His Royal Orangeness Karl Willem, PA/PR Gromit, and The Nashman - happy hikers. The Oberer Grindelwald glacier behind them.
Today, HRO Karl Willem, PA/PR Gromit, and I woke up early only to find that the weather was a bit unsettled. Yet, the Swiss weather monitoring system showed a 50-50 chance of good weather. That was more than enough and so we headed to the Firstbahn for the 25 minute aerial Gondola ride to First. It was minus 4 degrees and snowing when we arrived but this walk was meant to be one of the easier ones we've taken and so we were hellbent on getting to the top of Faulhorn whatever the weather and against the advice of the lady at the Lowa Equipment store.
It took us three hours to get to the top and thankfully the little eatery on the peak was open and we we got some coffee from the very surprised but cheerful owner of Restaurant Faulhorn. It is both a blessing and a curse that on top of most Swiss mountains, one can find a well stocked restaurant. (Granted you want to take the three hour hike to this peak.)
The view from the top was beautiful. (Insert all mountaineering cliches here...)
As and added bonus the Swiss Air Force were doing routine aerial exercises with their F18s (or maybe they were F-5s). I guess they must be the most bored but well equipped air force in the world as they were going around in circles and doing acrobatic maneuvers. (They need to be vigilant lest untidy and tardy countries like France and Italy invade them.) Mostly, I was amused at the pointless existence of the Swiss Air Force.
I felt bitin with this ascent (had Schynige Platte been open, I would have clocked 12km of solid walking by this time). Thankfully, there is a large patch of alpine forest above Grindelwald and HRO Karl Willem, PA/PR Gromit and I happily chose the longest and most difficult looking jaunt back to our accommodation taking as many detours as possible.
I must say a little curse to the Swiss fighter pilot who threw a sonic boom while I was traversing the virgin snow to Waldspitz. Potang-ena pare, ginulat mo ako ng husto! Paano kung nag-avalanche? Eh di kelangan nyo pa ako i-rescue!
Today we walked an embarassing 20km (maybe even less!!!) but I must say that the views were excellent and it was an enjoyable experience.
HRO Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit woke up to a cloudy morning with snow above the treeline.
...but PA/PR Gromit said the weather looked promising and so we went up to First on the aerial gondola.
.....at 2000m and 10am, snow was still falling....
.....so we waited a bit at First (2168m) waiting for a window of opportunity to hike up Faulhorn...
....and then PA/PR Gromit, our navigator, gave the go signal and off we went.....(Faulhorn is that far distant peak on the right of the closer peak in the background)
We stop to admire our first view of the Jungfrau (behind the Eiger)
The Nashman taking a water break. For most of the ascent, there was no one else but us three....
......at 1pm (after two hours ours of hiking) we stop just above the frozen lake (Bachalpsee) and watch as thick clouds begin to descend and snow falls again. HRO Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit assess the situation...
.......but The Nashman's portable weather system shows that the winds are not that strong......
..after three hours, HRO Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit reach the Faulhorn (2681m).
...it was cloudy but fast moving clouds meant that if we waited, there were some windows of visibility that showed us the twin lakes of Brienzersee and Thunersee. It is a sight to behold.
PA/PR Gromit prepares late lunch on the view deck while waiting for the clouds to dissipate and give us breathtaking views of the three peaks of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau.
...we loved the fact that it was just the three of us. The Nashman took some time to work on his tan....
....at 3pm we take the leisurely walk down via Waldspitz...
....on top of this cliff is First Station (that small dot in the middle) where we were earlier in the morning...
....at 5pm we reached Waldspitz for coffee.....
....before doing some Alpine orienteering.
....we found this view deck just before Aellfluh and stayed to watch the sunset....
...at 7:30pm we got back for rosti and sausage....yum!