Are we there yet? We commenced at the far side of the village, a long way away and down
'Lean on me' or perhaps, 'Stand by me'; the giant from a different angle
A different side of the region (from Holenstein Station), waterfall front-right
It’s time to leave Grindelwald, we are sad to say. Even had we not enjoyed an incredible two weeks, we can
find no reason for not returning. Truth be told, we are not looking for a reason ‘not to return’ anyway.
There are more elegant ways to express the sentiment but as we write this missive, we have to move our muscles
manually—we are tired after a grueling finish today. Funnily enough, the mountains were basking in the sunshine
while the rain poured heavily over the town for a change.
The lineup from the northern side
We love climbing, gaining elevation, getting to the top of mountains or high places. Having mentioned that,
we have found whatever we have done in this town or village, it has always been on a slope, a hill, a mountain,
an incline/decline—each time very steep. Sometimes we stand in the shower or lie in bed grateful that it is
level—we think it’s level as we have lost perspective of the concept. We mentioned that the walk back from
the village to our chalet is equal to a week’s worth of exercise especially after completing a hike.
Jenni reaches the top, Grindelwald village in the distance.
For Grindelwald, we suppose it's a cloudless sky.
We headed off towards (down) to the village, thereafter, down to Grund and then a further climb of about
2,400 feet up to Holenstein Cable Station. It’s on the way to Mannlichen, currently under heavy snow. Add-in
500 feet from Grund to home and we achieved an accumulative elevation gain of 2,900 feet. Coming at the end
of an active period, it was tough.
While discussing statistics, we had eight full hikes and one partial during our stay in Grindelwald.
The total elevation gain was a staggering 24,000 feet and change; or, more than four miles of vertical
movement. It seems ridiculous but we averaged nearly 3,000 feet per hike. Now that the boasting is complete,
may we change paragraphs, please. Certainly.
Follow that cable car. We wanted to say 'field of dreams' but we've used the caption before
The hike, as with all of the others, was wonderful. It meanders in the northern part of the region, allowing
us to cover a wide area during this trip. The trail was quiet as the few people we passed had ridden up
and were hiking down. We hiked through a couple of forests again, used more rural-type paths, saw quite
a few animals and had our usual sort of conversation with them. Yes, it’s true. We do stop and talk with
the animals but we can’t say much intelligence passes between us. We will add that occasionally, an animal
will stop grazing to gaze towards us. It is amazing and amusing that these domestic animals eat all day—such
endurance and stamina.'
How about a waterfall for a change? Okay!
Things got a little tense when we passed a family of goats. There were a couple of Moms taking care of
the ‘kids’. The ram stepped from the shed and looked us up and down. He definitely wasn’t pleased to see
us eyeing the ewes. We had no way of assuring him we are no threat to his women. They say lack of communication
is the cause of many problems in the world. We see that clearly now.
Closely guarding his 'women and kids'. (no comment offered on the beard)
Yes, Sir. You are a brute but a beautiful one.
In closing, we should conclude with a final story of Frau Roth. We mentioned the incident with the
brot last week. When we went to talk to her the other day, we were so confused as we struggled between
German, Afrikaans and our failing English that we addressed her as Frau Brot (bread) instead of Roth (Rot).
We hope she is an understanding woman. (When we think about it, 'Brot' sounds a lot better than 'Rot'.)
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Jenni could not resist. We suppose it's never to late to 'potty train' adults. Who knew there was a problem.
We were supposed to bring a car for this trail? Now they tell us. Where're we going to find one, Jeff?
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