Top of Europe! Sunday 8/25/19

This would be a day to remember -- a real winner as far as we're concerned.  Today's adventure began with an early morning cable car ride from our alpine village of Wengen to Mannlichen mountain at 7315 ft.  These rides are always thrilling as they sweep up the slopes -- you just have to trust that they're safe!  The black bear on the yellow/red flag below represents the Bernese coat of arms, and the white cross on the red background is the Swiss national flag.  Wengen is in the Bernese/Oberland region, hence the flag.

Up we go in the photo above, and in the photo below you see Wengen after we've arrived at Mannlichen. Have I mentioned that Wengen is a car-free village?  The only vehicles allowed are electric ones and they're usually small work-related (delivery/baggage) trucks, and pleasingly quiet.  Look at that vertical cable below!

Cows (with bells) were at the top, and someone placed this large flower-heart nearby. 

Our hike would take us on a gentle descent over an alpine moor to the bottom of the Jungfrau mountain at Kleine Scheidegg (6760 ft) -- a picturesque walk if there ever was one.  Cows included.

And no extra charge for the mountain views! 

The path was usually wide and easy-going.

At one point, our local guide, Pierre, gave us a "field lecture" about these mountains, how they were formed, the rock we were walking on, etc., including visual material.  He captures our attention because he makes these stops very interesting.

This guy didn't listen to Pierre, however, but he was real!

Sometimes the trail narrowed, but it was always beautiful (above and below) in the clear mountain air.  Fireweed is in the last stage of blooming and its tiny fuzzy seeds were flying like cottonwood fluff.  We put in six-plus miles today, though this trail is a bit less than three miles.  Our final destination today is the Aletsch glacier on Jungfrau!   

Can hardly believe we'll be up there.

Bees and butterflies topped every flower blossom.

Top of the World!

Almost at Kleine Scheidegg, where dazzling views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau soar high above us.  Here we'll board another little red train to take us to Jungfraujoch (which is the saddle between the Jungfrau and Monch peaks) at 11,332 ft, and the upper portion of the great Aletsch Glacier -- the largest glacier in the Alps.

This picture is for two-year-old sweet Everly Rose -- Gramma rides a ducky!

Before boarding the train, we had lunch at a local restaurant at Kleine Scheidegg.  A famous Swiss dish is homemade macaroni and cheese, with applesauce.  Apparently the Swiss like the applesauce on top of the mac/cheese.  Some of our group tried it, but everyone I talked to said the mac/cheese tasted much better by itself!  I agree.

This cogwheel train is a miracle of construction.  It took 16 years to complete and includes a long tunnel passage through solid rock.  I'll quote the last paragraph of the Rocky Road to the Project of the Century:  Despite all the adversity, the breakthrough occurs on 21 February 1912 - the Jungfraujoch is reached. "A grand work, a triumph of modern engineering is consecrated."  Only five months later, 16 years after the start of construction, the first festively decorated train, laden with tourists, travels up the 9.3 km [5.77 mile] route. On the Jungfrau plateau, the company celebrates the amazing work in the company of splendid scenery and a no less spectacular view. Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe, the high point of all high-altitude mountain trips, is born.  A real feat of man's determination to conquer nature.

I added blue check marks.  The first is Wengen, our starting point, at bottom right.  From there we took the cableway to Mannlichen, hiked to Kleine Scheidegg, and there boarded the choo-choo train for Jungfraujoch.  I accidentally cut off the word at the top.  Oh well!

After leaving the tunnel, the train is beside glacial moraine, dark silt and rock.

Not something anyone would want to walk on!  These are views from the train.  We've donned our jackets by this time.

You see two dark "streams" of dark glacial moraine where two glaciers have converged.

At the top and on the outdoor platform, with brilliant white all around us!  We were able to walk all around, but the snow was as slick as glass.  

Evidence of a couple of small snow avalanches above, but not while we were there.  The air was thin at this elevation, but clear and crisp.

Beggar birds seem to be everywhere.  I guess they've been trained by people to expect treats, much like a dog gets trained, expecting treats for tricks.  These Alpine Choughs were bold and unafraid, waiting till you had a morsel in the palm of your hand to gently take it. 

From the platform, looking straight down on part of the glacier, and Kleine Scheidegg at the red check mark far below.  The dark rock absorbs more heat from the sun's rays and more melting results.

