Virginia Van der Veer is the Ranch's Hiking and Tours Director and from her I learned the 2015 hike would be her 22nd Annual Alpine Hiking Trip. Her co-guide is Terry DeWald whose name may be familiar to those who actively collect baskets and rugs made by Native Americans here in the Southwest. Those signing up (usually 14-16 people) would be guided on intermediate to more advanced (one has a choice) level day-hikes in the areas of Kandersteg (4 night at 3,850 feet), Zermatt/the Matterhorn (4 nights at 5,300 feet), and Wengen/the Eiger and the Jungfrau (5 nights at 4,200 feet). Our transportation would be by train -including cog-wheel, ski lift, funicular train and bus or van and would also feature a two-hour trip via lake steamer/paddlewheel on our way to Zermatt from Kandersteg as well as a 4-hour layover and tour in Luzern on our way back to Zurich, our arrival/departure city. The majority of the travel - lifts to hiking areas were discounted but did add to the cost - including museum visits would be covered by our first class Swiss Rail Pass, the fee for which was included in the tour price. What a bargain!
All of this sounded wonderful. Having been warned that the tour fills up quickly each year, we registered in August 2014 and slowly began putting together our plans. By March 2015 we'd made our plane reservations (points and miles) and over the summer reviewed and supplemented our hiking clothing/equipment, replaced my torn and taped rolling duffle since one of the zippers had broken, and bought and read relevant chapters in Rick Steves' guide to Switzerland. By the end of August, after getting our annual high dose/full complement of a flu shot, we felt we were ready to go.
On Friday, September 4, we drove to Phoenix to catch our British Airways flight. When my friend Kathy and I flew to England in 2012 we'd enjoyed a wonderful experience on British Airways but on a more modern jet. However, Enrique was delighted to know that we would be flying on a 747, his sentimental favorite. [click on any of the photos in this Switzerland piece for a larger picture]
At the last minute we were offered an upgrade to World Traveler Plus which meant slightly wider seats and a better meal. We took it, a wise decision, for as we learned coming back and unable to upgrade because the flight was overbooked, the seats in World Traveler were cramped and closer together (a woman in the row ahead of me reclined her seat practically into my lap) and the meals not so great. The movie/tv screen on the back of the seat is small so subtitles and other information is smaller still. Bring your iPad or DVD player.
Our trip included a direct ten plus hour flight to Heathrow in London where we connected (all in Terminal 5 and no Customs since we were traveling through) with another much shorter BA flight to Zurich later in the day, both going and coming. We arrived in Zurich in the evening and were met by Terry who took us on our first of many train rides - this one about ten minutes - to Oerlikon, a suburb of Zurich, and to our lodging in the modern Swissotel.
[A word here about Swiss trains. Imagine boarding a train here in the United States after learning from your guide that you would have a four minute connection. Really?!? Well, without fail throughout our journey, we had similar tight connections and not once was our train late, did we miss our connecting train nor did we have difficulty getting from one of the many tracks to the next. Trains are on time. We found the stations, facilities, and the cars clean, the seats comfortable, the train windows washed, and the views absolutely delightful. Longer rides involved trains with dining cars (white table cloths) and some to your seat service.]
Because we deliberately arrived a day early in case of delays/cancellations, Virginia arranged for our extra night to be billed at the group rate. We needed to find a place to eat dinner so discovered a great Italian restaurant - Mamma Mia - right around the corner and enjoyed a delicious meal before turning in for the night.
By arriving a day early and after a relaxed morning including a plentiful breakfast buffet (breakfast and dinner included each day of our trip), we managed to see some of Zurich as well as to visit the Swiss National Museum, without charge thanks to our Swiss Rail Pass. We took the train to the Zurich HB stop and located the mile long Bahnhofstrasse, part of Rick Steves' suggested Self-Guided walk.
We actually walked somewhat parallel to it along the Limmat River towards Lake Zurich where one could board a lake steamer, part of the benefit of the Swiss Rail Pass.
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| Limmat River |
Along the way we visited the Grossmunster - literally the big cathedral - and unexpectedly ran into our friends Albert and Chris who were also signed up for the tour. They guided us to another church - the Fraumunster - dating from 1250 and famous for its beautiful stained glass windows by Chagall. We were fortunate to be joined by a group with a tour guide who explained the significance of Chagal's subject matter.
We spotted St. Peter's Church founded in the 7th century because its tower has a clock face 28 feet in diameter.
