Day 5: Lauterbrunnen Valley

Wednesday

We awoke to rain and fog today. Esther said there would be more rain throughout the day, and she was right. She suggested seeing Trummelbach Falls, since they were inside a mountain and out of the weather. Jared and I and an old man with a long beard and cane waited for the van in Gimmelwald. We rode it back up to Murren. The radio was playing American rock hits, and the old man and driver were talking rapidly in German.

From Murren, we rode the lift back down to Stechelberg. The beginning of a trail is right near the lift that winds down the Lauterbrunnen Valley to the town of Lauterbrunnen. We walked the trail for a couple miles under a light rainfall until we reached Trummelbach Falls. We paid our fare and rode an elevator built inside the mountain to the top of the falls. The attraction was a series of caves and precipices inside the mountain that follow the waterfall. It was extraordinary and very difficult to photograph. It was very dark inside and the walkway was very close to the falls, so you couldn't get a wide shot. Anyway, we spent a couple hours there with an oversized, unpleasant group of Indian tourists pushing and screaming to one another over the roar of the falls.

When we came outside, the sun was out and it was warming up. We shed some clothes. We walked over to some building on the grounds and had lunch on the porch. Jared (who was always up in the morning before me) had purchased bread, sausage, jerky, and alpkase (homemade alp cheese) from Esther's little store that morning. While we were eating, we heard a thunderous sound from the mountain above us and, looking up, saw an avalanche shooting down the side of the cliff. We would eventually see (and hear) quite a few of them during our stay. We spoke with one man in Gimmewald who said that one of the avalanches that week had come all the way down into Stechelberg.

We returned to our walk down the valley in intermittent sunshine, but the fog remained. Waterfalls were everywhere we looked. The mountains peeked out at us here and there, tempting us with a bit of grandeur and hope. We arrived in Lauterbrunnen, and, after a brief exploration of main street, we rode another lift up to Grutschalp, then took a train past Winteregg and on to Murren, then walked the main street of Murren to the lift station. The lift to Gimmelwald was working again (it was down for maintenance, which is why we had to take the van), so we rode it back down to Gimmelwald.

After a rest in our room, we made the 30 minute walk up to Murren. We made this walk quite a few times and it was a joy to me, especially when we could finally see the tops of the peaks. I can't imagine living in a place with such glorious views everyday.

We ate dinner at the Stagerstubli, which seemed to be the only restaurant in town that was open on a weekday. The town practically shuts down between ski season and the full-blown summer season. The food was great.

We walked back to Gimmelwald and when we arrived home we had new guests: a very fun, personable couple from New Zealand.








One of the falls at Trummelbach.






Another of the falls at Trummelbach. Many of them thundered through the carved rock like this one.






Lunch!






Looking down the Lauterbrunnen valley toward Lauterbrunnen town.






A little chalet in the valley I thought was cool.






On our walk home from Murren, we heard a rumbling and saw this avalanche.






This is the best view of the Monch (Monk) we saw so far.