Sep 3, 2014: Grindelwald, First, Bachalpsee
As usual we checked the weather site and saw the prediction for sunny weather
We took the train to Wengen and then onward to Grindelwald.
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mmm... just the right size for a yummy croissant!
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A friendly cow and calf...Wetterhorn looming behind
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Note the paraglider (red sail) in the sky in this pic
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From the station we walked 10 minutes thru the nice town admiring the Wetterhorn
towering above
It was a 10 minute walk to the Firstbahn—the cable car
station to reach First
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| Firstbahn |
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Always note the last cable car timing displayed...if you miss it, you'll have to hike down!
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There is a notice that each cable car should have 6 people… but
on our 10 day trip, we always had a cable car to ourselves
It’s a 3 stage ride—on our way up, we went straight to First
without getting down at the intermediate stations… Bort, Schreckfeld (where the
First flyer zipline from First ends) (we got down at these stations for a short
walk on our way back)
Nice scenery on the cable car ride, great views of
Wetterhorn, waterfalls, streams, forests, chalets and even a deer...
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| View from the cable car....A deer... |
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| View from the cable car...cows |
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| View from the cable car...stream |
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| View from the cable car...waterfall |
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View from the cable car...Wetterhorn peak
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We reached First 7113 feet (2168m).
The marmot trailhead has a marmot statue and fun facts for kids…
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A pat for the Marmot
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The different trails are well marked.
We
set off on our hike to
Bachalpsee
(see=lake in German; so no need to repeat
lake
Bachalpsee )
Another great day with sunny weather and beautiful views. ..several 4000m peaks around… Schreckhorn, Wetterhorn and the spectacular North Wall (Nordwand) of Eiger.
Can understand why the Nordwand (North wall) is nicknamed Mordwand—murderwall—it’s so vertical that climbers must have such a tough time to scale
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Nordwand (north wall) of Eiger
Happy cows grazing, their tinking bells being the background music for our trek…
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Nordwand (north wall) of Eiger
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Nordwand (north wall) of Eiger and happy cows grazing near a puddle of water
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The cows on the slopes are friendly and their tinkling bells really create great background music as we walk thru the rolling hills!
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| Filled up our water from a stream |
Reached Bachalpsee in a little more than an hour. Small lake
framed by high peaks all round—lovely sight.
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| Schreckhorn towering behind the lake... |
Sat on one of the rocks and had our lunch.
Several hikers (bikers) were going onward to Fulthorn—in hindsight we regret not doing so…
Our hotel landlady told us the whole lake border is lined with people on good weather days... we had the place almost to ourselves!
The washroom near the lake is locked, so be sure to use the loo before you start your trek!
Anyways, after an hour, we started our hike back… a fog rolled in and we missed seeing the mountains but then wild flowers and cows were always around…
Towards the end, the fog started lifting and we were grateful to see the glistening peaks again
At First, people were going on their zipline rides (70CHF)… looks much better than the one we did in Jungfraujoch. Here it is a longer ride that too over a valley and the brake system at Schreckfeld where the line ends is great. No ending with a bump as we did on Jungfraujoch
We walked around on the First, sat at the place where paragliders were taking off (CHF180 for 20min ride). Views were great!
Had some food sitting at the picturesque site. Then we took the cablecar back. When we saw the zipline ending at Schreckfeld, we were tempted to go back and do the zipline… I don’t think our return ticket allows going back… we reluctantly continued onward. Got down at Bort, walked around enjoying the views. It has a nice playground for kids
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That is the winding path we hiked on to Bachalpsee...
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We then took the cablecar back to Grindelwald.. then wandered through the town…trees laden with apples… lovely flowers everywhere..
Fuschias in bloom...
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wow...an apple tree
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| Back at Grindelwald |
Saw the church -- the doors are motion sensitive and opened on their own as we stepped near... we went in and the doors closed on their own… a little eerie...
Lovely church and a serene church yard
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Grindelwald church
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Serene final resting place!
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Then we retraced our way back to the station
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With Mr Spoon and Ms Fork... welcoming wood carvings in front of a restaurant!
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Returned to
our hotel in Lauterbrunnen.
End of yet another GREAT day.
covers our Brienz lake cruise and day at the fabulous Ballenberg museum
Wow, what a beautiful place it is. I like this post and I would also love to visit this nice place someday. deals for cheap park and fly
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