Thursday, July 30, 2009

Alp adventures

I took the train from Luzern to Interlaken yesterday. It had to be the most scenic train ride I've taken so far. The whole ride was filled with large pearlescent blue lakes that lay between mountains. The sky was crystal clear and a perfect blue color. I was almost tempted to ride the train back to Luzern (and then back to Interlaken).

I'm now staying in Interlaken, the high thrills, adventure seeking, mountain climbing jump off point. My hostel, which has almost everything a hosteller could want, has it's own booking counter for things such as white water rafting, bungee jumping, paragliding, hang gliding, and of course sky diving. Very temping, but just all too expensive for me right now. But trail hiking up the mountains is the good, fair price of free. So that is what I have been doing.

I spent the rest of yesterday wondering around Interlaken, getting a feeling for the town, and looking for a good view point to see everything (including the Swiss alps, ever present in the background). I found one point just on the outskirts I town. A good 120m above the city, and I had found a relatively decent view. Of course all of the fun and excitement of hiking up switchbacks came rushing back to mind. After staying and enjoying the view for a while, I headed back to the hostel, where I sent the rest of the night hanging out.

Today was a bit more involved. I decided I would take a train to a nearby town and hike up to a town called Murren. Instead of gaining an altitude of 120m this was slightly more at nearly 900m. It was supposed to be a 2.5 hour hike, but I just could wait around taking that long getting up. I actually ended up arriving at the top, drenched in sweat, in an hour and a half. It was a steep ascent, and of course I didn't exactly pack proper hiking gear (yay for sandles), but I was pretty proud of myself for blowing thier normal hiking time out of the water. It was good that I arrived when I did for a got thr only glimps of the alp range that I would get for several hours.

When setting out I figured it might get overcast, but I was really hoping it wouldn't. Sure enough, as soon as I walked into town, the clouds came and covered up the snow topped peaks. I trucked onwards though heading to my final destination of Grimmelwald. A small one road village of 150 people with a view of the mountains to die for. And just as I was wondering around town the clouds cleared up enough to see all the peaks. It was breathtaking, and as I sat on a bench with the best view in the world, I couldn't think of anywhere else that I wanted to be at that moment. It was well worth the strenuous hike.

It was also interesting to see the town go on about it's normal life. Everyone was out on the steep hills (30-45 degree inclines) cutting, raking, and harvesting hay. It was amazing to see how they could work on such a harsh steep land. It was probably more amazing to see they driving trucks up these inclines, fill them up, and drive back down the hills side. It looked labor intensive, and walking up and down hills all day does not sound quite like my cup of tea.

Another funny occursnce happened while I was in the one street village of Grimmelwald. I ran into a friend from my earlier travels.

How things like this happen, I will never know. Of all places to be, and of all times to be there, we both happened to be there at the same time. I have to say, after having several of these run-ins while in Europe, the world really is a small place.

Well I'm relaxing now, and plan to spend tomorrow recouperating from today adventures.

A thought.

I've come to realize that the Internation Youth Hostels (IYH) hostels are so institutionalized and have such an expected outcome, that they are all pretty boring. Since they are so predictable (they have to meet certain standards), they have become a haven for families and school groups. The individual adventurer will be hard pressed to find people to hang out and talk with at one. There is no character at one of these hostels, unlike the quirks and admenities of the independent hostels (which I've mostly stayed at). The one that I stayed at in Luzern, much like the others was behind the times in offering wifi and didn't have an open kitchen to use. 2 important things for backpackers amongst many others.

Ok, off to chill.

4 comments:

Dear Jordy,
The last time I saw anything even close to a breath taking view of a grouping of mountains was the presidential range in New Hampshire. And the other was a view of the Swiss Alps as I was flying over them on my destination to Milan, Italy many moons ago.
WOWWWW! And to think you took the top in an hours' clip! I knew it, you have been working on those legs all summer for this moment!
I can't wait to see THESEEE Photos!! Enjoy, enjoy!
love you so much,
silverstreak

One of my dreams in life is to see the Alps and walk around those villages. I have never seen true mountains like those.
Thanks for your continued stories. I check your blog everyday at lunchtime, looking for a new adventure to follow. Thanks- Chris H.

Chris, we need to get a group of people together and kidnap you, take you to Switzerland. The alps are amazing to see in person, but of course the Rockies are also a great range to see as well (maybe a bit closer . . . maybe).

It's great to hear that you follow along, I'm never sure how many people read this blog. I'll keep updating with more adventure to come.

I love following your adventures Jordan! Knowing I may never get over there, listening to your perspective makes it all worth it.
Thanks