On our first full day in the Swiss Alps, we decided to hike on the western side of Lauterbrunnen Valley to view and hit the Schilthorn peak (2970m or ~9744 ft.). All of the adorable Swiss villages here are connected by gondolas, mountain railways, and/or hiking trails, so we started with a cable car-train combo from the valley up to car-free Mürren, from where you can ascend (or descend) any number of trails in the region. We headed up towards Allmendhubel and the Schilthorn peak, a hike up which was estimated to take somewhere around 4 hours; however, we underestimated the warmth and effects of being at altitude (as well as considered both the amount of time we had and the less-favorable weather in the forecast) and changed plans quickly to instead ride the gondola up and hike down.
Eager morning hikers, armed with smiles and energy...
(... and a hiking map!)
Happy Swiss cow (so happy with its grass it didn't want to face us for the photo).
The gondola ride up was spectacular due to our cloudless morning, and we had great views of the Alps from the top.
Alpine Ibex
The Schilthorn was the main filming location for the ~1969 James Bond Film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" which really interested Kelvin (alone).
The bathrooms were decorated accordingly.
We then started the descent to (we thought) the train/cable car station. I was not a fan of the initial very narrow trail with cliffs on both sides, but managed okay, at times holding on to some cables. I must say that the Swiss trails are sooooo well maintained and well marked, which made navigation a breeze even though we barely encountered any other hikers (and only had to worry about slipping to our deaths).
We hiked through beautiful meadows of alpine wildflowers during our descent.
Monkshood (Aconitum japonicum)-- I think!
I couldn't figure out how to identify this pink one (no plant ID on Google lens available!).
I don't think Kelvin had ever been this close to a cow-- and was worried he'd get gored!
We also spotted a couple of scampering rodents across the trail, later identified as marmots!
It was a very pleasant, warm sunny day in the Alps!
Instead of taking a turn to Mürren, we actually ended up descending the whole mountain to the valley town of Stechelberg and then riding the bus to the Trümmelbachfälle I previously blogged about. We passed several additional streams and waterfalls along our way.
All in all, we hiked fifteen miles, which our legs definitely felt the next day; however, I couldn't imagine more beautiful scenery among which to stroll. If you love mountains and trails, I couldn't recommend more a visit to this amazing part of Switzerland!
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