You see specks at the red check mark?  Those are people, and we wondered how they got way out there.  I found out -- an elevator and a long tunnel!  Our group made its way down there and walked on that part of the glacier (the only "safe" section)  We could feel the cold coming up through our shoes, and we didn't stay long.

The group is greeting you!  Our guide, Karin, at far right, is holding the Road Scholar flag!  Jimmy is directly behind me in the orange jacket.  BTW, the brownish color on the snow?  When blasting winds blow out of the Sahara Desert, it carries small particles of sand, and some of it ends up high in the Alps.

Next came a visit to the Ice Palace, a treacherous place for sure.  I didn't see anyone fall, but you know walking on ice is hazardous.  A railing spanned the entire loop.  I held on!  Nannie and I might have enjoyed ice skating through it.

On the glacier.

And so, we began our trip down the mountain from the Plateau.  The group took the train from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen, and a gorgeous journey it was, filled with mountain views and long, thin cascades dropping into the valley.  Our day could not have been better.

Schynige Platte, Saturday, 8/24

I looked it up, listened to it on Google Translate, and every approach I tried came out as "spicy plate."  Not quite what you'd expect for a hiking adventure!  Loosely translated, in this case it meant "shale rocks, plate-like."  Much of the Alps rock is limestone, but here the rock is definitely shale.  Our local guide, Pierre, below, is picking up a thin piece of rock for show and tell.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  First we had to get to Schynige Platte, and that was the really fun part.  Every trip from our hotel in Wengen begins with the cogwheel down to Lauterbrunnen, and today that was followed by a train to Wilderswil, and there we transferred to the cutest little cogwheel train to take us to our destination.  Below you see part of our group ready to roll!

This adorable train made its maiden journey on June 13th, 1893 and it's operated for more than 125 years.  Initially run by steam, it was electrified in 1914.  Amazingly, the track and rolling stock are largely still in original condition from the founding of the railway.  The newest locomotives are over 100 yrs old, but still perform their duties with aplomb -- reminded me of "The Little Engine That Could."  How people can make modes of transportation like this are mind-blowing.  The views, of course, are stupendous.

The town of Wilderswil, where we began, is on the bottom left, and the cogwheel train winds through the mountain, zigzag-style, all the way up to the ridge of Schynige Platte, top right.  A journey involving a lot of tunnels! 

Looking down on Interlaken and Lake Brienz.

Another little red train was ahead of ours, by a couple of minutes.

You see it above, climbing the hill.

Looking back.  We chugged up and up and up!
Lake Thun at far left.

The other red train was fixin' to enter one of the tunnels, above.

In between tunnels, we came across this big ol' cow by the track -- the first train is visible behind the cow and it looks like another tunnel is dead ahead.

After the last tunnel, the view opened up to this!

The little string (or rope) is to keep the cows out.

At last, the train arrived and we were at the starting point for our hike.

And so it began, up and down the hills.  Several people remarked that Julie Andrews should've been singing her famous, "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music!"  We put six miles on our feet today, all of it traipsing through a landscape filled with incredible beauty.

And bugs, too.

Our trail can be seen aiming for that massive rock pile!

We saw a number of these -- they're the seed heads of the Alpine Anemone -- very unique to our eyes.  I'll have a whole post on flowers later on.  Lots of wildflowers were still blooming up here.

Here we are overlooking Lake Brienz.

Yup, that's where we're going.

And that's where we'd been.  It being Saturday (I had to ask), many people were Out and About hiking.  We heard German and French and Italian spoken as folks passed by.  I'm guessing this is a popular trail, but then, I think most of the Swiss Alps trails are well-used.

After eating our picnic lunch atop the ridge, we posed for this group picture ... with the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau as our backdrop.  Nope, it can't possibly get any better than this.  This was also our turn-around point.

Jimmy, me, and Sheila parked ourselves on a bench for a few minutes before we started the downhill portion to the station.  We don't look too bad for all the wear and tear of hiking in these parts!  We had a grand time today.

Don't know who the dude in the middle is!

At the station, we stopped for a drink of something, anything, at the restaurant.  Today was warmer than we expected and we were thirsty.  I had on my zipper hiking pants and unzipped the bottoms and stuffed them in my pockets.  Sheila and I continued on to the Alpine Garden, where we spent at least another half hour.  Jimmy wasn't interested, but I liked it.  And then it was time to return.  Imagine riding that cogwheel down!

Then I remembered we'd have salmon for dinner this evening -- oh boy!