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| The Matterhorn |
...up early to catch the TGV (train grande vite' - very fast train) to Geneve...
The TGV travels at 170 miles per hour. Fast train, smoth ride. We rode past many farms and villages and were in Geneve in about 4 hours. We had to go through customs in Geneve and wait there for a little while to catch the next train.
Our next train connected us to a little town called Visp. From there we hopped a third train called the Glacier Express. The name was appropriate. The train goes from Visp to Zermatt. Some of the climbs are so steep that the train is actually pulled up the tracks by a center gear. The scenery was breathtaking; mountains, valleys, and glaciers.
We stayed at the Hotel Biner. Three single rooms! The rooms were small, but comfortable. We had made a dinner reservation via the internet. As we were seated, the chef came out, said hello, and headed outside to a garden where she picked vegetables and herbs to be used in our meals!
Zermatt is a small tourist town just at the base of the Matterhorn. No traffic is allowed outside of small service vehicles. One can walk the length of the town in 10-15 minutes.
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| Lake Grindjisee - 7000ft |
The next morning was dedicated to a walk about the town. By noon Steve and I decided to go backpacking. We took a train THROUGH the mountain and up to a plateau near Lake Sunnega. From there, it was a 2.5 hour trek past two other lakes to a height of about 7000 feet. Some parts were fairly tiring. It was a real experience hiking above the tree line and not being too far from a glacier. It took us another two hours to get back down. We took a path different from the one from which we came. Getting down proved to be challenging at times. There were many switchbacks through the tree line, some of which were rather steep. By the evening we were recharging at the "Country Bar" - appropriatly named for all of the country and western pictures on the wall - the 70's disco/popular music didn't really fit. The beer was good, we were the only non locals in the place, and the bar maid was great, so it was worth it.
The following day, I decided to go backpacking on the other side of the town. This time, there would be no train to get me up the mountain. There was a constant drizzle. The three hour climb took me to a height of about 8000 feet. I walked along a ridge for about an hour and the had a 1.5 hour descent. It was a little stranege seeing clouds below me! At one point a thick fog moved in. It made walking along the thin, wet trail all the more interesting.
By 3:00 PM I was back at the hotel and ready to walk around the town souvenir shopping. One little store sold the best stuff and cheaper than anyone else. Jim had the hairbrained idea of putting packs of seeds that I bought into the freezer. The back of the pack said that the seeds had to be frozen for 4-6 weeks after planting. I told him he was nuts. The owner of the store suggested putting the seeds into the freezer since there's no winter in Florida. I stand corrected!!
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| Zermatt |
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