The four of us then walked to a couple of other sites before we parted ways and we headed back towards the train station. Our formal first dinner get-together was that evening and we wanted to take a nap, shower and change before dinner.
Virginia, Terry, we and our fourteen other hiking companions - 10 of us were Tucsons and the rest from all over the United States - gathered for dinner, introductions, and an update of the next day's schedule.
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| Tucsonans all - Virginia was the photographer and Linda was not available to join us |
Monday morning we left our hotel, caught the train to the Zurich HB station, bought sandwiches for lunch, and boarded the train to Spiez where we changed to a smaller train that took us to our first destination: Kandersteg - [from the information Virginia gave us] "....located in the heart of the Bernese Oberland at the upper end of the Kander Valley. From the moment we step off the train, we are in a true alpine paradise. Lush meadows give way to mountain passes in all directions. High above the village is the Oeschinesee, a turquoise lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks rising 6000 feet above. Kandersteg is a lovely Swiss village and the road ended here."
Once in our rooms at the friendly Hotel Bernerhof and extraordinary hosts Claudia and Gerhard Lehmann - described by one reviewer as Kandersteg's "gem" and we agree - and freshened up, we all gathered for a short and quite steep hike along a road, past a Buddhist monastery, and then steeply up to an overlook - visible from most of our hotel rooms - before returning on a more gradual decline. The hike was designed to help us stretch our legs after a several hours journey by train as well as to give Virginia and Terry an idea of our capabilities.
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heading out on our first hike  |
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| view of Kandersteg from the overlook |
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| photo courtesy of Tom |
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| on the trail above the lake |
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| an encounter with some unlikely trail companions |
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| photo courtesy of Tom |
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| lunch |
On the way back we saw geological evidence of the collision of the European and African plates causing sediment - rocks, layers, etc., etc. - to be pushed up to create the Alps we know today. Here's an extraordinary example of the warping and bending of the layers.
We returned to our room about 2 pm after about 6 miles of hiking/walking. I explored Kandersteg a bit and then washed some clothes while Enrique rested his knee, injured before we left Tucson. [I was pleased to find in each of our hotel rooms a steam heated rack in the bathroom so periodically handwashed items to be worn again. Usually all were dry in the morning or at most after two days, which was fine since we were in each location for at least four days/nights.] Dinner included an excellent chicken curry and fried bananas. Our meals here, thanks to our hosts, were wonderful.
Wednesday morning we were presented with a bit more of a challenge. This time we had the option of taking a van and either hiking up a trail through the Kander Gorge along the Kander River or continuing in the van along a narrow and at times tunneled roadway (vehicles were directed to drive up or down the one-way road at specified times during each hour) to the Village of Selden (5100 feet) and the Steinboch Restaurant (where four of us would take a brief hike on our own while waiting for the others to join us for lunch) and then all walking back down through the very green Gastern Valley into Kandersteg and if we chose, all the way back to the hotel (which we did), or catching a bus. About ten miles for those of us who took the van up and walked all the way back.
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| Bridge over the Kander River, upstream from the Gorge |
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| Enrique, Jen and Marlys - photo courtesy of Tom |
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our hike along the river while waiting for others to join us for lunch  |
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| Enrique looking down into the gorge |
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| Add caption |
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| Tom and Linda looking over one of the bridges back towards Kandersteg |
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| along the gorge |
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| we walked the road back - an example of one of the tunnels to give the reader an idea of the width of the road |
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| a view of tunneling for the road, one side open |
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| soon to be making our way down into the valley below |
Thursday - I noted in my journal that getting to the start of the hike was complicated. My brief description noted: bus to gondola to hike up to gondola to bus to train to train back to Kandersteg. Actually we repeated yesterday's initial journey but stopped at the base of the road climb and piled into a large gondola - the Sunbuhl cable car - that took us up to 6000 feet. We then hiked through a long meadow before climbing to the historic 260 year old Schwarenbach Inn (6800 feet) for lunch and from there to Gemmi Pass (7600 feet). We took the cable car back down to Leukerbad and from there a bus and 2 trains back to Kandersteg. Rain started on our way back. 7.1 miles.
