03-08-2016 Haute Route Day 10
Zinal to Grüben
12.3 Kilometers
Lodging: Hotel Schwarzhorn Gruben 43 Suisse Franc for a dorm and half pension (Dinner and Breakfast)
Click on the link above and download it to your computer. Then, open Google Earth and manually open and you can see the trail in 3D.
Zinal to Grüben
Today we have a big push up to another col, but are going to get a little help. We started with a very tasty breakfast in the hotel, packed our gear, and headed to the bus station. Anne and Thomas had to catch the bus, and make a few connections to end up in Geneva, which is were they are going to get their flight back to Paris. When we made it to the bus stop, we said our quick goodbyes, and we parted ways. Katherine and I took one more leg of the bus journey to the funicular in Saint-Luc.
This was the fastest goodbye ever! We jumped off the bus and then got on another instantly.
The funicular is something that is new to me. First of all, I have never heard the word before and have never seem something quite like it (even though Katherine says I have because they were in Lisbon.) A funicular is a cog rail system for ascending and descending the mountain. The track is geared and the train cars keep the same steep pitch the entire time, so the train cars are built at an angle. If you were to put it on flat track, everyone would be standing at about a 35 degree pitch, kind of like the old V8 vegetable juice commercials. I was surprised at how quick the ride was. We just scooted up the mountain with our ears popping. Once at the top, we donned our backpacks and headed to the Meidpass.
Little lunchtime action!
This is how you do it in the Suisse Alps.
We hiked up through a ski resort area again with the trail winding around a few lifts, but we were soon out of them and into our private wilderness. Lunch was a delectable assortment of meat, cheese, crackers, nuts, and grape beverage. These views I can get used to!
Ahhhh... by ourselves on the Meidpass!
I hate taking selfies, but here you go.
Once we reached the pass there was no choice but to descend the rest of the way to Grüben on our tired knees, so I went slow and used my poles appropriately. After another hour or two, we “landed” in Grüben. Our lodging was at the only hotel in the area. The giant Hotel Schwarzhorn has several floors with private rooms and a dorm on the top floor. Grüben is a remote town, but caters to backpackers very nicely during the summer season.
Katherine posing by the Meidsee
This dorm arrangement is not as bad as you might think. All the travelers are pretty much courteous and behave themselves appropriately. Well, the lesson is earplugs, and don't be afraid to open of close the window as you wish.
The dorm was a machine. They get a large number of hikers coming on a daily basis. Luckily, there was enough room for us. We had to call and email ahead to secure a reservation, but they are so busy they do not always call or email back to let you know if you had a spot reserved. Our dorm room on the top floor had slanted ceilings and beds lined side to side packed into each room like sardines. There was not much room for our gear, so I couldn’t go GMAN style and sprawl out all over the place. Our packs were kept in the hallway and since we had planned to depart early, we packed them in the evening to make a quick getaway in the early morning.
There was a little problem. The room had a few empty beds… Yes, plenty of room for Anne and Thomas. We already missed them!
Uhhhh, where are our Parisian friends? There is plenty of room here!
During dinner, we talked with our Boston friends with their 11 year old son, Jack. I gave them my email, but have not heard back. I plan to create a little video of our journey and want to share it with them. Jack is quite a hiker at his age. He has been leading their group up and down the cols asking for more at the end of the day. We have a little mountain climber there!
The little village of Grüben.
Tomorrow, we head to Zermatt, and to get a full day in the village, we will skip staying the night in St. Niklaus. We plan on riding a cable car down from Jungen to St. Niklaus and then catching the train to Zermatt. It would be nice to walk the last leg of the trek, but I also think a day in such a beautiful village will be worth it. As the Canadian hikers said to us, “At the end of such a beautiful trek, you don’t want to go home, even though it has been tough as Hell.” They are correct, the mountain beauty surpasses the pain in our legs.
No comments:
Post a Comment