Overnight in the Alps

Saturday, July 9 - Sunday, July 10 2011

What can we say - we loved hiking with Andre so much, we jumped at the opportunity to go with him again.  So back to the Via Alpina trail to complete another couple of segments over the course of two days.  Some segments of the trail take longer to get to via train than others.  When this happens it makes more sense to do an overnight stay up in the Alps… with pleasure! 

It’s been a while since the two of us have camped (we have now missed two summers of camping with Dave’s extended family back in Washington) so we were itching to do so on this trip.  The only problems were that 1.) we didn’t know if we were actually allowed to camp in the area we were going and 2.) the weather forecast was sketchy with rain.  Regardless, we packed our camping gear onto our packs in hopes that we might be able to use it.  Our fall back option was a remote Alpine hotel that was located at a perfect stopping point for the night, but we were told they didn’t have availability.  We decided to take the chance (on either the weather or that the hotel would at least let us sleep under some sort of shelter!).

The starting point of this hike was the town of Engelberg.  A scenic train ride brought us into town around noon and after the usual map checking and water fill-ups, we were on our way.

 
It seemed like our last hike was a warm-up compared to this one.  The route for the first day was almost seven miles and a vertical climb of over 4,100 feet.  That might seem a little intimidating at first, but the views are so rewarding that it’s easy to ignore the exertion your body is going through.  Andre also has a sweet GPS watch, so it was great to periodically hear our progress on distance & altitude.

We realize once again that it’s difficult to explain the beauty of the outdoors without just showing it.  The terrain is especially hard to describe – so many colors, shapes and the sheer depth of the valleys, mountain crevices and the height of surrounding peaks were astonishing.  God did a great job creating Switzerland. :) To aid our inadequate descriptions, there are plenty of pictures below and a few highlights of the trip noted along the way…

The four of us preparing for the hike in Engelberg.  The cast on this adventure consisted of (in order of appearance below) us, Andre and Ben-- another friend of Andre’s.
 

 

Hiking up really steep trails that gondolas and cable cars reach with ease.  On one particular stretch up to the Trübsee lift station, we felt a little like ‎animals in a zoo as the tourists in the cables cars waved and snapped photos of us from above.  The cars were interesting in themselves as they each had a different international flag on them and we played a little fun game of “who can guess the country?” as we walked.
 

No surprise, the top of that first big climb felt a little touristy as we walked around, sweaty and in full hiking gear compared to the day-trippers holding just a purse or spare coat.  That’s the great part about Switzerland though, the amazing views are available for everyone to enjoy (for a price…).  Part of the draw for this lift is a scenic reservoir lake where you can rent rowboats (on the honor system – suggested price of 10 CHF, just leave it in the box).  

Alpine cows (of course) and marmots on our way up to Jochpass - the highest point of day one (elev. 7283 feet / 2,220 meters).

 
Up and over Jochpass, our decent into the valley below was gorgeous with Engstlensee Lake as the landmark for our stop that evening.

Reaching Hotel Engstlensee, just minutes before the heavens completely opened up for a couple of hours.  Needless to say, the downpour and booming lightening storm thwarted our camping plans!  Lucky for us, the "hotel" (more of a hostel / dormitory) happened to have 4 spare beds for us to crash in.  

There were no showers on site, so we did the next logical thing – a dip in the alpine (freezing) lake!  Crazy?  Maybe.  Refreshing?  Absolutely.  We had to document it with photos in order to prove that we actually did it.  As we thawed out, we took a few minutes to soak in the evening air and watch the sun set over the mountains before passing out from our long day of hiking.

Waking up in the Alps in view-friendly weather.
 

 

More cows and beautiful peaks on our way to the tiny, but spread out, hill village of Tannalp.  Once we arrived and saw the town fromagerie, of course we stopped in for a visit and had to purchase more cheese!

 

Cheese rounds soaking in salt bath

Aging process

 
 

Views of the Trift Glacier and the surrounding area.

Reaching the highest point of the hike at Planplatten (elev. 7365 feet / 2,229 meters), another peak easily accessible by gondolas (and much more challenging on foot) :) and being swallowed up by a cloud shortly after we started our descent.
 

Narrowly avoiding inclement weather our entire trip until, with about 2 hours remaining, we found ourselves caught in a torrential downpour… and then 15 minutes later it was sunny and dry (except for us).

The descent down to Meiringen was a KILLER – we dropped over 5,400 feet of elevation in just over 6 miles and are pretty sure we lost a couple years of functional walking later in life as the joints in our feet, toes, knees, and hips screamed for us to stop.  Of course the views were still amazing. 
 

Reaching our final destination, Meiringen, and thanking the Lord for flat ground!  Over the course of two days we hiked over 20 miles (32 kilometers), scaling over 4,100+ feet (1,250 meters) and descending 5,400+ feet (1,650 meters).  Needless to say we were exhausted once we got settled on the train but still enjoyed the Interlaken lake scenery on our way home.  Another successful Alp hike and we can’t wait until next time…