Two Days In Switzerland
Extricating myself from the US was quite a challenge. My 7am flight out of Reno left the mountains at 11:30am. My 2pm flight out of SFO did not leave until 6:30pm that night and then, while in the air over Zurich, the captain announced we were diverting to Paris because there were ice storms over Zurich and our “de-icer” did not work!
Paris was a mess. We had no planned escape for our “diversion” and had to wait 7 hours! for a random plane to make itself available. With hindsight, I should have exited the airport right then and there and taken the train to Zurich.
The great news is that my timing was perfect and I was able to meet my travel companions; Lynn and Rebecca, the following day at the train station in Zurich.
From then on, we were rolling with quintessential Swiss efficiency. How nice to be in a country where a schedule is a commitment and not a suggestion. My goodness, the Swiss are efficient!
The early train ride from the bustle of Zurich to the quiet mountain town of Meiringen was a delight and thus we began our first day of hiking from Eiger Mountain to the Matterhorn – or so I thought…
During our 2-day sojourn in Meiringen, we walked 10 miles one day, and 12 the other. These were labelled as “warm-up” days with none of that walking mileage counting towards our trek to the Matterhorn.
Now don’t get me wrong! I would not have swapped a single moment of those days for anything, but still… a 22 mile “warmup”!? What had I gotten myself into? For those of you that don’t know already – I’m about to walk from Eiger Mountain to the Matterhorn for the next 2+ weeks.
Our first stop was at a sleek, minimalist hotel called the “Hotel Victoria” only 20 steps from the train station.
We were met in person by the husband-wife team that owned the hotel. The husband is the chef, and the wife runs the front desk and books all tours. Sound familiar?! It was a blast to the past from running “The Lookout” in Costa Rica all those years. I took one look at the 2 of them and knew full well how hard they work!
Our self-guided tour itinerary had an “option” to do a trek to an Alpine lake and up across the mountains that surrounded Reichenbach Falls. These falls are famously known as the place that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off his main character Sherlock Holmes…
“There, deep down in that dreadful cauldron of swirling water and seething foam, will lie for all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their generation.”
Statues of Sherlock dot the town square and curiosity shops throughout the town sell Holmes gear (the hat, the magnifying glass and some capes). I managed not to purchase a cape. Temptation averted!
The hike up the Reichenbach Falls began with a crawl through the moist, dark passageways of the Aare Gorge (Aareschlucht).
The glacial waters of the rivers generated by the powerful runoff of the falls is a turquoise blue color akin to what I saw in New Zealand and Patagonia on earlier treks with John and Lily.
The striking blue and turquoise color of Switzerland’s water comes from microscopic mineral particles called rock flour (or glacial flour) that catch and scatter sunlight. As massive glaciers move slowly over bedrock in the Alps, they grind the stone down into an ultra-fine powder. Melting snow and ice wash this powdery rock flour down into mountain streams, rivers, and lakes. Because the particles are so tiny, they stay suspended in the water for a long time instead of sinking immediately. When sunlight hits the water, these microscopic mineral fragments absorb longer wavelengths of light (like red and yellow) while scattering shorter blue and green wavelengths back to your eyes, creating that vibrant, glowing color.
The gorge at the base of Reichenbach Falls is massive, covering about 2 miles of path carved between narrow walls that rise from the river floor 10-15 stories high. At times, we walked in dark tunnels, blasted by travelers before us, that afforded us a cool respite from the heat.
If no one has told you yet – Switzerland is very humid. I had no idea. You can cut the air with a knife. This heat makes hiking a serious sport requiring large amounts of water to rehydrate and replace all the sweat that simply pours out of ones pores.
The Reichenbach Falls trek was the first time I had hiked with Rebecca and she is a force to be reckoned with. She is in her early 40s, is the Environmental Sustainability Lead for Apple, has her pilot’s license, crews a sailboat that she races in SF Bay, and owns a 16 room resort in the hills of Lake Tahoe called The Lost Trail Lodge. She literally floats above the ground as she ascends these Swiss trails. She loves mountaineering and enjoys anything with the word “danger” in the name. She started out slow with Lynn and myself as we wound our way through the dark gorge but the minute we hit the grass trails she said “Do you mind if I just run this?”. Of course we don’t mind! Run, girl, run! And off she went.
