All Things Matterhorn - Day Five

As I woke up early this morning, I knew that if I rushed outside the Zermatt City Hotel Garni ("garni" means "bed and breakfast") by 6 am, I would have a chance for some fabulous shots of the Matterhorn with the sun hitting just the top.  Alas, this mountain always has some cloud cover on it (the warmth of the mountain creates constant condensation around it, forming small clouds)...so I knew there would be a slight chance of seeing the top...

God granted me a little miracle...a moon and a jet soaring over the summit!

  Perhaps this is really Mt. Etna?  

Today's hike would take us to the base of the route to the Matterhorn...

a point on the ridge just above that bottom yellow band.  Couldn't wait!

First had to make a quick trip to the Bakery to pick up some Haussebrot...a wonderful light brown bread with nuts and seeds on top...only one loaf left.  Today we would say goodbye to Zermatt and take a train to the Jungfrau region.  I don't think this bread will see the U.S....no way to preserve it until Tuesday...:(   Oh, and they also sell ice cream, if you couldn't tell by the large graphic in front...:)

Our hike began from the hotel through the streets of Zermatt...which is the scenic tour as we walk through an old Swiss village that has been kept preserved amongst the newer chalets.

Beautiful gardens (look at those onions) along the way...

We stopped at the Zermatt Church to look at the tombstones of 

those who had died climbing these mountains.

Hope you noticed those staddle stones...

Talking sports...or something like that...:)

Getting ready to ride the Matterhorn Express...for the second time in a week...on our way to the trailhead to hike up to the Hornli Hut...the base camp for Matterhorn climbers.

 Once we were on the Matterhorn Express, we sat next to these two lovely women from Britain.  The woman on the left is Jean Walker and the one on the right is her daughter-in-law, Victoria Walker. Jean's husband, George, first climbed the Matterhorn when he was 50...and it was his first mountain climb!  Today, Victoria's sixteen year-old son, Archie, is climbing the Matterhorn as a way to honor his grandfather...and this is also his first mountain climb!

These women had just taken a helicopter ride to the top of the Matterhorn so that they could wave to Archie as he summited, which he did.  Now they are riding up to the trailhead to greet him as he is walking down.  Since we would be hiking ahead of them at a faster pace, I told her I would keep an eye out for the young lad, and give him my best wishes.

The destination:  Hornli Hut - Base camp for Matterhorn climbers.

Mark and I had made it up to this lower building on Monday....

weren't sure how to get up on those rock cliffs so we held off climbing further.

Watching the non-stop helicopter brigade bring wet cement up to the hut.  This is the last year the hut will be standing.  It is being demolished in a few months to create space for three new buildings.  The Matterhorn will be closed to climbing next summer while they construct the new hut. It will reopen in the Summer of 2015.

This helicopter brought a bucket of wet cement up to the construction site about every 5 minutes.  They take a break in Switzerland (and most of Europe) from Noon to 2 pm everyday....everything shuts down in town so people can eat and snooze...:)

Rob took this panoramic for me on my iPhone 4S...my hand wasn't steady enough to get it on my own.

Coming off the Matterhorn Express to the trailhead for the base of the Matterhorn.

Looking down on the gondola station where we started, we 

begin to ascend this rocky ridge up to Hornli Hut.

Mark kept a steady pace, and did quite well on this trek.

As we approached the first building, I noticed it was filled with sleeping 

mountain sheep, with bells around their necks.

Sleepy mother sheep and baby...

There's always a black sheep in the family...:)

The Swiss don't clip the tails off their sheep...

I didn't get too close...these beasts have horns, and I wasn't going to

 stick around to see how they use them.

 As we ascend the ridgeline up to the hut, we had to climb these metal grate stairs, that were attached to the mountain by steel beams.  As you walked up the steps, you could see that there was NOTHING under you but air....

Steve and Mark get ready to walk up the stairs..

Josh and Annie take up the rear of the trail.  You can see the nicely-groomed trail we were following...

Making progress...

 Mark has a fear of heights, but this didn't hold him back...so proud of him!

Rob and Steve look out over the glacial valley.

Everyone ascending the stairs.  

