After leaving Lake Como we drove through the longest tunnel I have been in. I think it was 17 kilometers. The tunnel in this picture is not the one I am referring to.
It is a combination of being scared, lazy and ignorant, but when traveling we rely completely on our SatNav (GPS). This rightfully annoyed Isabelle during our trip because every time the GPS lady would provide direction it would cut out whatever music you happened to be listening to. This would be quite frequent because you would have commands like "stay left in 2 kilometers", which only meant don't exit. Then, you would get this every 500 meters until your arrival. My point is, sometimes blindly following your SatNav is a good thing. In this case we ended up driving through the Alps via Grimsel Pass, rather than the safe and speedy way along the highway Emily would have chosen if we had been planning our own route.
There are about 5 to 10 motorcycles to every car on Grimsel Pass. This is a huge destination for those on motorcycles. This is one I'll have to come back to some day, hopefully with Jay.
Schilthorn: the rotating restaurant and set for James Bond's 1969 film "On Her Majesties Secret Service." Isabelle, Spencer and I decided to take the trail down from Schilthorn back to Gimmelwald. It was a strenuous 5 hour hike, but probably the highlight of the trip. Spencer was very excited to be in the Alps and I am glad we made the trip. It was an un-planned, must-do!
As you might imagine the upper part of the trip was very rocky. In some spots you would jump from large rock to large rock. On others you were on lose rock (scree) and had to be careful not to slip. The lowest sections were forest and trails.
The cows were a highlight of the hike. About half way down we came to their summer, high country home. We could hear their bells long before we could even make them out below us. I did manage to get a picture of Spencer close to a cow. Spencer informed us that cows kill more people each year than sharks.
He may have been right to be concerned because that cow does seem to be up to something! I don't know, maybe we're just confusing life with a Gary Larson cartoon?
Isabelle seemed to get along with the cows much better.
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| I love the layers of color and nature! |
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| Nice Pitch! |
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| Isabelle, always trying to entertain us |
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"This all belongs to me!"
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We did not partake in the complete James Bond experience, as the brochure recommended, by paragliding all the way down the mountain. Unfortunately we really didn't have enough time to do this and you need to be concerned about wind and currents, so it was a little iffy.
This is the first (and only) stop once you get off the rocky section of the mountain and just past the cows. This is the back side of a small charming cafe with a good view of the mountains in the background.
Finally we can see Gimmelwald from the trails above.
The owner of our hotel, a 60 something woman who only hikes UP to Schilthorn, recommended we take the trail that goes under this waterfall. It is on the last part of the hike and we were not sure exactly how to get there. Fortunately we were able to rely on our instincts and when we got to a fork in the trail with a sign pointing in one direction saying "danger" and one pointing in another direction saying "safe way", we naturally chose danger and this is where it took us.
What a great experience! We said goodbye to Isabelle and Spencer in Brussels and they headed home.
