We set out for our hike up to the Schilthorn Peak after breakfast on our first full day in Murren.
The weather was cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain, so we decided to just go for as long as we could. We knew it would take 3 hours to get to the peak and 3 hours to get back down.
I really had no idea what to expect but I knew that it would be the hardest hike we've ever done and our friends told us they didn't even want to get out of bed the day after they hiked it!
The weather was cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain, so we decided to just go for as long as we could. We knew it would take 3 hours to get to the peak and 3 hours to get back down.
I really had no idea what to expect but I knew that it would be the hardest hike we've ever done and our friends told us they didn't even want to get out of bed the day after they hiked it!
The Allmendhubel-bahn takes you about 1,000 feet above Murren to the start of the hiking area.
Just before heading up:
(This is one of my favorite pictures of Chris, and yes he hiked in a button down.)
(This is one of my favorite pictures of Chris, and yes he hiked in a button down.)
The best view of Murren:
(including cows in the field…could it get any more picturesque?!)
Murren from above:
Chris at the edge:
The Schilthornbahn over a random lake:
This is probably my favorite picture from the hike:
A view of the finish line:
Having fun with angles:
It was really cloudy for a majority of our trip and it even started sprinkling on us, luckily the cloudy were going by so fast that nothing stayed for long:
It was also amazing how much the scenery changed depending on where we were at:
The only place I fell:
(It was so steep that they had to pave part of it for traction. It actually scared me a bit and I dropped my phone when I fell and I was worried it was going to fall off the side of the mountain but it didn't thankfully. My phone case has battle wounds from the Alps, but it still held together! I consider it a trophy of sorts.)
Still smiling:
Once we got up to the higher area, it wasn't so obvious where we were supposed to go. All we had were the spray painted arrows and flags on the ground and every so often we'd pass a sign post telling us how much farther we had to go:
(The Schilthorn peak is in the distance…so far away!)
Climbing straight up:
(This is when I realized that maybe we could have worn something a little more substantial than running shoes.)
This was comforting to come across:
It was such a weird feeling to be in the middle of the Alps by ourselves, with no way of getting ahold of somebody if one of us got hurt. We passed a few people both ways and I'm sure the people in the trams could see us:
Towards the top, hikers had placed rock piles to commemorate their hike:
Ours, with a C + B scratched into the front rock:
Directly under the peak:
Once we got to the saddle, the only way to go up was on the icy snow while holding onto a rope that was secured into the mountain by a few pieces of rebar…oh and there was a sheer cliff on the other side of us. We decided to just turn around and head back down at this point.
Pretty disappointing to turn around about 1,000 feet before the end, but less disappointing than dying:
On the way back down under the Schilthorn peak.
(I hope the people that took the trams up there to eat their $100 soup were enjoying it.
We enjoyed the heck out of our Cliff Bars.)
We had 3 more hours ahead of us but it seemed to go more quickly on the way down.
We were bummed but we were also looking forward to eating an actual meal.
Catching some fresh mountain spring water:
The entire hike I picked up interesting rocks and put them in my pockets as free souvenirs.
Apparently I wanted to torture myself by putting more weight on for the hike:
(it's actually ridiculous how many rocks we ended up with)
Fooooood!
Chris got meatloaf (not many options), fries and peas and I ordered a humble, tiny but spendy garden salad. Not exactly what I was wanting after hiking for 6 hours but we didn't want to break the bank. We did break the Swiss code of conduct by secretly splitting our meals though.
Shhh don't tell anyone.
After eating we went back to the hotel and passed out.
Our bag of rocks:
(We actually got stopped at security when we got back into the US.
They had no idea what was in our bag…oh ya know, just rocks.)
To sum it up, Switzerland was awesome and I couldn't think of a better end to our trip. Who knows, maybe we will be back one day so we can finish that last 1,000 feet up to the Schilthorn peak.
...
Thinking back on our trip:
We were gone for a total of 9 days, which I think was a perfect amount of time. As awesome as it was to spend time with great friends in amazing places, we were looking forward to getting back home to the boys. When we were planning the trip, I think the best piece of advice we received was "go to Europe expecting that you will be back someday." We didn't feel the need to see every little thing, but instead we got to sort of "sample" a bunch of different places that were all so different from each other. We will be back for sure, even if it's once the boys are off to college!
Just in case you missed any…
Leaving home + Amsterdam part 1
Amsterdam part 2
Germany
Paris
Switzerland part 1
So lovely! I would love to go to Switzerland one day. I've been to the Netherlands and loooooooved it. It was on a mission trip, and I still pen pal with a sweet lady I met there.