I had videotaped part of this climb (will add in when I get to the states), and the last part had no railing...took some mind control to walk across without realizing what it must have looked like.

Steep switchbacks bring us up and over a ridgeline.

Here's another plug for the Swiss...that they provide you with trail benches along the way (everywhere) and then write greetings to you in four different languages...on the bench...speaks highly of them!

A glacier north of the Matterhorn...there is one in every direction.

Wow...someone carved a message into the ground down there!  That is pretty far away so that message is quite large.  Can't really make out what it means...

Mark got confident crossing snow fields, which were quite slushy and slippery at this time of day.

Having crossed over to the other side of the ridge, we could make out the trail to the hut.

See the building up on that ridgeline, about halfway up the Matterhorn?  That's our destination.

So many choices, but I choose "up."

See the people down to the left of this cliff?

Scaling the last hill to get to the hut...

At the Hornli Hut at last...construction closed off some of the grounds.

This hut will be history in a few months...

Looking up at the beginning of the steep ridge to the Matterhorn's summit, you can 

see climbers coming back down (they start at 4 am and have to be on and off the summit no later than 2 pm.)  There is a system of ropes and cables that the guides use to guide their clients (climbers) up the mountain.

New construction ...

Guides taking climbers back down the mountain...this reminds me of how we climb up 

to Bridal Veil Falls to get to the old tram site. :)

Great shot of the ridge (closest to the camera) that is the most common

route up to the summit of the Matterhorn.

Wish I could go up further, but I don't have an extra $1,500 for a guide. 

One of the few places in the Alps where camping is allowed.

WC = Water Closet = Restroom...this place did not smell like roses....

Josh and Nikki discussing our hike.

The news about the new construction...will have to wait until 2015 to climb this thing.

Monte Rosa...highest mountain in Switzerland, with the Gorner Glacier below it.

Alpscape....

Some close-up shots of the Matterhorn climbers using their ropes to come down the mountain.

The upper hut, halfway up the mountain.

Mark and I at the base of the Matterhorn.

 I saw this young teenage boy coming off the mountain and I asked him, "Are you Archie Walker?" 

He gave me a most surprised look and said, "yes," in a beautiful British accent.  I said, "Your mum told me about your climb and I want to congratulate you!"  I then proceeded to pepper him with questions about the climb and how difficult it might be.  He answered that you "just walk up it" with the help of some ropes and cables.  He said it was very steep and physically demanding, but something anyone in excellent physical condition could do with the help of a guide.

Mark and Steve carefully coming down the slushy slope.

Jen and D.J. having fun!

Our tour guide, Nikki Preece.

Kathy, Steve and Mark trying to figure out how to come down this slope.

I think Steve has got the knack of it...digging his heels into the hillside for stability.

Looking up at the steep slope we just came down.

A steep set of switchbacks to descend.

Looking down on the switchbacks.

Me at the basin below the Matterhorn.

Coming down...

Need my German translator...again.  Dave Kenision sent in the
following translation (thanks, Dave):

"The works of the Lord are great; all who find joy in them should ponder them."
The KJV of Psalm 111:2 reads like this:
"The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein."

I love how the Swiss love their Lord...I do too...:)

The end of our hike.

Spent the afternoon touring the cemetery. I was touched that someone went through the trouble to plant flowers on these graves and keep them beautiful and alive.  What a testimony to their devotion for their dead.

Each grave was unique...like the person buried here.

Every headstone was different...

I would love to see this happen in American cemeteries.

A spinach-tomato crepe for a quick lunch...there's that darned ice cream cone again...

Took a shuttle van and left Zermatt...headed for the Jungfrau region.  

This is one of the lakes near Interlaken.

Why are the Swiss so healthy?  They ride bikes until the age of 99!

Saw this guy beside our car...

...then we saw his wife behind him!  She passed him up...:)

Beautiful lakes all around...from above the valley floor, 

this was the most turquoise lake I had ever seen.

We arrive in Grindelvald...at the Gletschergarten Hotel...a very fine hotel.

We love the accomodations here, and the service.  Will use this hotel again when we return.

The view from our hotel.