In Glacier Country: 2011

25 June 2011

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We awaken to a cool morning. Our friendly puss calls round for an early morning call at 8.30, and even wanders around the chalet, but my dad quickly puts her out. I fuss about with the tabby as she rolls on the paving slabs, much like I did yesterday afternoon. I think she knows we will soon be gone, as she takes a long time to wander off into the grass of the adjacent field. At 9.30, the proprietor calls round to settle up, then takes us into Brig. Glancing up at Belalp, we can see cloud hanging over the higher peaks. The sun is beaming down on platform 3, where we await the departure of the 10.49 train to Bern and Zurich. After we sit down on board the train, my pen runs out. As we still have 20 minutes before departure, I nip down into the station kiosk and get myself a new pen. I tend to take copious notes on long journeys, if only to keep the boredom at bay. We leave bang on time at 10.49 and the view of Belalp is soon lost round the corner below Birgisch and Mund. The GPS is not working, as it cannot track any of the satellite signals it requires to make a fix. We reach Visp at 10.56, a busy station. Five minutes later, we dive into the 22 mile long Lötschberg Basis Tunnel and leave the canton of Wallis and the Rhone Valley behind. Although we're now in a tunnel, I keep coverage on my mobile phone, with the cell indicator even changing with the name of the villages overhead. Goppenstein, Kandersteg and finally Frutigen - where we reemerge into daylight at 11.13. The country here is less stark, less mountainous as we roll on to our next stop, Spiez (pronounce: Speeyetz), closely followed by Thun (omit the H in pronounciation; the U is spoken as a double O in English). Both towns sit on the shores of the Thunersee [Lake Thun]. At 11.54 we pull into Bern, where we change trains for Basel. It requires a jaunt through the tunnel from one platform to another, but we make the connection in good time. Another hour on the train, with only a stop at Olten, brings us into Basel's SBB [Swiss] station. Our onward connection to Germany and Holland doesn't leave until 3.10pm, so we have loads of time on our hands. Four rolls for lunch cost a miserly 22 francs (£16), after which our session becomes a trainspotting and people watching exercise on platform 10. A French TGV, various pieces of Swiss rolling-stock, and a man who is rummaging through rubbish bins. Our ICE 104 pulls up just before 3pm, and requires cleaning. It has been on a journey of nearly 8 hours out of Amsterdam, and is going back there - with us on board. As the train is not very full, we relocated to a window seat, where we remain until arrival in Arnhem in 6 hours' time. We leave Basel SBB at 15.12, and Basel Bad [German] station at 15.22. It is fairly bright as we make our winding way north towards our first stop, Freiburg. To the east, the hills of the Black Forest rear up. In the west, the distant hills of the Lorraine area of France loom up. After the stop at Freiburg, at 15.54, we carry on to Offenburg at 100 mph. Beyond that town, which we reach at 16.23, the train picks up speed and heads for Karlsruhe at 160 mph. The sun slowly disappears as we proceed further north, reaching Karlsruhe at 16.56. We have now covered 125 mph since Basel. Karlsruhe has a veritable tram station beside the main station. It is quite funny to run parallel to an Autobahn at 160 mph, and watching the cars crawl along at 80 mph. Our next stop, Mannheim, is reached at 17.22. We have a lengthy interruption to our journey, for some 20 minutes. We have an early meal, in the shape of some pieces of pizza. Beyond Mannheim, we head north towards Frankfurt, passing the nuclear powerstation at Biblis. It appears to be raining as we approach Frankfurt Airport station, where we halt at 18.10. We now have 90 miles until the next stop, which will be covered in 40 minutes. On leaving Frankfurt, we quickly pick up speed and once more we leave the cars on the A3 motorway standing as we blast along at 170 mph. Speed increases to a max of 190 mph (308 kph) as we pass through numerous tunnels in the hillcountry between Frankfurt and Cologne. The GPS loses track of its satellites for much of that journey, as the above map shows. Rain commences in earnest as we head towards Siegburg/Bonn station, which we reach at 18.47. There was cloud over the hills. We reverse direction at Cologne, where we call in at 19.07. The remaining two hours to Arnhem are incredibly grey, wet and miserable outside. In Scotland they'd call it dreich. Dusseldorf, Duisburg and Oberhausen drift by, and after another 50 miles we cross the border into Holland at 20.36. We are ahead of schedule, meaning that other trains are given a green light in priority over our ICE train. We reach Arnhem at 20.53, and a taxiride brings us back to my dad's house some twenty minutes later.