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continuing on up after lunch |
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| approaching Gemmi Pass and the weather is turning |
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| a view of the glacier |
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| we're way up there! |
After the tour of Zermatt, rather than hike up, we elected to wander around often jumping out of the way of the electric vehicles (the drivers of which declared ownership of the road and to heck with a pedestrian's life), visited the Matterhorn Museum (we learned about the first successful group summit of the Matterhorn - followed by the deaths of the majority of the climbers on their way down and were amazed by what the climbers wore and their hiking sticks, shoes, and ropes) and two of the town's churches - open to explore - and their graveyards for those who died trying to summit before returning to the hotel, unpacking, and resting before dinner. About 3 miles of wandering around today.
If you are inclined (pun intended) to watch people climb to the summit of the Matterhorn, google the topic for quite a thrill.
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| the Hotel Romantique where one needs to book a room up to a year in advance |
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| the center cogs used by the trains to latch on and climb |
The weekend we were there, Zermatt hosted a music festival . Here's a group of musicians advertising the concert to be held at the church each evening:
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| a view of the interior of the church with a side view of seating for the orchestra |
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| one of the graveyards for those who died while climbing the Matterhorn (there's another section on the other side of this church as well as behind the second, larger church of Zermatt) |
Saturday - Hooray! we woke to clear skies and a wonderful view of the Matterhorn from our little porch at sunrise.
I note in my evening entry for the day - "amazing hike for everyone today." One hardy and brave group of 10 led by Terry left at 8 am to take the cable car up to Schwarzsee (8450 feet) and then climb via trail - narrow, wet and rocky at times with significant drop-offs - to the Hornli Hut (10,700 feet), the base camp for mountaineers climbing the Matterhorn. The rest of us (8 including Virginia), set off at 9 am and walked over to the astonishing Sunnega funicular (a cable train inside the mountain) and from there caught the gondola to Blauherd (8500 feet). Hiking began here and we walked to Fluhalp. Along the way we passed a beautiful little lake where Virginia guided us to the optimum place from which to take photos of us with the Matterhorn and its reflection. We climbed some more and after a coffee stop at an inn, started making our way down to Findeln for a delicious lunch at the Paradies Restaurant and then continuing our way through the forest back to Zermatt, with a final plunge along a very steep section of trail followed by paved slanted steps. It's tempting to include all the photos Enrique and I took today because the views were so spectacular and the sky so clear. In fact, pictures are worth far more than 1000 words here in Switzerland. About 9 miles today.
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| A thank you to Virginia for providing this group photo for the blog |
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| just to prove we were there! |
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| this is not a faked photo. the goat's dual colored coat is real. |
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| the mighty Matterhorn viewed from Blauherd |
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| the lake was so still this morning |
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| Enrique and Jennifer |
Virginia took everyone - except me, because I now have a very difficult time with depths and drop-offs - along the rim of the moraine left over from the glacier while I made my way along the trail paralleling them below.
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| the fork in the road - photo courtesy of Tom |
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| my view |
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| along the Moraine above |
What they saw that I was glad I did not see:
here's what they saw of me...
Walking down to Findeln
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| Virginia, Enrique and Jen at Paradies - photo courtesy of Tom H. |
Now we're heading on down after lunch at the Paradies
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| the drop-off's were significant; I was glad to have the rope barriers |
Suddenly we all heard a thundering/clattering noise and looked across the valley to spot rock fall. First there was just dust at the top.......
The final section of the very steep descent. We were relieved to get down into the upper regions of Zermatt.
We all celebrated the success of the group that climbed to the Hornlihutte during dinner that evening. Everyone made it; everyone had quite a story to tell!
Sunday - Enrique and I took the day off. Having covered around 40 miles this week and lots of ascents and descents, we were ready for a break. I slept for several hours while Enrique rested his painful knee. The rest must have done both of us a lot of good for the next day we were ready to head out, again!
Monday - our final hiking day in Zermatt started off with rain at daybreak. But after breakfast the clouds had lifted and we were optimistic about a good hike. Our goal, following a gondola lift (as usual using our Swiss Rail Pass the round trip ticket - round trip insurance if Enrique's knee acted up - cost for the two of us was 16 Swiss Francs) was the picturesque hamlet of Zmutt at 6350 feet and, weather permitting, we would continue up the pass towards a huge glacier and past a large hydroelectric power plant. Meanwhile the second, more hardy group elected at Zmutt to head up and over to the Eidelweiss hut and walk down from there. Our second goal had been to cross over to the other side of the valley above and beyond Zmutt, but rain closed in after about a mile and a half or so, so we walked back down to Zmutt and from there over and down towards Furi and the gondola with a stop at a restaurant for a delicious lunch. Two of our group decided to walk on down rather than stop. Rain started shortly after we entered the restaurant. Following lunch Tom, Enrique and I headed down the road while Virginia took three others over to the lift for the ride down. The weather cleared for most of our hike until about 20 minutes outside of Zermatt. Out came our waterproofs. We walked about 10 miles today.
