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In the very early morning of July 7th we
left from Zeist towards Switzerland. In the afternoon we
arrived at Brienz, where we stayed at the shore of the
Brienzer See. After three days of moutainbiking, hiking
and swimming around the Brienzer See we went by train
from Wilderswil to the Schynige Platte. From the , the
view was magnificent, with the Brienzer See deep down
below us at the left hand side and the Eiger, Mönch and
Jungfrau on the right hand side. After a three hours
hike, we arrived at the männdlenen hut (photo). The wardens
Svarovsky telescope was aimed at two eagles and their
nest high above us on top of a steep rock. That night, we
also spotted a group of mountain goats. |
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The next morning, we climbed the Faulhorn (2680 m).
We had lunch at the beatifull Alpbachsee (photo) and then
we descended towards Grindelwald. From there, we took the
train back to Wilderswil. We found ourselves a nice
campsite in the valley of Lauterbrunnen (campsite
Breithorn). From there, it was only a 10 minutes walk
to the Trümmelbach Waterfalls. At this
site, the Trümmelbach falls down the steep slopes of the
Lauterbrunnen valley through 10 spectacular waterfalls
inside the mountain. |
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The next morning we took the train from Lauterbrunnen
to Wengen and the cable car from Wengen to Männlichen.
From there we hiked towards Kleine Scheidegg and the
Eiger glacier. I never met so many Japanese people in the
Alps before! At the Eiger glacier we enjoyed a very tasty
lunch (photo): bread with Emmenthaler Cheese, cucumber
and tomato. After this, we hiked back to Wengen. |
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After a day of relaxing near Stechelberg at the end
of the Lauterbrunnen valley, we left for our three days
hike towards the summit of the Schilthorn (2969 m). We took the
cable car from Stechelberg to Mürren. From there, we
hiked to the Schilthorn hut (photo). The top of the
Schilthorn could already be seen from the hut (see photo
background). After a pleasant night, we climbed the
Schilthorn in two hours. We enjoyed a coca cola and an
apfelstrüdel in the rotating restaurant on the summit.
The building om top of the Schilthorn was used as the
crooks head quarter in the James Bond movie 'On her
majesty's secret service'. There even is a movie theatre
where we watched the highlights of this film. |
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After a two hours stay at the summit of the
Schilthorn, we started descending on the other side of
the mountain. We walked through a very nice glacial
valley where we met several marmots. One of them allowed
us to get really close (photo). |
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That afternoon, we reached the Rotstock
hut (photo). This was a very nice hut which I would
like to recommend to everyone. During dinner we met some
Swiss people who came up with several good tips for the
rest of our trip. The next morning, we walked back to
Stechelberg, where we allowed ourselves a giant sorbet.
We travelled by car via the Grimsel pass (2165 m) to the
Rhone valley. In a little village called Reckingen we
found a campsite runned by a Dutch couple (campsite Augenstern). Reckingen was
recommended by our Swiss friends at the Rotstock hut for
its beautiful characteristic houses. |
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From Reckingen we drove to Betten, where we took a
cable car to Bettmeralp. From there we hiked around with
some magnificent views on the famous Aletsch glacier
(photo). The next day we went to Leukerbad. There we took
a cable car towards the Gemmi pass (2314 m). We walked
for three hours and halfway to Kandersteg we set up our
tent we spent the night in the wild. The next morning we
walked back to Leukerbad and took the car towards the
lake of Genova. The next day we irritated the grumpy
campsite owner by waking him at 5 am to open the gate.
After spending our last Swiss money at a petrol station
we drove back to the Netherlands. |