Farewell to our friendly puss

Last view of Belalp from Brig station

Waiting in the sun on platform 3

Leaving Brig

Lake Thun

Basel SBB station

TGV train at Basel

Departure board for ICE 104 at Basel

24 June 2011

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Fairly sunny but not too warm. We walk to Hasel and towards the Kelchbach, but beyond the village the path becomes too narrow for comfort. Nice view towards Brig. We return to Blatten via the road from Tschuggen. In the afternoon, we walk up the Blindberg, the pine-studded mountain behind Blatten. On return to the village, our friendly puss pays us multiple visits, as if she knows we will be gone tomorrow. In the evening, we amble through the village one final time before we start to pack up for the journey to Holland tomorrow.

Path to Hasel

View from Hasel

Blatten from the Tschuggen road

Our friendly puss

View from the Blindberg

Scary mask on the wall of the village shop

Llamas

23 June 2011

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Patches of dense fog are wafting around the village this morning and there is no sun. At 9.40 we set out on foot to Belalp, starting by going up the road to Rischinen and Egga. The latter place is reached after an hour of negotiating a hair-pin festooned road. It is very damp and at Egga, alt. 5400 ft, is only just below the cloudbase. Quite a few snails on the move as well. We walk through Egga and c ommence the serious ascent, into the fog and into the woods. Nothing is to be seen, partly due to the cloud we are in, and partly due to the fact we're in a forest. The humidity condensates on cobwebs. We finally get ourselves up to Belalp at 12.45pm. The fog is very dense, with visibility at 30 metres, decreasing to 10 metres as we approach the top station of the cable car. Just before we got to Belalp though, the clouds broke and we had a clear view of the Belalp Hotel and nearby houses. We did not see the cable car station until we almost ran into the edifice. The fog then began to rain out as we waited for the 1.20 cable car. The engineer had to sell us our tickets. On descending to Blatten, we pop out of the cloud and visibility extends to Brig, 5 miles away to the south. In Blatten, the temperature is 16C, 4 degrees warmer than up on Belalp. After dinner, we venture out onto the Massaweg track. It heads steeply up and equally steeply down, below precipitous rockfaces. Hairy. This is shown as the yellow track on the map above. We end up a few hundred yards south of the Gebidum barrier, and could have gone down the valley towards Ried-Mörel and Bitsch. We returned to Blatten at 9pm.

Egga

Fog in the forest

Cobwebs

Fog on Belalp

Outside the Belalp cable car terminal

On the Massaweg

22 June 2011

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The day starts on a grey note, with clouds down to 8,000 feet. There is a bit of rain falling, but nonetheless we head down to Brig on the postbus at 10.48 am. After a visit to the Post Office, we head up to the Stockalper Palace. It has lovely gardens, with fruit trees and small fountains. It is muggy and warm, with the thermometer at 27C / 80F. We go up the steep road to Termen. A group of scholars is headed home for lunch ahead of us. We slowly leave Brig and end up amongst the farms. Another cat is friendly to us out there. Just before 1pm, we head into Termen, another typical Alpine village. Nice views there, as far as Mörel to the east and Visp to the west. Just as a downpour starts, a small restaurant serves us pint-glasses of iced tea as well as a schnitzel and chips. Half an hour later, we go down to the Rhone, 800 feet below. I take my time on the descent. The fields around Termen are full of poppies and fruit trees. Once down by the river, we face a walk of about 2 or 3 miles into Brig. The Rhone is a wild, churning river here. First along the Matterhorn Gotthard railway, then past the tunnel openings for the Simplon Tunnel, which heads through the mountains towards Iselle and Domodossola in Italy. The oldest tunnel was opened in 1905, but is currently out of use following a train fire on 9 June. At 2.30, we walk into the station at Brig, where we rehydrate using a beer. Then, it is a flying visit to the Migros supermarket (closed tomorrow due to the Corpus Christi holiday) before jumping on the 3.18 postbus to Blatten. The weather turns more ominous, with a thunderstorm grumbling up in the mountains. Our friendly puss comes to call, even if it's raining a bit.

Backstreet in Brig

Stockalper Palace

Track up to Termen

Termen

Brig from Termen

Along the Rhone river near Brig

21 June 2011

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The longest day. After shopping, we take the 10.50 am cable car to Belalp, on the last day of our 7day pass. The conductor is anxiously slowing down the cabin as it approaches the top station at Belalp, concerned for his cargo of protruding timber. On arrival at Belalp, a helicopter comes up from the valley and lands outside the cable car top station. We sit outside the Belalp chapel near the hotel, but the endless gassing from two women behind us gets on my dad's nerves. So, we head down the mountain towards Egga. The path is very steep and covered in pinecones and branches. The descent is therefore slow. We head a wee bit too far left, so the path gets even more challenging. Fortunately, we manage to regain the main trail and end up at Egga by 2pm. From there, there is a simple if hot walk back down to Blatten. The stretch to Rischinen is very steep and full of hairpin bends. We return to Blatten by 3pm. It is very warm today, particularly when the sun comes out. There are many lens-shaped clouds, a sure sign of a change in the weather. Swiss tv reports a maximum temperature of 31C / 88F at Visp, 6 miles west of Brig. A brief shower passed after 6pm.

