What's not to like and fear. A 'bloody monster' challenging the heavens.
On my own...
Hold tight, Girl. Jen comes down and readies for a slippery corner
Each country or at least, each region has its hazards. When we first visited New Zealand and Hawaii, the
‘snakeless’ islands allowed us to take our eyes off the ground, giving us more opportunity to watch for
sandflies, a mosquito type of insect. In the Western United States, snakes, bears, wolves, cougars are
potential threats. For South Africa, remove bears and wolves but add leopards and baboons; in addition,
include the most dangerous ‘animal’ of all, the mugger on some city trails. In Europe, besides
the hazards common to all natural areas, it seems that standing in animal dung ranks as a big one,
especially from cows.
What me worry, Alfred?
Breaking principle, publishing a picture from a later hike. Silberhorn, after 3,500 feet climbing,
worth every strain and pain.
Thinking of cows, with nobody particular in mind, we noticed that in Switzerland each animal is marked
as well as carries a bell around its neck. We believe this helps farmers listen for their animals in
case of bad weather or other perils. In South Africa, a twist to this system is interesting. We came
across a large flock of sheep somewhere on the Drakensberg Mountains; only the leader had a bell. This
is very economical. In addition, it also soothes hikers because when the sheep don’t move in unison,
the sound becomes noisy rather than harmonious. Like all good sheep, they learn to listen for the bell
and follow the leader. It seems an oxymoron to have a sheep as the leader, though.
Monsters of rock and ice. Fresh snow falling each day. Summer has been deferred for a while
On way back, looking towards Bort Station. Cable cars running without passengers.
We had a treat today. We left our lodge before 5:30 this morning, heading to Switzerland via
Lichtenstein. The weather was miserable. In fact, it even snowed at ground level overnight and
rained during part of the journey. Unfortunately, we had to get our car back quite early so we
could not afford to get lost—tough break. Anyway, the afore going was certainly not the treat to
which we are alluding.
Meet our new pal, Ol' North Face. We're searching for the clothing factory, maybe somewhere about
the base?
What are the chances of meeting a South African-born couple, from San Diego, living in the
same community (at least when we were more permanent), sitting in the foyer of an hotel in Interlaken?
That’s where we had to return our rental car. Actually, the chances are good as we arranged to meet
Suzanne and Brian Marcus there. It was delightful to spend a little time together—it made our day.
When we parted, they headed for Bern while we took the train to Grindelwald, a town of dramatic mountains.
We are grateful to Suzanne for helping carry/pull one of our bags to the station and to Brian for
encouraging his dear wife.
A Winter...um summer wonderland. Trees took a snow dusting overnight
Happy Girl about to complete climb of 3,000 feet, strong and courageous, too.
The weather is problematical as winter is following spring this year in Europe or at least, where we
are traveling. We met two couples on the trail who said, ‘in fifteen years of visiting the area at
this time of year, they’ve never experienced such cold and snow.’ The locals are complaining bitterly
about the return of winter. For his own sake, Mr. Gore (I Invented the internet), should keep away from
here or at least allow a little more global warming. The cold is no problem for us; it’s the snow.
Many trails at high altitudes are closed which is very disappointing.
Glacier or snowfield—we'll check tomorrow
Everyone's a little mishugana
Today, we thought we’d see for ourselves. We left our home, a truly beautiful place positioned under
the Eiger, and headed up to Bort and then onto Schrekfeld. We gained a little under 3,000 feet in
elevation which was amazing as we still had much energy to move higher and wished to advance. However,
thick snow prevented us pushing forward to First. We had no idea who’s on First but the fact that a
Swiss Mountain Restaurant was closed tells you how bad things are, weather-wise. Nevertheless, submerged
in the beauty and the effort required to power up those mountains, made it an incredible start to this
leg of the trip. Our fear, of course, is being hampered by the snow. Once again, we hope the pictures will
tell you the real story of a wonderful day.
Before closing off, we thought of mentioning that tomorrow is our third anniversary of Hike-about. To celebrate
or not to celebrate: That is indeed the question.
Just when all looked bleak, the sun said 'hello'. Overpowering and intimidating, Fiescherhorner & Finsteraarhorn,
a personal favorite.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Suzanne and Brian Marcus in Interlaken, so good to see them
Tree has potential to keep growing. A few feet more and it could surpass the Eiger. Hmm!
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