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| Terry took this photo of us a bit below Zmutt |
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| a zoomed in photo of the glacier |
Heading back down again through a complex of tunnels and past a description of the hydroelectric complex:
Tuesday - today was a travel day to Wengen, described by Virginia as ...."This charming village is another quiet, traffic-free alpine resort in the Bernese Oberland. Wengen is near the famous trio of mountains - the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau and above the incredible glacier-carved Lauterbrunnen Valley. This "valley of waterfalls" is considered one of the most beautiful in Switzerland. Across the valley from Wengen, the village of Murren sits perched atop a 2500 foot wall reaching up from the valley floor. Views from this whole area are magnificent, some of the most spectacular in the world."
I have come to think of the area as Shangri-La.
For this leg our bags had to be packed and in the lobby before 8 am. Virginia arranged for them to be shipped to Wengen, to arrive about 6 pm at our hotel. Meanwhile we met up at 9:15 am at the train station to catch the 9:40 am to Visp where we boarded another train to Thun. We disembarked, bought sandwiches for lunch, and ambled over to a covered bridge to eat and enjoy the scenery.
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| street names can be very descriptive |
Following our forty minute layover, we gathered at the gang plank of our paddlewheel steamer, entered, and climbed to the upper deck - a benefit of our first class status - for our 2.2 hour voyage the length of Thun Lake to Interlaken.
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| the engines that powered the paddlewheels were maintained so well! |
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| stairs up to the first class deck and the restaurant |
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| a castle on the waterfront |
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| the Eiger in the distance |
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| another paddlewheel - these made stops all along the lake, frequently criss-crossing to pick up passengers |
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| road builders made use of interesting opportunities |
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| Notice the trees on the hill in the background - they reflect the shape of the hill itself |
We arrived in east (Ost) Interlaken and walked through town to the railway station where we boarded the train to the magical town of Lauterbrunnen, located in a valley carved out by a glacier. We then climbed aboard a cog rail train that took us up and up to Wengen. We checked in at the boutique Hotel Schonegg and after meeting our wonderful host Philippe Allenspach, we climbed the stairs to our room and peeked out our window onto a porch and from there took a look at the massive Jungfrau. Out of sight and to the left is Monch and left of that is the Eiger. 7 miles.
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| our cog train |
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| Looking down into the valley from our perch in Wengen - notice the high cliffs |
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| view of the Jungfrau from our room at the Hotel Schonegg in Wengen |
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| a marker indicating we are on the trail |
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| a couple of base jumpers suddenly appeared on our left and finished by parachuting down on the grassy open space |
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| Honoring their loved ones with flower gardens |
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| riding the cog rail back up to Wengen |
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| Evening on the porch - the Jungfrau and Us |
Friday - We have been married 24 years!!! To celebrate we joined the others to walk to the gondola that took us up to Mannlichen. We hiked 1.5 miles on over to Kleine Scheidegg (6700 feet) and then boarded the train to Eigerglitcher, the first stop, where we picked up the Eiger Trail. Most of our hike was in the clouds and often the trail was socked in and slippery as we made our way around the base of the slightly visible Eiger. Once we began a descent along an area where we needed to hold on to ropes, the camera was put away for the day. We lunched at Alpiglen - the hot rosti with cheese and egg hit the spot - after which we walked a short bit to the train station to ride back up to Kleine Scheidegg and returned by train to Wengen. We were presented with a beautiful bouquet of roses from a member of our group - Connie - to mark the occasion. 8 miles.
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| a view from the cable car |
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| the ghost of the Eiger |
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| the fog continued to increase |
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| Our 24th Anniversary |
Saturday - our last day in Wengen. We woke up to the sight of breaking clouds and some sunshine. The possibility of seeing the Eiger and the Monch encouraged Virginia and Terry to create a hike to satisfy all of us. We headed out again to Lauterbrunnen, picked up the lift to Grutschalp and then the train to Murren. This time, after walking straight through the town, we headed up the road for at least 2 miles of steady switchbacking to the cheesemaker's at Schiltalp. Along the way the clouds parted and we were thrilled to see both the Eiger and the Monch. We enjoyed a delicious kuchen at the top that fueled us for our hike back down to Murren. Another group continued on up from Schiltalp and over another route. My legs simply gave out in Murren so Enrique and I took the train and lift and train back to Wengen where we wandered around for awhile before returning to our room and dinner. I confess that I did not integrate the photos in this group since we both were madly taking pictures and so many of them illustrate this beautiful day..... 5.5 miles.
