Thursday Aug. 4: Jim's Travels

Deb's toe kept her at the hotel today so Jim tried some hikes Deb would not have attempted.

 The first leg of the hike began with a mellow looking path but quickly changed to a calf-stretching steep ascent. 

 The trail began in Wengen at 1274 meters and was said to be a 3 hour climb to the top of Mannlichen Peak at 2342, a gain of 3832 feet of vertical.

The lower portions of the trail were protected and cool through beautiful forest.

 The upper portions of the trail were above the trees with what seemed like endless switchbacks.  The vista the entire three hours was enough to keep the heart beat elevated, and the climb added a few beats also.

 Reaching the top was almost a disappointment.  It seemed there should have been cheering crowds after completing a climb like that.

 Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg provided an exhilarating ridgetop route for an almost level power hike just to put on some miles and reach the third leg.

 The view to Jungfrau from Wengernalp provided another fantastic backdrop to the beginning of what was intended to be the finish of the hike, 3 hours of gradual downhill into Wengen.

 

The trail started of as a broad track of modest descent through meadows and forests.  A junction in the trail offered an alternative to the mundane return to Wengen, a steep descent to the floor of the Lauterbrunnen Valley via Trummelbach Falls. 

 The legs said they still had some life in them and the idea of significantly changing the route to one that would surely contain some territory not covered with Debbie was appealing.

 The slopes to the Lauterbrunnen Valley were impressive.  This is near the area where the base jumpers make their leap off the cliffs.

 The trail was rugged and continuously steep.

 After already coming down over 1000 feet from Mannlichen, I was still looking at more than 3000 feet to the valley below.  The idea of base jumping or paragliding down began to be appealing.

 Despite the steepness, there was still the occasional rustic gate to contain the mountain grazing cows.

 The waterfalls across the valley were feeding what I would soon find to be a torrent at valley bottom.

 The final few steps to the river were especially steep.  The roar as I descended hinted at the spectacle I would find around the bend.

 The vertically sided valley was thundering with melt from the glaciers above.

 It flowed past me into the chasm that is Trummelbach Falls which we had viewed earlier.

 The bridge across the river was sound but the crossing still was a little unnerving as you could not help but imagine your fate if it should fail.

 The remainder of the trail was much as the earlier portion, steep and scenic.

 The final portion of the trail descend down a rock face chiseled from the cliff side but aided with a hand cable, just in case.

















The base of Trummelbach is still some distance from the community of Lauterbrunnen.  Reaching the valley floor, I still had a one hour fast walk to the train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen.  The day had covered more than 20 miles of walking, over 3000 feet of ascent, and 4000 feet of descent.  Debbie was glad to have spent the day doing other things.