire trek at Augstbordpass. Unfortunately, there was so much fog that upon reaching the top, we did not have much of a view. The way down was challenging. There were numerous snow crossings, a lot of rocks, and some very narrow passages. We stopped for lunch at a point our guidebook indicated was the best view of the whole trip. Unfortunately, the fog once again interfered allowing us to only see snippets of the snow capped mountains. Our descent (at least on foot) ended in Jungen, a small alp hamlet. We settled in at the Junger-Stubli restaurant and I really could not have imagined a better setting for the end of our trek. Perched on the mountainside, the restaurant features an outdoor terrace with views of the mountains, the valley and the hamlet. By that time the weather had cleared and we sat there enjoying the sun and some cold beers. We immediately took off our hiking boots and despite having a great time these past 11 days, have no plans to put them on again anytime soon.

From Jungen we caught a cable car to St. Niklaus and then the train to Zermatt. Entering Zermatt was a bit of a shock after spending much of the last week and a half by ourselves. We found ourselves standing on the main street not sure how to navigate our way through the hundreds of tourists. Re-entering New York City life should be quite interesting.

So now we're in our Zermatt hotel room after enjoying some dinner, some gelato and the Wimbeldon final. Tomorrow we're off to Geneva for our last night of vacation, with perhaps a pit-stop at the Montreaux Jazz Festival.

Stage 9: Zinal -> Forcletta -> Gruben

The trek to Gruben started with over 1200 meters of climbing over 4 hours. Luckily the weather was great and the path took us through some lovely grass basins. After reaching the peak at Forcletta, we began our descent of over 1000 meters toward Gruben. The descent started with a snow covered rocky region but then led us into some grass fields with alp huts, and eventually into a forest. Upon arriving in Gruben we witnessed a bride and groom posing for pictures with two dressed up cows. At one point, it looked like the bride tried to milk one of them. Somewhat confused, we continued on to our hotel where we grabbed some cold beers and settled in to watch the next stage of the Tour de France. Dinner featured some more traditional Swiss cuisine and wine and the company of Lily, Peter and our friends from Norway.

Stage 8: Cabane de Moiry -> Col de Sorebois -> Zinal

Today's trek was fairly tame. The majority of it took us across level green pastures. Unfortunately the fog was very heavy throughout the majority of our trip which made it impossible to see the views of Lake Moiry. Our trek ended with a very steep climb up to the Col de Sorebois, followed by a steep decline to the cable car station in Sorebois. We arrived at the cable car station at 12:55 and were pleased to discover that the next car left at 1pm. The timing was perfect and we were checked into our hotel in Zinal and seated for lunch at a local restaurant within 30 minutes. We're now enjoying the Tour de France and catching up on emails and this blog.

 

Stage 7: La Sage -> Col du Taste -> Cabane de Moiry

We got a delayed start from La Sage. The fresh croissants and cheese at breakfast combined with the roomier hotel room made us reluctant to leave. We then had to pick up some food for lunch as there was no place to stop on the way and ended up taking a wrong turn which landed us in someone's backyard. We finally found our trail and were on our way. The trek was long and steep bringing us to the highest altitude of the trip.

We made it to Cabane de Moiry around 5pm, suffering through the final steep ascent in the middle of a storm. But it was well worth it. The Cabane is situated over the Moiry Glacier and the architects definitely took advantage of the view. The dining room is a long room with tall ceilings and two of the four walls are windows that look right out onto the glacier. We were reunited there with Peter and Lily, an Australian couple we first met in Le Chable. The four of us, together with couples from Oslo, Seattle and Germany,enjoyed a hearty dinner of potato, cheese, pasta and carrots (yes, all mixed together). It was surprisingly delicious.

 

Stage 6: Cabane de Prafleurie -> Col des Roux -> Cabane de Dix -> Arolla/La Sage

We said goodbye to Simone, Andrea and Guillaume after breakfast. All three were traveling to Cabane de Dix that night and stopping at a nearby lake and dam on the way. We also stopped at Cabane de Dix but just for lunch. We filled up on homemade minestrone soup and a traditional Swiss dish called Rotti (think hash browns) with egg, cheese and bacon.

After leaving Cabane de Dix, the day presented a number of firsts for me. I hiked across a glacier, climbed a 50 foot ladder off the side of a cliff, and hitch-hiked with an elderly Swiss couple. The last was necessary towards the tail end of the trek as a quad injury finally got the best of me after the steep descent down the mountain.

After our ride dropped us off in Arolla, we caught a bus to La Sage and checked into our hotel - Hotel de la Sage. After spending 10 minutes explaining the concept of a vodka soda to our French speaking bartender who couldn't quite understand why I required more than 2 pieces of ice, we settled into a table by the window and relaxed. We were soon treated to a dinner of salmon tartar, pork loin and cheesecake (pictures tk).