After picking up Nadine and using my dumb tourist face to use the toilet for free (it's usually 1 franc - 65 pence or more!) we headed through the mountains for Grindelwald - a village at the base of Eiger and famous for outdoor activities like hiking, ice-climbing, skiing, mountain-biking, etc. We got a little lost en route, but Lukas, who's drives part-time for the military (military service is mandatory for men here), was able to get us there without too much time being lost.
Arriving in the village was quite impressive as the Swiss Alps surround the green, fertile valley of Grindelwald. Clearly a popular tourist spot for the adventurous, we could see para-gliders falling from the sky and rock-climbers taking their ropes and kit out of their cars.
We had out accommodation booked in advance, but it was a three hour hike and over 1000 metres ascent to get there. The Gleckstein Hut at 2338 metres was to be our home for the night (if we could find it). Following a "qualifying hike" of one hour, we set off toward the hut and glacier. The "qualifying hike" is actually what my Swiss friends called the first hour, but the reality was that we started in the wrong place, walked in the wrong direction, then came back again to where we started - still the wrong place. Regardless, it was fun, pretty and a good chance to get to know Nadine and Lukas better.
When we finally found our way onto the path we needed, it was beautiful, but steep and relentless. We hiked for almost four hours and took one wrong turn so had to double back. The scenery was impressive and dramatic and I was very happy to be hiking in good weather as doing it in the rain would be neither pleasant nor safe.
When we reached the hut, I was very surprised. Not like the few mountain hut's Ive seen before, this place had a beautiful wooden interior, spotless floors and bedrooms, warm showers and of course, spectacular views of the village, glacier, Eiger and other mountains.
The other guys opted for a hot shower, but I skipped the 5-franc luxury in favour of a free bath in the glacier river. It was very refreshing, to say the least. Then there was a hearty three-course dinner and fresh beer on tap. When it comes to roughing it, the Swiss do it very well.
Lukas and I really got into the beers and then we all dressed up warm and went out to the deck where there are chairs and tables. As the sun went down, I cracked open a bottle of Black Bush and made us all hot whiskies. The girls were being careful as drinking at altitude is known to be dangerous. However, it wasn't known by Lukas and I so we finished off the bottle over a Swiss card game. Then more beers and a polite warning by the lady/grandma of the hut to keep the noise down. It seems people get up at 3:30 am to ice climb while the ice is hard and compact from the cold night. When lovely grandma finally refused to give us any more of the draft beer, we the last men standing, went outside into the cold to admire the stars and moon and philosophise over I-can't-remember-what until pretty late.
Following the international male bonding, we finally stumbled into our dorm room, Lukas nearly woke the other twelve hikers in the same room with his bumps and kicks of the wall and low ceiling "I'm fighting the bed", he slurred. But finally he settled into playing a game on his phone as he mumbled something about damn-well enjoying this holiday (he has a wife and two kids back home and I guess he doesn't get out as often as he'd like to). I just filled my belly with glacier water in the hopes of minimising tomorrow's hangover/drunkenness.
Arriving in the village was quite impressive as the Swiss Alps surround the green, fertile valley of Grindelwald. Clearly a popular tourist spot for the adventurous, we could see para-gliders falling from the sky and rock-climbers taking their ropes and kit out of their cars.
We had out accommodation booked in advance, but it was a three hour hike and over 1000 metres ascent to get there. The Gleckstein Hut at 2338 metres was to be our home for the night (if we could find it). Following a "qualifying hike" of one hour, we set off toward the hut and glacier. The "qualifying hike" is actually what my Swiss friends called the first hour, but the reality was that we started in the wrong place, walked in the wrong direction, then came back again to where we started - still the wrong place. Regardless, it was fun, pretty and a good chance to get to know Nadine and Lukas better.
When we finally found our way onto the path we needed, it was beautiful, but steep and relentless. We hiked for almost four hours and took one wrong turn so had to double back. The scenery was impressive and dramatic and I was very happy to be hiking in good weather as doing it in the rain would be neither pleasant nor safe.
When we reached the hut, I was very surprised. Not like the few mountain hut's Ive seen before, this place had a beautiful wooden interior, spotless floors and bedrooms, warm showers and of course, spectacular views of the village, glacier, Eiger and other mountains.
The other guys opted for a hot shower, but I skipped the 5-franc luxury in favour of a free bath in the glacier river. It was very refreshing, to say the least. Then there was a hearty three-course dinner and fresh beer on tap. When it comes to roughing it, the Swiss do it very well.
Lukas and I really got into the beers and then we all dressed up warm and went out to the deck where there are chairs and tables. As the sun went down, I cracked open a bottle of Black Bush and made us all hot whiskies. The girls were being careful as drinking at altitude is known to be dangerous. However, it wasn't known by Lukas and I so we finished off the bottle over a Swiss card game. Then more beers and a polite warning by the lady/grandma of the hut to keep the noise down. It seems people get up at 3:30 am to ice climb while the ice is hard and compact from the cold night. When lovely grandma finally refused to give us any more of the draft beer, we the last men standing, went outside into the cold to admire the stars and moon and philosophise over I-can't-remember-what until pretty late.
Following the international male bonding, we finally stumbled into our dorm room, Lukas nearly woke the other twelve hikers in the same room with his bumps and kicks of the wall and low ceiling "I'm fighting the bed", he slurred. But finally he settled into playing a game on his phone as he mumbled something about damn-well enjoying this holiday (he has a wife and two kids back home and I guess he doesn't get out as often as he'd like to). I just filled my belly with glacier water in the hopes of minimising tomorrow's hangover/drunkenness.
Carol and nice breakfast.
Colourful signage.
Despite the colourful signage, we were clearly lost.
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The male bonding starts early.
Wild flowers and mountains in abundance.
Crossing over some snow. This is old snow, but we heard that last week it was snowing at over 2000m altitude.
Crossing under some little water falls. That will wake you up.
The glacier behind me.
More mountain flowers.
Cold, but free mountain bath.
Even the moon seems better up here.
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