Switzerland, 9.6.16 - 9.17.16, Part 2 of 13: The Shilthorn
Maybe it was because we planned the flight so we would be up until normal bedtime on Swiss time that first night, or maybe we were just excited to be there and eager to start seeing things, but I never really felt like jet lag was an issue. The front desk had a cool weather app that not only told you the weather each day but showed hour by hour diagrams of the cloud conditions. Almost every day of the entire trip, the forecast called for decent morning weather with clouds getting heavier in the afternoons. As a result, Bob and I wouldn’t let anybody sleep in. Up at 6:30, breakfast in the hotel at 7:30 and out the door by 8:15.
Waking up that first morning, the first thing I did was go out onto the balcony to watch the sun rise. Every day we had beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
First light on the Feischerhorn above the lower Grindelwald Glacier
Morning light bathing the Eiger
We had a delicious breakfast every day at the hotel. The Swiss don’t seem big on omelets, fried eggs or scrambled eggs. The only eggs we saw at the hotel were hard boiled with tie dye shells. They had an assortment of delicious pastries and breads, fresh yogurt, fruit and fruit salad, assorted sliced meats and cheeses, fruit juices and really good coffee with optional steamed milk on the side.
Before we delve into our adventures, let me give you an idea of the layout of the area. As you can see from the map below, the Jungfrau massif is a fairly straight line from which a high ridge comes out almost at a 90 degree angle from the Eiger. This ridge divides the Grindelwald area from the valley of Lauterbrunnen. Our first day of exploring involved taking a bus to a train and then another tram to another train to a cable car. Then we took the cable car back to the train to the tram to a different train to a cable car to a gondola. All in a days work. Remember I still had to budget time for cocktails on the balcony!
Map of the area. Arrows show our route the first day.
The team ready to roll
At 8:15AM we hopped on a city bus right in front of the hotel which took us to the Grindelwald station. There we got on the train and headed down from whence we came to Zweilutschinen. Here we separated from the main track and went up the valley to the beautiful town of Lauterbrunnen. I wish we had been able to spend more time in that town but it wasn’t in the cards. We got off the train and walked to a tram that took us straight up the side of the valley wall to a station called Grutschalp. It was a very straight up incline and we gained 2,200’ in six minutes.
At Grutschalp we boarded a small two car cog railway that took us along the high plateau overlooking Lauterbrunnen to the absolutely adorable little town of Murren. No cars can get to this town and it is as charming as you could possibly imagine. It is nestled right at the edge of a huge cliff that drops down to the Lauterbrunnen valley floor and looks straight across the valley to another town on the opposite side called Wengen and to what I came to refer to as the Big Three - The Eiger, The Monch and The Jungfrau.
On this day, our first day of exploring however, the clouds had already shrouded the upper peaks. Bravely we pushed on, strolling through the main street of Murren, trying to control Bridgit and Dana’s lust for spending money and after a fifteen minute walk we came to the Schilthorn cable car. This was one scary ride for the uninitiated. There were no lift towers. Several giant cables were strung 4,300’ up to the Schilthorn summit with only one station along the way. Not for the feint of heart.
The Schilthorn cable car
The Schilthorn sits at 9,748’ and has a visitor center with a revolving restaurant called Piz Gloria. This is the location where the big action scene was filmed for the Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The location features sensational panoramic views when the skies are clear. Much to my disappointment, when we arrived at the Schilthorn, our entire summit was enveloped in a thick cloud and visibility towards the Big Three was zilch.
The Schilthorn
We could see some views in the opposite direction and looking down below the cloud cover was pretty cool, but it was an ominous start to our sightseeing trip and I had to mask my disappointment.
Lovely green hillsides far below the Schilthorn summit
After waiting around awhile with no luck we decided we might as well continue so we got back on the cable car to head back down. Interestingly enough, as we dropped back down toward the mid station called Birg, we could see the clouds were starting to break up so instead of going all the way down we got off at Birg and headed to the viewing platform.
Birg Station with The Eiger making an appearance
Looking back up at the Schilthorn with nothing but a couple of thin metal cables to hold up your cable car
At the Birg Station, the gods smiled upon us and we were treated to an exquisite view of The Big Three as the clouds dissolved and the sunshine took over. The viewing platform dangled over huge cliffs and the platform was a combination of open grates and clear plexiglass so you could see how far you would fall if the glass broke.
The Eiger, The Monch and The Jungfrau with Murren far below. Note the paraglider flying over the valley. We would see lots of them throughout our trip.
After we feasted on this incredible scene long enough, we continued back down to Murren. We had to let Bridgit and Dana go into at least one shop as we walked back through the town towards the cog railway.
Beautiful Murren
Of course my eyes were glued to The Eiger. It is such an impressive mountain and truly is the central peak of the entire massif.
The Eiger
This concludes Part 2. Stay tuned for Part 3: Männlichen.