Journey To The Swiss Alps, Prologue - The Eye of the Beholder
What is it about the mountains that so captures my imagination and wonderment? Why is it that nothing takes my breath away and stirs my very soul like a mountain landscape? To be sure, there is incredible beauty in an infinite number of places, but my eye has always been drawn to all the mountains have to offer.
It’s easy to see some of the influence. I grew up on the west side of Denver in the shadow of the Front Range. My family sought the mountains for camping and skiing. Yet other than a vague appreciation, many people from mountainous regions do not necessarily come to see mountains in what can only be described as a spiritual sense of reverence.
My first recollection of being moved by a mountain goes back to 1967. I was ten years of age in Miss Kumor’s fourth grade class at Rolling Hills Elementary School. The memories are vague, but at some point during the year we were assigned geography projects. I wound up doing a report about Switzerland. It was during this report project that I saw my first photograph of the Matterhorn. Jutting dagger-like into the bluebird sky, ice chiseled faces narrowing to the pointed needle summit, the Matterhorn has no peers worthy of its stature. Granted, there are higher mountains and harder climbs in this world, but for sheer inspiration based on immeasurable grandeur, the Matterhorn stirs me in a way no other mountain can compete with.
I have hiked, backpacked and climbed hundreds of miles in the mountains of Colorado and Washington. I have stood on countless mountain summits and gazed across landscapes of rock and ice that lifted my spirit to places no words can convey. Yet for almost fifty years, I have dreamed of traveling to Switzerland to experience the Alps and in particular, stand in the presence of that mountain of mountains, the Matterhorn.
In just a few short weeks, I am planning to finally fulfill this lifelong dream. This coming September, Bridgit and I will be spending twelve days in Switzerland. Knowing it would take several lifetimes to see all we would like to see, we have opted to only go to two villages, both of which will be a base for exploring two legendary mountain regions of the Alps.
We will first travel to Grindelwald in the Bernese Oberland at the foot of the mighty Eiger and Jungfrau. We will then take a train south to Zermatt and spend our remaining time near the Matterhorn. Our traveling companions will be our dear friends Bob and Dana Carey and our great friend Gina Zarlengo from Colorado.
Upon our return, I will be sending out a series of trip reports, recounting our adventures and if luck is on our side, including many photos to compliment the narrative. I am looking forward to sharing this great adventure with you all and wish you could all come along!