Helicopter at Belalp

Hotel Belalp

Rischinen and Blatten

Egga

Beware of skiers

20 June 2011

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At 10.20 am, we go up in the cable-car to Belalp to commence the walk to Riederfurka via the Hanging Bridge. It is less cold than yesterday. At 10.50, we amble down the path from Hotel Belalp, only to be confronted after 300 yards with a precipitous descent along the Steigli into Aletschi. This is almost a staircase which drops you down nearly 100 metres or 300 feet. Even beyond that, the path is steep and at times a chain is provided to help keep balance. The first turn off heads northeast towards the Oberaletsch Hut and the Fusshorner Bivouac. The bivouac is a roof without walls on a 45 degree scree slope. We reach the Aletschi Chapel and proceed through a field full of young cows towards the Leng Acher, where the past actions of the glacier are in evidence. It has scoured out the rocks. You then double back and descend over the glacial moraine towards the Hanging Bridge over the outflow of meltwater. We have lunch on a viewpoint overlooking the Bridge at 1pm, to reach the Bridge itself after half an hour of struggle on the moraine. I have no trouble with vertigo on the bridge, but have to muster all my skills in switching off vertigo when I come across this 8-inch wide log that is slung across a rockface with chains to hold on to. Scary! At the Grünsee, the path dives into the Teifewald (forest) and commences an unrelenting ascent of 2000 feet towards Villa Cassel on Riederfurka, which is reached at 4.30pm. During this ascent, you continually meet the same folks. A glass of iced tea later, we head for the Riederalp cable-car; the western one is out of service, but the centre one is running to timetable. Riederalp is an extensive resort, riddled with cablecars and gondolas. At 5.40, we descend 4000 feet down to Mörel, on the banks of the Rhone. Just before 6.30, a train comes and whisks us the few miles to Brig. On arrival there, we have a plate of spaghetti at the station before the postbus returns us to Blatten.

Our friendly puss comes to wish us a safe trip

Descending the Steigli

Aletschi Chapel

Dad and the cattle in Leng Acher

On the glacial moraine

The Hanging Bridge

In the Teifewald forest

Villa Cassel

Riederalp

Descending into Mörel

Train from Mörel to Brig

19 June 2011

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A beautifully sunny day, but with a chilly west wind. We took the 9.50 cable car up to Belalp to walk to the Hotel for a cup of coffee and cake. We sat outside, but it was not warm. I had forgotten my jumper, not a clever move. Returned to the top station of the cable car after having a look round the Färricha, a Swiss sheepfank, where owners gather their flocks at the end of summer. We proceed to Alpe Bel, where cows were grazing peacefully, if with a lot of clanging of the bells around their necks. Crossed the Kelchbach bridge and headed south to Nessel. Cloud lifted gradually, allowing a view of the Matterhorn - which had also been in view from Hotel Belalp. At 1pm, we reached Nessel and had lunch by the start of the path up the Foggenhorn. Carried on to the wee chapel of Maria zur Schnee [Holy Mary at the Snow], but it was perishingly cold there, so we quickly turned round and headed back towards Alpe Bel. The views to the Grisighorn, Unterbachhorn, Hohstock, Aletschhorn, Fusshorner and Aletsch Glacier were unimpeded. We had a cup of tea and an apple by the Kelchbach, then went down on the cable car at 3.20pm. It was full of very tired walkers.

The chapel

Matterhorn

Grisighorn

Cow and bell

Swiss sheepfank

18 June 2011

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As per weatherforecast, it is raining heavily this morning. Clouds hang low over Blatten whilst my dad heads off on the postbus to Brig, to return two hours later. The rain does not relent, and I make good progress in Tom Jones, a rather saucy 18th century novel by Henry Fielding. After lunch, I go for a short walk through the village, amongst very poor visibility. The empty cable car looms up out of the cloud as I walk past the post office and up the hill towards the Rischinen road. The rain stops at 4pm and the cloud breaks at 6pm. After dinner, we head out towards the Gebidum reservoir. Once there, a stunning vista opens of the Fusshorner looming up high above, looming to peaks of 10 to 12 thousand feet in altitude. The lake's waters are coloured green, and the viewpoint requires a head for heights. There is a climbing route right round the Gebidum lake - no thanks. My GPS has difficulties around the rockface, showing considerable aberrations as a result.

Rainy morning

Cablecar in the rain

Stalden

Mini flowerbox

Massa gorge

Gebidum Lake

Fusshorner

Dangersigns at the Gebidum Dam