On Saturday I took a hike with Britt, my co-worker, and two of her friends from ETH. I thought that the best way to fight jet lag would be to get up early on a Saturday and take a long hike in the sun to convince my body to adjust to the new time zone. And, knock on wood, I think it worked! Although I've been a little fuzzier than normal in the mornings, I've had only super mild jet lag this time around and have been sleeping through the night!
Britt had chosen this hike, which is one that I have had on my list of hikes to go on all summer. The weather was amazing, and I was really happy to be back in the mountains. I heart mountains!
We arrived in Kandersteg around mid-morning and had one of those we-are-definitely-in-Switzerland moments when we observed a woman vacuuming a town information sign that was made out of wood in the shape of a log cabin. Apparently it is very important to get rid of the dust between the logs.
We decided to make the hike longer by forgoing the chair lift and hiking up from Kandersteg. The hike was absolutely beautiful.
We stopped for lunch by the lake and were serenaded by an Alphorn being played on the beach. We also saw a little Alpabfahrt, in which the cows are taken from their high mountain pasture to a lower pasture for the winter.
From there we climbed up to a ridge above the Oeschinensee. I took a video on the way up, and you can (faintly) hear the Alphorn, echoing up from the lake.
From above the lake you can really see how blue it really is. I don't think I've ever see such a blue lake- it was incredible.
We hiked for a while along a ridge above the lake, before starting our descent back towards the lake.
This was definitely a super-mondo-incredibly beautiful hike! But, then, what hike here isn't?
We ended up stopping for an ice cream and panache on the way back to the train station in Kandersteg. By the time we got back on the train, it was late enough that we decided to stop in Bern (halfway back to Zürich) for dinner at the Altes Tramdepot, where we had been back in July. Sadly, the amazing beer we had last time was no longer available since it was a seasonal beer, but we were finally able to have the hamburger that we tried to order last time but couldn't because we were five minutes too late (since the kitchen closed for the afternoon). Bern is quite beautiful at night, and we had a table on the patio overlooking the river and the city of Bern. It was a lovely end to a fantastic day in the Alps!
Britt had chosen this hike, which is one that I have had on my list of hikes to go on all summer. The weather was amazing, and I was really happy to be back in the mountains. I heart mountains!
We arrived in Kandersteg around mid-morning and had one of those we-are-definitely-in-Switzerland moments when we observed a woman vacuuming a town information sign that was made out of wood in the shape of a log cabin. Apparently it is very important to get rid of the dust between the logs.
We decided to make the hike longer by forgoing the chair lift and hiking up from Kandersteg. The hike was absolutely beautiful.
We stopped for lunch by the lake and were serenaded by an Alphorn being played on the beach. We also saw a little Alpabfahrt, in which the cows are taken from their high mountain pasture to a lower pasture for the winter.
From there we climbed up to a ridge above the Oeschinensee. I took a video on the way up, and you can (faintly) hear the Alphorn, echoing up from the lake.
From above the lake you can really see how blue it really is. I don't think I've ever see such a blue lake- it was incredible.
We hiked for a while along a ridge above the lake, before starting our descent back towards the lake.
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| You can see the trail we took up the mountain. |
This was definitely a super-mondo-incredibly beautiful hike! But, then, what hike here isn't?
We ended up stopping for an ice cream and panache on the way back to the train station in Kandersteg. By the time we got back on the train, it was late enough that we decided to stop in Bern (halfway back to Zürich) for dinner at the Altes Tramdepot, where we had been back in July. Sadly, the amazing beer we had last time was no longer available since it was a seasonal beer, but we were finally able to have the hamburger that we tried to order last time but couldn't because we were five minutes too late (since the kitchen closed for the afternoon). Bern is quite beautiful at night, and we had a table on the patio overlooking the river and the city of Bern. It was a lovely end to a fantastic day in the Alps!
