Contents
- Preface
- San Francisco
- Amsterdam
- Amsterdam, Helmond
- Amsterdam, Zandvoort, Haarlem
- Amsterdam, Bruges
- Bruges, Brussels, Cologne, Berlin
- Berlin
- Berlin, Potsdam
- Berlin, Wansee
- Berlin, Prague
- Prague
- Prague, Karlstejn, Vienna
- Vienna
- Vienna, Salzburg, Füssen
- Füssen, Neuschwanstein, Munich
- Munich, Innsbruck
- Innsbruck
- Innsbruck, Zürich, Lauterbrunnen
- Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch
- Lauterbrunnen, Schilthorn
- Lauterbrunnen, Spiez, Zermatt
- Zermatt
- Zermatt, Martigny, Chamonix
- Chamonix, Mont Blanc
- Chamonix, Mont Blanc, Courmayeur, Aosta, Turin
- Barcelona
- Barcelona, Sitges
- Barcelona
- Milan, Venice
- Venice
- Venice
- Venice, Milan, Cinque Terre
- Cinque Terre, La Spezia
- Cinque Terre, Pisa, Lucca, Florence
- Florence
- Florence
- Florence, Siena
- Siena, San Gimignano, Rome
- Rome
- Rome
- Rome, Sorrento
- Sorrento, Vesuvius, Pompeii
- Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello
- Sorrento, Capri, Naples
- Naples, Bari
- Patras, Athens, Mykonos
- Mykonos
- Mykonos
- Mykonos, Paros, Santorini
- Santorini
- Santorini, Athens
- Athens
- Athens, Amsterdam, San Francisco
Prev :: Friday, 23 September 2005 :: Next
22. Zermatt
Photo Gallery
Today I was drawn straight towards the Matterhorn, and I took the cable car to Schwarzsee (almost everyone heads for the Klein Matterhorn instead, but it's at Schwarzsee where you can get closest to the peak). From here I followed a spectacular trail up towards the Matterhorn, leading to a hut at 3300m where the climbing route begins right at the base of the really steep part. The hut had already closed for the season; this is a great time of year to visit the Alps, because the weather is often nice but the crowds are much smaller than in the peak summer and winter seasons. I passed a couple of climbers with lots of gear headed for the summit — this looks like quite a challenge. The landscape here is remarkably different and drier from that in the Jungfrau region; it actually looks similar in many ways to the high southern Sierra. Hiking down I passed a big Swiss army helicopter sitting by the lake — I guess if Berlusconi should come charging over the Alps (he is scary, after all), they'll be ready here.
After a quick lunch of crepes, I decided to head up the Gornergrat train, which leads to a high overlook with a stunning view of the glacier flowing down from Switzerland's highest mountains. As on the Schilthorn, I decided to hike all the way down this mountain and back to Zermatt. Along the way I hiked with a nice Japanese student who was staying at the hostel in town. Before long he bailed and got back on the train, but I made plans to meet him again — I was determined to eat fondue for once! The annoying thing about fondue is that you can't have it when you're by yourself, because they only sell it in portions for two or more. As if we aren't already sad enough because we don't have anyone to eat with!
The rest of the hike down was beautiful, looking across the valley at the Matterhorn. It had been happening rather a lot on this trip that the sun was in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time for taking pictures, and this was no exception. Better light here in the morning. Most of the way it was open, grassy meadows overlooking the Zermatt valley — considerably drier and browner than the grass in the Jungfrau region. Around 2000m and below I started to enter the forest of mostly conifers, also noticeably drier, almost resembling the forests around 1500m in the Sierra (where it rarely rains in the summer). So I think the southern mountains in Switzerland probably have much better weather than the Jungfrau region; I read that St Moritz gets 300 sunny days per year.
At 19:00 I met up with my new Japanese friend at his hostel, and we returned to the Café du Pont for fondue. It's good, but not really my favorite food; I think you can't go to Switzerland without having it at least once, but once was enough to satisfy me. I notice there are also way too many couples with babies around! Such an annoying noise. They always seem to head straight for me — bad luck indeed. But it was a nice meal nonetheless.