Switzerland - 9.6.16 - 9.17.16, Part 12: The Matterhorn, The Rothorn & The Five Lakes Trail
On our first night in Zermatt, before retiring for the evening, we went down to the desk to get the local forecast. It didn’t look too promising. The next day was supposed to be partly cloudy in the morning with a chance of rain in the afternoon. After that it looked like rain might move in for the foreseeable future. With a hope and a prayer, I set my alarm for an hour before sunrise and went to bed. I got up a couple of hours later and went out on the balcony and in the moonlight the Matterhorn looked clear. After that, sleep was hopeless. I was up every hour peaking out (pun intended) to see if the clouds had moved in or not.
By the time it was just barely getting light, the Matterhorn was completely crystal clear and it dawned on me (pun intended) that we could be in for an extremely special event. I got out all my camera gear, the Canon DSLR, the telephoto lens, the polarizing filter, the iPhone with its own telephoto. Then I hunkered down on the balcony and waited.
By 6:45AM we were all out on our balconies and planning to go down to breakfast at 7:15AM so we could get an early start on our day. By now it was very light but still minutes away from sunrise. The sky was completely clear and I just knew this was going to be good. Really good. What transpired next was beyond really good. It was without a doubt the most spectacular sunrise I have ever seen.
First the sun kissed the very tip of the peak of the Matterhorn and while we all sat and stared in hushed amazement, this incredible reddish golden light worked its way down the flanks of the peak and just lit up the Matterhorn, changing hue with every passing minute until the entire peak was bathed in a glorious orange glow. It was so beautiful it literally moved me to tears.
7:15 came and went and we sat on the balcony until way after sunrise before finally breaking away to go down to breakfast. Once we finished eating we packed up to head out for what we assumed might be our only chance for any sightseeing before the rain moved in.
In my itinerary, I had planned three days of sightseeing before leaving to go back home. Zermatt lies in a deep valley and it is surrounded by some of the tallest peaks in Europe. Getting high was goal number one (yeah, pun intended here too) so I had picked the three major lifts that could bring us up to the high peaks and ridges for maximum viewage. The one closest to the Matterhorn is called the Klein Matterhorn and it takes you to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. This was the highest point we had on our itinerary for the entire trip to Switzerland at 12,740’. From here we would be able to look down the other side of the ridge into Italy.
The second day we planned to ride the Gornergrat railway up to the Gornergrat, a very high hotel with lofty views in every direction. The third day we would take various lifts to the Rothorn for further views and a possible hike.
Going under the assumption that we may only get in one of these due to bad weather moving in, I insisted that we do the Rothorn and the hike, which I had found through my research. This hike is known as the Five Lakes Trail and it winds down the mountain past five lakes. I had seen photos of these lakes and knew I had to go there. If luck was on my side, the Matterhorn would be reflected in the calm waters of two of the lakes.
Still in reverent shock over the sunrise we had just witnessed, we walked a very short ways to the Sunnegga lift. This was more of a funicular, a train that climbs straight up through a tunnel to a station at 7,500’. At Sunnegga, we boarded a gondola that took us up to an elevation of 8,435’ to the Blauherd station. Then we switched to a very large tram that brought us to the high point at the Rothorn, elevation 10,185’.
The views were beyond what words can convey. For starters, I couldn’t believe how fortunate we were to have such clear skies considering the weather forecast. Huge mountains pierced the sky all around us. From this vantage point we could see nine of the ten highest peaks in the Alps. The Weisshorn, Dom, Liskamm, the Matterhorn to name a few in addition to the second highest peak in the Alps, 15,203’ Monte Rosa.
The view from Monte Rosa to the Matterhorn from the Rothorn
15,203’ Monte Rosa
The Matterhorn - 14,691'
The Findelgletscher (Findel Glacier) coming off Monte Rosa
In both Grindelwald and Zermatt, tandem paragliding was a very popular thing to do. The paragliders would find thermals and soar to incredible heights right up close and personal with these legendary peaks. On the trip up to the Rothorn, we shared the tram with a paragliding company and several people who had paid to be taken for the ride of their life. At the top they all spread out their chutes and one by one we watched them get up, the pro in the back and the rider up front. They would run as fast as they could towards the edge of a steep hillside and then just take off and sail down the valley, the rider whoo-hooing the entire way. It looked so incredibly fun that I am sure I would enjoy trying it someday.
The view across the valley of Zermatt, from the Matterhorn to the Weisshorn
We spent quite some time up at the Rothorn there was so much to see, but I also wanted to get going on the Five Lakes hike before any weather moved in. We all took the tram back down to the Blauherd station. While the ladies continued down to shop Zermatt, Bob and I followed the signs towards the first lake on the trail known as the Stellisee. The trail wasn’t really a trail. It was more of a maintenance road and we had to realize that this entire area is nothing but ski terrain all winter long. Gradually it became more of a trail and soon we arrived at the Stellisee. I was thrilled to have the weather so clear and the water still enough to capture some good reflection shots.
The Matterhorn reflected in the Stellisee
The lovely Stellisee.
After gawking at this gorgeous lake, the rest of the lakes paled in comparison. The second one, the Grindjisee was pretty nice as it was lower down with pine trees around the lake that added to the scene. The Grünsee was really low and more of a mud pit than anything. The Moosjisee was a retention pond and the Leisee was a small shallow pond at the end that all the kids would wade in. So the Five Lakes Trail wasn’t as spectacular as we had hoped, but it was still nice to take a five and a half mile hike and the views at the Stellisee made it all the more worth our while.
Along the way, we passed by the quaint little village of Findeln. Findeln is really just a cluster of extremely old farm and storage buildings, many of which were converted into restaurants so now Findeln is known as a really cool place to go eat. Since we weren’t planning on eating there, we passed by above it and looped back up to Sunnegga before heading back to our hotel.
Findeln
At Sunnegga we stopped for a beer because the sun was still out and the Matterhorn was still out and who needs a reason?
The patio at Sunnegga. I kept thinking of how cool this would be during ski season.
Spectacular! And the Matterhorn looks pretty good too!
This concludes Part 12. Be sure to read the final installment - Part 13: The End of the Tale