Swiss Alps Backpacking Part 1

We spent 4 days 'backpacking' in the Swiss Alps, in an area known as the Bernese Oberland - right by Eiger and some of the other well known mountains. It's one of the more popular areas in the Alps, so some parts of the trail were quite crowded, but many other places were totally deserted. One is never quite isolated when hiking in Switzerland - no matter how far and how high, there always seems to be a little mountain hut or restaurant within an hours walk, and you can easily just hike from town to town. We had originally planned to stay in hostels so we didnt have to carry much, but poor planning meant we ended up with our tents and sleeping bags.

Four years ago, we met some cool German guys while backpacking in Patagonia (Bernie & Chris). Against all odds, we've somehow managed to stay friends and in touch, and have each visited each other at least once. We met one of their best friends Markus, who ended up living in Vancouver, Canada and who we have spent many happy days with. If you're a longtime blog follower, you know all of these names. Anyways, Bernie and Markus were able to come down from Germany and meet us for this portion of the trip, which was awesome. Poor Chris had to go to Spain for work - we missed him!

So. The four of us had planned 4 days of backpacking. 12-15 miles every day, 3000-5000 feet of elevation gain and loss every day. I'm not entirely sure what we were thinking. Except that we wouldn't have tents and sleeping bags, which we did.  And the Germans had no idea what they were getting themselves into. It turned out to be both epic and arduous. Some intervention by nature ended up changing our plans a few times.

Alps were awesome. We spend a lot of time in the mountains in different parts of the world, and there was something distinctly big about the Alps. So, here's your photo journey.

Day 1: Meiringen - Grindelwald

Up up from Meiringen

first view of Wetterhorn

the boys...getting cloudy

me, Bernie, Markus

At this point it started raining. And then downpouring. And then downpouring harder. And then the water was over the ankles of my shoes. And I'm pretty sure I have literally never been so soaked in my entire life. This went on for 4000+ ft of descent. Almost to town, we hit a road and spied a public bus and hopped on it faster than you can imagine! We lost all sense of hiker shame and gladly welcomed the bus. With the rain relentless and every possible camping spot transformed into a puddle, we all chipped in to spring for the most expensive, dumpiest hotel room ever. It was for two people, so the german boys snuck us in. Luckily it was 8pm before we got settled, because we were stuck in the room for the night! We cooked our camp dinner on camp stoves on the balcony, laughed at ourselves, and strung clothes all around the room to dry. Memorable first night!

and then magically, the sun came out at 9pm.

Hi Eiger. 

 

Day 2: Grindelwald - Lauterbrunnen, dawned clear and sunny

Good morning Eiger

Markus, Bernie, Matt

Midmorning coffee break after 3k ft of climb

First view of Monch & Jungfrau

trail intersects with a high mountain train stop - lots of tourists!

the two nerdy photographers

a rare group shot: Markus, Bernie, Mackenzie, Matt

Lunch time

watching an avalanche

First peek at Lauterbrunnen, home for the night

a long way down still

waterbottle fillup

sweet waterfall just above our campground

midnight excursion to a cave under the waterfall

waterfall at night

Europe Drive-By: Liechtenstein, Lucerne, Zurich & Selesat

Everything is soooo close together in Europe. The other main destination on our European adventure was the Bernese Oberland area of the Swiss Alps for 4 days of backpacking. But our journey from Austria to Switzerland and back to our flight in Germany took us through a few other neat areas. Here's your whirlwind tour:

We spent a morning in the country of Liechtenstein, a country of 35k people. Even their capital had a very small town feel, the whole country is surrounded by huge mountains, the Prince (who rules the country) has his very own winery we visited, there's a castle, good coffee, sunshine. Not much more one could ask for.

We spent an afternoon and evening in Lucernce, Switzerland which is (of course?) right on a river and lake. We had a grand old time just wandering around and seeing the sights.

Then we had a day in Zurich, we turned out to be a day of surprises. First, we stumbled across a rad flea market. Then, a giant parade. And a farmers market. And the cutest coffee shop ever. We loved Zurich. And would go broke in approximately 37 hours there. Good thing we only had 24.

Lastly, as we made our way back to Germany for our flight home, we decided to take a route through France since it was the same distance. We stopped in Selesat for dinner. We thought we'd stumbled upon a medeival fair, but turns out (when we got home and checked the internet...) it was Bastille Day. Who knew? Selesat was a cute random little town just off a country highway and we had dinner and some wine, wandered the festival and moved along. The pastry's were good, and no one spoke English. Which was quite the change from Switzerland/Austria/Germany where people literally got offended when I asked 'Do you speak english?'.  'Of course!!'.