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| In Murren. And, the clouds parted! |
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| View back down at Murren |
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| Notice the woodpile - we saw these all over Switzerland - an art. |
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| The Eiger |
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| Heading up the road |
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| At Schiltalp, in the clouds, enjoying the view |
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| Absolutely delicious kuchen baked especially for our group |
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| I spotted some Heather |
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| Heading on back down ..... we were quite high at the cheesemaker's |
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| The Eiger and the Monch |
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| a paraglider in full flight |
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| the signs often gave the hiker the time estimated to reach a spot |
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| part of the cheesemaking process |
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| the kettle used to make cheese |
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| one group went off in this direction after our snack at the cheesemaker's |
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| a paraglider taking off |
This photo of our entire group was taken in Wengen
Sunday - Making our way back to Zurich......
Although we were looking forward to our visit to Luzern, we also felt sad that we needed to leave Wengen and to begin thinking about returning to the real world. Virginia again made arrangements for all of our luggage to be shipped from Wengen to the Zurich airport so we would not need to haul our bags around. In fact, several in our group put their backpacks in lockers in Luzern, too.
Our return took us by cog rail down to Lauderbrunnen and from there to Interlaken where we again changed trains for the city of Luzern. The photos that follow are presented in order of encountering the places mentioned.
Virginia planned a four hour layover there for us that started with a quickly eaten lunch followed by a walking tour led by Terry. We started at the train station, and moved on to two covered bridges, the first known as the Chapel Bridge and the second, the Mill Bridge. The Mill Bridge contains paintings, each featuring a skeleton or death - a moral tale in each. Along the way we noticed the Lake Luzern level-control gates called needle dams. We entered the Jesuit Church (built 1666-1677) dedicated to Francis Xavier. Passing the Marilyn Monroe figure clinging to the side of a building, we proceeded to the Muhlenplatz, the Weinmart square with its distinctive mural of the Wedding Feast at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine and the Hirschenplatz with the facades of rings and a battle. We took a shortcut to the Sternenplatz with its famous Mardi Gras mural and went on to St. Peter's Chapel.
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| Fountain in a plaza across the street from the train station |
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| interior of the Jesuit Church |
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| Needle Dam |
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| in the Muhlenplatz Square |
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| Goethe stayed in a hotel nearby |
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| the original owners - Mr/Mrs Fritschi are side by side at the top celebrating Fasnacht |
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| St. Peter's Chapel |
Our trek continued to the famous Lion Monument. Sited in a park with a reflecting pool, this enormous sculpture was carved into a cliff face. The Lion was a gift from France as a memorial to represent the more than 600 Swiss Guards who were killed or later imprisoned or massacred while defending the French King (who had already fled). The park, although well-populated that afternoon, was quiet, for the image before us was astonishing.
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| look closely, the lion is crying |
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| The inscription reads, "Helvetiorum fidei ac virtuti - to the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss" |
Finally, we climbed to the top of the hill and to the old town fortification walls from which we could view the city below before returning to the train station.
We reached Zurich and the airport to collect our luggage, returned to Oerlikon, enjoyed a warm going away dinner, packed, slept, and took an early train to the airport the next morning. From Zurich we flew to Heathrow where we changed planes a couple hours later and flew on to Phoenix. Counterintuitively, our flight attendants dimmed the lights and encouraged everyone to sleep even though our plane was to land in Phoenix about 5:30 pm. Enrique and I stayed awake either watching movies or reading.
Our arrival in Phoenix included going through Customs. I continue to be startled yet relieved by how streamlined this process has become compared to the lines I and my family endured many years ago. I still get a thrill when I realize I am back in my own country.
Our overnight stay in a hotel south of Phoenix proved to be an excellent idea for we needed a good night's sleep and stretch before returning home and to our cat, Guido, who was so very happy to see us and we, him.
We highly recommend this trip to others. Two final points about our Switzerland experience: first, be prepared for high prices and second, enjoy the delicious water!! Excellent descriptions of the sites mentioned throughout this post can also be found in Rick Steves' Switzerland and, I am told, in the Lonely Planet's Guide to Switzerland.
