Swiss Alps

I recently visited Switzerland, on a whim. I've never been one that needs convincing that a trip will be worth it.
With a few days off around Labor Day, I felt the need to clear my head a little bit; so logically, the solution was to buy a plane ticket and hop the pond. Travel for me is not necessarily an escape. It is just the way I recharge. It allows me a way to take a step back and take an objective look at what I can't seem to see when stuck in the day-to-day back at home. It gives me an infinite amount of possibilities when it seems home has only a few at any given time.

I can't say I had any profound, life-changing revelations while in the land of chocolate, cheese, and watches. However, I did capture some great photos and stood in the shadows of some of the most awe-inspiring mountains I've seen anywhere on God's great earth. And I found rest.

That's one of the most appealing aspects of Switzerland. The small Alpine villages have such a sense of peace and rest. It is difficult to find that in America. We seem to go at 100 mph all the time. There, it is difficult to find anyone that's in a hurry for any reason.

The Lauterbrunnen Valley is an area full of those villages. It's in the south central region of Switzerland and looks like a postcard. I stopped over in the area briefly during a backpacking trip in 2007. We spent 2 or 3 days there, all of them cloudy, except 1 morning. That morning was enough to set my determination to come back again on a clear day. 
When I first arrived on September 28, 2012, it did not look like I would get the blue skies and views I had hoped for. In fact, it was snowing just a few hundred feet above the town I was staying in (Lauterbrunnen, shown below). 

I had higher hopes for the rest of the long weekend - the weather report was showing some sunshine. Hopefully just enough to get me that view and hiking opportunities I was so badly craving. Well, Saturday was even colder and cloudier than Friday. Rather than waste a long weekend wishing the weather was better, I went for a hike - no real destination in mind. The pictures below tell the story.

Waterfalls all along the valley walls

Start of my hike, just outside the town of Lauterbrunnen

Waterfall at the end of the valley

Lauterbrunnen Valley - from near Stechelberg

 After a long vertical hike straight up the valley walls, I came across this tiny little village. Cows with bells around their necks ringing. Cloud-covered, mysterious peaks. Pretty cool scene. Just as I was about to take a picture of it, this little fox runs right into the middle of the road and just stares at me. It made the image that much more interesting to me.

Peaks covered in clouds - near Gimmelwald

I also happened to catch some hangliders, as this area is an extreme sports haven.

 
By the end Day 1, I had about 30 minutes of partially blue sky. And it was quite a hue of blue. This was taken after my hike, once I made it back into town, feeling way too sore to do much else other than sit and watch.

 Then that evening, I had the fortune of watching the sunset on Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger - 3 of Switzerland's most famous mountains. The sun setting on the snowy peaks made the mountains appear pink. Quite the scene.

 
The next day, I hopped a train over to Grindelwald. This town is on the other side of the peaks, and offers some amazing views.

Closeup of the glacier over Grindelwald

From Grindelwald

 

Church in Grindelwald, with Eiger overlooking it.

My last day, I was packing up to take the train back to Geneva, for my flight back to America. I debated between taking the train up to Kleine Scheidegg (a train station at about 6,760 feet - a good "base camp" for a hike as close as possible to Eiger) or just heading straight to Geneva for some sightseeing, as it would cost an additional 65 francs for Kleine Scheidegg and it was a very cloudy morning. Wasn't sure if it would be worth it - paying 65 francs to stand in some clouds, I can do that back at home for free. I went ahead and bought the ticket anyway, as you never know the next time you'll be in Switzerland.
When I first got there, I couldn't see more than 20 feet the fog was so dense. I could hear the bells of the grazing cows all around me, but no soaring mountains. 14,000 foot peaks were less than half a mile away, and all I could see was my two feet in front of me. I was not a happy camper at the moment. Luckily though, I decided to stick it out, say a few prayers, and was rewarded with the view of a lifetime.

I was there!

I ended up hiking about a mile to get to this point (above), right beneath Eiger and Monch. 

The fog came and went, sometimes within seconds. But when it was nice, IT WAS NICE.

View of the Wetterhorn, from right underneath Eiger.

Complete view of the Lauterbrunnen Valley - the valley floor is not even visible from this vantage point.

I stood at this small lake for a while as you could see in all directions, when it was clear. The clouds would come rushing up the mountain, and within seconds, the clear views, like the one below, were gone. Wait another minute or two though, and the clouds would rush away again and clear air was all that stood between me and those mountains. It was a neat scene watching the clouds come and go so quickly.

 
To finish up my day there, I climbed back down to Kleine Scheidegg. Since it wasn't nearly as foggy as when I first arrived, I was better able to scope the area out a little bit. This felt so very rural Swiss to me. Take a look at the train station. Goats roaming around.

 























To cap off the day, I rode back down the mountain on the train into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. This was probably the best shot I got of the valley during my time there.

I recommend you visit the area sometime.