Lauderbrunen – Switzerland
It was only a 20 min ride up the mountain from Interlocken to Lauderbrunen. But now that it’s even more in the mountains, it’s easier to do things up here. What a great campsite, Jungfrau campsite, complete luxury for camping. Restaurant, bar, fully equipped kitchen, stores, bike rentals, everything.
Jungfraujoch. Top of Europe by rail 3454m.
This is the highly known highest rail station in Europe. The rail was built to the bottom edge of the rock, and then it tunnels through 2 mountains on the way to near the Jungfrau mountain. The ride through the mountain itself takes about half and hour, and the total train time a good hour and a half. Its deceiving, they advertise it as top of Europe, and it’s not even remotely close to the top of Europe. The highest point in Western Europe in Mount Blanc.
Once at the top, you can see on one side, the giant glacier that extends to the horizon, and to the other the valley below. They have summer skiing on a tested part of the glacier, with a tow rope. And a trail extends to the mountain hostel on the other side of some peaks.
As per usual, I waited there hoping the clouds would clear to have a clear few across the Alps. Once that wait was given up, I took the hike on the groomed trail towards the mountain hostel. I wasn’t sure if it was the altitude, or just not eating much, that made the trek slightly harder. The soft snow melted slowly on the top of my boots and slowly soaked in when it could not get through the back. The hostel restaurant proved to be very convenient and welcoming, with some nice warm goulash at a reasonable price for lunch.
I don’t think it would be worth paying full price for that train ride, especially if its not perfectly clear as it needs to be to see the view. As many backpackers on budgets did, try the Schilthorn if you want a ride, or go for a hike.
Going for a hike – Schilthorn or Swartzhorn?
The next day it was cloudy and rained a lot, so it seemed like a good idea not to go hiking. The nextday, it was still cloudy, but one more time to reach a peak, and check out the views. With the clouds, I figured it wouldn’t be worth the price to pay to go up the lifts to Schilthorn. I got up early with the intent to hike Swartzhorn, but the office declared the trail closed due to large amounts of snow. The idea that I settle on was to hike the Falhorn, the across the ridge and come down through Interlocken. This hike could provide great views, of the valley, Interlaken and across to the peaks of the valley.
It was raining up there, but how long could the rain really last? Hopefully not forever. Through the first hour of the hike it rained a lot. The next while it only spitted. I reached the Falhorn to stop in the restaurant, that is the oldest mountain hostel in the area. Unfortunately it was closed. The view was pure white in the clouds, and I waited to see if the could would clear. The remainder of the long path no longer seemed like such a good idea, so I switched routes and slowly wandered along another ridge.
Sitting on top of a peak, the clouds would not clear. When I started to leave, it cleared for a few hundred meters. I ran back up to the ridge to take a look. Over on the next ridge, there was a massive mountain hostel, and thats as far as the clouds broke. I took a wander and it proved to be too difficult to reach without the trail, so resumed the previous hike to the other hostel where the buses reached.
It cleared up about 8ish, and I decided to try another night hike to take advantage of the clear sky. The trail proved to be too dark by 10, and I returned to the camp.
Leaving Swizerland on Busabout, by my estimates the most cost effective method, i muttered to the mountain, “I’ll see you soon.” Plans to return closer to the end of the trip, and make it a last stop on the mainland. We shall see.
On to Spain (via Nice). The bulls are calling, soon we will meet!
Tags: Travel
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Its nearly impossible to find educated people on this subject, however, you seem like you know what youre talking about! Thanks