We walked a little over a mile through Grindelwald to the gondola station that would take us up and out of this valley (goodbye, Eiger) to the Lauterbrunnen Valley, where its steep glacial valley cliffs and waterfalls gave Tolkien inspiration. Here's a video clip of some men BASE jumping in the Lauterbrunnen Valley---warning: do not try this at home.
Goodbye to the Eiger....
Grindelwald, at the base of the Jungfrau.
Vegetable gardens everywhere!
Mannlichenbahn...the origin of our gondola ride.
Some shots from the gondola...
I wish the foothills in Utah were this green...:)
Alp horns at rest...waiting to be blown by Japanese tourists. (See Day Two to get the joke).
Top of the mountain farm...
In the winter these are ski runs---green and blue runs.
Down on the farm...
Swiss cow...with horns...this is where Swiss cheese comes from....:)
This red line across the bottom of this map shows our gondola path to the top, from right to left
This next map shows our tram ride (red line on the left) from Mannlichen to Wengen.
It's always a delight to see what is at the top of each gondola or mountain in Switzerland. You are almost guaranteed to find a hut, hotel, or restaurant!
This one has a playground!
People walking up to a lookout point.
Our first view of the magnificent Lauterbrunnen Valley.
Wengen, as seen from up on the mountain.
Avalanche fences are on the steepest parts of the slopes here, to keep the snow from cascading down onto the beautiful villages below.
These fences keep the slab from moving downslope as one unit.
Saw this waterfall from the tram.
A very hazy day in the Alps...these avalanche fences are on a very steep slope.
Another view of the avalanche fences.
Mark and I at the top.
Love these flowers...I had to lay on the ground to get shots like this. As we would hike, if I saw a field of flowers, I would run up to it, lay down and start shooting. I am sure it looked strange.
Another view...
A great view of the avalanche control fences from a unique angle.
Such a scenic valley.
Someone is swimming in Wengen...pools were rare sights here. Even the hotels did not have pools or hot tubs.
Little side fences to break down the fall of snow.
What they look like as I pulled back on the zoom.
Getting in the tram for our ride down to Wengen.
Kathy and Steve Miner were in our tour group.
Riding the tram down into the Lauterbrunnen Valley.
Another view from the tram.
All things Swiss...
There were many Orthodox Jews in Switzerland...fascinating.
Trains up high in the Alps are the main mode of transportation. When we stayed in Zermatt, there were no cars--the carless city--no wonder I slept great, it was so quiet at night.
I dub thee, "Face Rock"
Downtown Wengen...the home of beautiful chalets and homes.
I have never seen Hollyhocks growing this high in the U.S.
Sorry about my woodpile fascination...all pieces are cut to the same exact length for easy stacking.
Hotels all over the hills.
This is the Switzerland of "Heidi" fame.
Two-headed cow?
People sat on their porches and sipped coffee. Loved this man's garden.
Everything is always meticulous in Switzerland. Slobs are not allowed.
Their method of stacking in a criss-cross manner is smart.
Raspberry orchard...but wait... what's that hanging from the wires to scare the birds away???
A CD-Rom? This is what you do with the CDs you don't like to listen to.
Everyone in Switzerland is OCD...
Don't mess with nursing cows...or you might get a horn or hoof in the face.
We are headed off for Trummelbach Falls, 1 hour and 50 minutes of hiking time ahead of us.
Swiss cow patty....
Water pouring off the glacier is torrential, and very loud!
After seeing this sign, I moved pretty quickly across this bridge. The day after we hiked this, torrential rains closed down the trail because of tremendous flooding in this area.
We need signs like this in Utah.
Trummelbach Falls is at the end of our journey.
Farms dot the entire bottom of this valley.
This one river is draining all three glaciers up above us. Helicopters were giving rides to people who wanted to fly up to the glaciers at the top.
I got side-tracked again...
We rode this funicular inside the mountain to get a better view of Trummelbach Falls.
After you get off the funicular, you walk up several flights of stairs in the mountain to see this cascading waterfall.
Our tour guides bought us the best ice cream on a stick that I have ever tasted. Will look for these in the states--Magnum bars. These are made from real creamy ice cream, not ice milk. Very rich.