We logged about 10 miles that day and returned to a delicious gourmet dinner of melon gazpacho, pan-seared salmon with organic vegetables. We ended our meal with a cheese plate.
Our chef checked on us during our final bites and when we asked him what type of cheese we were all falling in love with, he excused himself from us momentarily and brought back a mandolin and massive wheel of Alpine cheese. He gave us the history of alpine cheese making as he shaved paper-thin slices of crystalized hard cheese onto a plate for us to enjoy. He then ordered a bottle of wine for our table because, as he said, “You cannot enjoy cheese without wine”.
Alpine cheesemaking is akin to making champagne. You cannot call a cheese an “alpine cheese” unless it is from this distinct alpine region and the cows can only have been raised feeding on the grasses of the region. The cheese must be made on-site, high in the altitude of the mountainous alps. I’m bringing some home so be sure to stop by our house before John and I devour it! (Lily- I’ll save a block for you!). We closed the restaurant down and went straight to bed. We had a 7am start the next day.
Day 2 of our warm-up was a 12-mile hike that started at an Alpine lake. I have always wanted to jump into the crisp waters of a Swiss lake and I was not disappointed! Swimming in Lake Tahoe most of my life served me well as this crystal-clear glacial lake felt warmer than Lake Tahoe waters. The three of us were the only souls at the lake until we were joined by a husband-wife team from England who had made a pact to swim in the all the lakes in Switzerland. I love those goals!
We were given a stern warning that we had to make our way from the lake, up the mountain pass, along the ridgeline to a gondola that stopped moving at 4pm or we would be left to our own devices to find a way down. Game on!
I nicknamed Rebecca “Giselle the Gazelle” that day as she ran up the steep limestone shale trail. Lynn was right behind her, and I carried the caboose position, stopping to record videos and photos of all we saw.
The glorious part of this particular trek were the cows. You have probably heard a swiss cowbell ring at one point in your life but when you’re deep in the heart of pasture country the cacophony of bells is a symphony of splendor!
Herders in Switzerland use a variety of different bells within a single herd. The choice of bell depends on the animal’s rank, age, and role, creating a deliberate “bell orchestra” rather than identical sounds. The dominant, or lead cow, wears the largest, deepest-toned bell so herders can track the main movement of the herd. Younger cattle and lower-ranking animals wear smaller, higher-pitched bells. Glocken bells are cast from metal with a sharper, higher ring (like a church bell), while Treicheln bells are made from hammered sheet metal with a deep, acorn-shaped, duller clank. When those cows get together across the mountain range their “song” is pure magic.
I was buoyed by their sounds as we navigated the steep shale trails towards the ridgeline we had to follow to the gondola. From time-to-time an “alpha” cow would take over the path in front of us and simply refuse to move. No amount of “yee-haw” nor clapping of hands would make that mama cow move so Lynn, Bex and I went off-trail and let her/them win. No one wanted to be “that girl” that had to be airlifted out of the mountains for being trampled by a cow.
We started our 12 mile trek through the mountains at 8am and reached the gondola at 3:50! We made it just in time to catch last ride down to town. It took us all day to traverse the hilled pastures and our ride down the gondola took us to 3 different lifts and lasted almost a half hour. That’s how high we climbed
Three sweat-soaked girls shuffled back to Hotel Victoria, enjoyed another great meal with personal attentive service from our chef before returning to our rooms to pack up for the first day of our 106 mile trek to the Matterhorn. None of what we did has “counted” towards our overall trek mileage but all of what we did made us fall in love with Switzerland, a fate we pretty much new was cast the moment we set foot on Swiss soil.
Go grab yourself a chocolate and stand by for more. The weather report for the first mile of 100+ miles of hiking calls for thunder and rain. On Day 3 of our trek to the Matterhorn the weather app says we’ll drop into the 30s! I can’t even fathom that as I am sitting here sweating. But we’re ready for it. We packed thermal underwear, ski pants, Nordic jackets and both my hiking partners have Garmins to help us navigate these paths. “Danke fürs Zueghöre”. (Thanks for listening to me)
