The Peace, The Serenity, And The Trials And Tribulations Of “Climbing” An Alp

View From The Gondola On Our Ascent

The "Town" Of Gimmelwald

Some Buff Guy Wearing Shorts And A T-Shirt In The Snow

The Two Of Us At The Birg Peak (The Mountains Jumped Into The Picture At The Last Second)

Kaylin's View From Atop The Mighty Schilthorn

Much like our castle visit, the ever-ambitious Kaylin spurred our trip to the Swiss Alps and the town of Gimmelwald. Beyond having a chance to be surrounded by some of natures finest views, when she saw a hot tub overlooking the Alps on the hostel website she was sold. As our train got closer and closer to our destination, it was actually very exciting to see the mountaintops continue to peek out from the horizon, some snow covered, some with lush forest. After a nice steep gondola ride up to the town (Elevation about 1,300m from sea level) we were in absolute awe of what we had gotten ourselves into. The mountains honestly looked as though they were painted onto a giant canvas and dropped right in front of us. There were waterfalls EVERYWHERE, careening down the entire face of each and every mountain. Upon first sight we had completely forgotten about our day starting at 5am, as well as our 9 waking hours of transport, as it was by far the most pleasing natural surrounding either of us have ever experienced. The hostel itself was full of character, very much a giant log cabin, and because there was not really any food offered, every meal was to be prepared in the community kitchen, which at times resembled the trading floor of the NYSE at the opening bell. Because we arrived fairly late, there would be no sightseeing for us on the first day, so we sat in the common room and got to know some of our hostel mates before catching some shuteye for what was sure to be a big day. The main hike from our location was Gimmelwald to Schiltorn, which is a 4-5 hour hike up to the peak where For Her Majesty’s Secret Service was filmed; the restaurant that is there is the one that is blown up at the end of the movie, though they used schnazzy 1969 visual effects to accomplish the feat (this was relayed to us by a gentleman at the hostel, so if it is inaccurate take it up with him). Anywho, after a few setbacks (me forgetting stuff), we eventually got on our way. At times the trek was incredibly intense and very steep, not to mention the cows and sheep blocking our path at various points. There were ice-cold rushing brooks at every turn which we constantly filled our water bottle with, throwing caution to the wind, casually ignoring the fact that there could be a cow pasture directly at the source. When we finally got a good head of steam going, about an hour from the second highest point of the hike, an old friend visited. I (Mark, which I think is apparent by now) began to experience intense leg cramping to the point that my legs were completely locking up. Because we were closer to the next point, we just trudged along, stopping every few minutes so I could stretch and massage enough so we could inch our way up. We eventually made it to Birg, which is about 2,600m above sea level and at that point I had to tuck tail and take the gondola back into Gimmelwald. Kaylin decided that she felt great, and went ahead to conquer the rest of the trail. She succeeded and made it up to the 3,000m peak, and when she got to the top in her white T-shirt and jeans, she was given quizzical looks by the folks adorned in jackets and hiking boots. Issues aside, it was still on of the best experiences we have ever had. That night, we made friends with a few of our hostel mates and took full advantage of the hot tub despite the fact we were in a torrential downpour. We watched people come and go, including a Fireman from Fountain Valley, until we realized we had been in the tub for an hour and a half. Gimmelwald was certainly worth the effort, the scenery was out of this world, we played and almost fell into the snow, we struggled for oxygen and suffered from extremely sore legs in the days following, a definite two thumbs up.

Our travels through Switzerland also took us into Lausanne…we saw The Incredible Hulk there…’nuff said.

Mark and Kaylin