Awoke at 4:50am to get ready for my hiking trip with Patric and Vera through the Swiss canton of Wallis (sounds like valleys). Our train was leaving Bern at 6:07 to arrive in at the Betten train station at 8:00. From there we took a mountain cable car to the village of Betten (first mountain cable car ride in my life and it was awesome).
View from the cable car. It gets better.
Starting at an elevation of 1,203 meters, we had a long way to go to get to the peak of Eggishorn. The plan was to walk up a trail that takes you through a pass onto the other side of the mountain where the Aletsch Glacier is in view. We would then walk along the mountainside until we reached a valley. From there we would choose based on the weather if we wanted to climb to the peak or take a tunnel made just for hikers through the mountain. The tunnel of more for tourists. The peak is for the real Swiss hikers. And now an assemblage of photos...
Church in Betten
View of Betten and the start of the trail. Matterhorn in the distance. The pyramid shaped peak with only the very tip covered in snow.
Pass onto the other side of the mountain
First view of the Aletsch Glacier AND a sheep! The Aletsch glacier is the largest glacier in the Alps. Length of 14 miles and covers 46 sq mi. More photos of sheep to come.
Couldn't stop taking photos of the spectacular scenery.
These guys were just stopping by on the trail to say hello. Well it sounded more like "Baaaaaa," but I knew what they meant. For some reason, they really liked licking our hands.
The vivid blue water seeping up from the fissures in the ice reminds me of Frost Glacier Freeze Gatorade. I want to drink it!
Switzerland, Earth
Patric
Into the snow
Peak of Eggishorn
Really cool restaurant near the mountain cable car station that would take us back down.
Rivella! To celebrate the conquering of my first mountain, Patric and I had a glass. The Swiss drink of choice. It may look like beer but it's a soda that has milk whey as an ingredient. It has a taste of its own. I like it. The perfect way to end the hiking trip. The glacier was spectacular and spanned across such a huge distance. It was impressive. Had a picnic on top of a mountain overlooking paragliders who were enjoying the warm updrafts produced by the terrain. By far my favorite hiking trip ever. Patric and Vera are such nice people. I'm glad I am sharing these experiences with them.
Monday...
Heiner's back! The lab is back to order. It was great catching up with him about his vacation. MatLab was down for some reason today so I wasn't able to do much work. Patric showed me how the machine he has created operates. It's hard to explain. There is a wooden structure built around a plate that has stairs leading up to it. Hydraulic motors move, shift, rotate, and shake the plate to produce randomized movements, which could be used to help strengthen muscles. Quite amazing that he built it.
Great pictures! The scenery is breathtaking (so much so that it almost looks fake!). Thanks for sharing!
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