Valley Relaxing

Today we decided to take a relaxing day (relaxing from 3hr train rides). We had some Sunday bread (there are regulated cultural breads in Switzerland – we’ve had some “rye” with walnuts already) and some fruit before heading out. Therese stayed right by Munster (which was apparently lovely), and Ali and I decided to hop on the train and pick a nice-looking city to hike out of. (We had planned to go up to some glacier lakes near Grimselpass, but were warned away by the threat of storms.) At the suggestion of a very nice couple at the Munster station, we headed to Realp, a town just at the bottom of the valley adjacent to the Oberwald-Fiesch valley that we’re staying in. From Realp, we hiked through the valley to Andermatt and then went through a gorge to Goshenen. The valley hiking was pretty easy (mostly gravel bike/walking paths), and we followed a beautiful river the entire time. Flowers were abundant, though they weren’t as cool as the ones on top of the ridge in Saas Fee (mostly Queen Anne’s Lace, clover, and some unfamiliar purple/yellow meadow flowers). There were plenty of small cow herds near the walk (a couple young cows pastured right by a house seemed rather territorial and mooed/chased us past) and one ginormous flock of sheep being herded toward some shade by their dogs. The Andermatt-Goshenen leg of the trip was right by the road and train track, since we were in such a narrow gorge. Once I got past the noise, it was stunning scenery. Lots of crazy switchbacks for the cars, several tunnels for both river crossings and avalanche protection, tons of waterfalls going through the gorge and coming off the rock faces, and just enough grass/flowers to keep the terrain nice. Different cheese/bread/sausage/fruit combination for lunch today; I’m convinced that I’ll have to smuggle some sausage back. We also stopped right at the top of the gorge to get some ice cream (apricot-cranberry was delicious) and chocolate (some chocolate covered wafer filled with hazelnut thing that was awesome).

The first drops of rain hit as we were walking into the city, and there was some steady rain by the time we reached the Banhof (aka train station). The station was filled with mountaineers pushed off their routes early due to the storm. Once we had taken the train beyond the gorge, we looked back, and clouds were being pushed out of the area we had just been hiking. They almost bubbled out, and then spread across the mouth of the valley at Andermatt. The ride from Andermatt to Munster was dry enough (and entertaining thanks to a group of older British ladies). About an hour after arriving home, a giant summer storm moved in (from the Mediterranean, thanks to a low pressure system in Britain), and sheets of rain were blowing sideways. Tonight we have racklette (aka potatoes with melted cheese), courtesy of Therese, and tomorrow it’s off to Grindelwald.