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| Swiss Milk Houses above Murren |
Kim the inveterate hiker had planned a super loop for us. We headed first down the narrow paved path from Murren to nearby Gimmelwald, passing quaint Swiss houses, breathtaking views of the gorge below and the snow dusted mountains above. We had taken the cable car from Gimmelwald to Murren the night before, today we saw all that we'd missed.
At Gimmelwald we headed back uphill, winding our way up first pavement, then gravel, till we came to a crossing footpath. Up yet again on the footpath we climbed through farm fields yellow with the fall. We passed numerous small barns called milk houses. I guess it's so arduous to move the cows up and down the mountain they use a system of small distributed barns for milking. Then we crossed into forest.
The close forest set the stage for our spectacular first destination. As we exited the woods the trail quickly turned around a rocky point, protected with a simple rail, and revealed a high overhanging waterfall with the path itself winding down the cliff face to pass behind it. Once under the falls, you could look downstream and see the distant peaks revealed through the shower of water and the narrow crevice sliced through the rock by the fast-tumbling stream. What a treat. The waterfall must be incredible with snow melt in the spring.
On the far side of the waterfall, the trail resumed its climb through the woods for some time till it opened out into a series of meadows forming the headwaters of the stream feeding the waterfall. Amazingly, here was a small restaurant that catered to hikers (of course closed in November). Seems if winter is the ski season, summer is definitely the hiking season, with the infrastructure to prove it. The trails look rustic and private this time of year, but are universally marked with professional signs at every intersection giving destination, direction, and walking time. Hard to get lost, even if we didn't "sprechen sie Deutsch".
Across the valley on the ridge in the distance, we could see the cable care from Murren to Schilthorn. We were tempted to hike up to the intermediary station at Birg, but decided given the distance and elevation, we hadn't the time. A wise choice, since when we later took that cable car, we could see that our route was still partly covered in snow. It would have been quite a slog.
Instead, we crossed the stream at a washed out bridge and traversed the hillside on another narrow country road through alpine farms. Here we finally saw Kim's favorite cow, a Swiss Brown. To this point it had been the red and white, coarse haired dairy cows. The satiny gray of the Swiss Brown is quite beautiful, if not exactly brown.
We then began our descent into Murren. The road turned back to pavement, and we began to see the ubiquitous fountains common to the Swiss countryside. We had seen similar, though simpler ones in the hills above Gruyere. Here again at regular intervals were spring fed troughs and fountains, some as simple as a pipe out of the hillside. Others like that above nearer town were quite decorative. As we descended we stopped near one of these fountains for lunch procured from Kim's magical pack, more cheese, bread, nuts and chocolate to refuel before we hit Murren and jumped the cable car to the Schilthorn.
At Gimmelwald we headed back uphill, winding our way up first pavement, then gravel, till we came to a crossing footpath. Up yet again on the footpath we climbed through farm fields yellow with the fall. We passed numerous small barns called milk houses. I guess it's so arduous to move the cows up and down the mountain they use a system of small distributed barns for milking. Then we crossed into forest.
The close forest set the stage for our spectacular first destination. As we exited the woods the trail quickly turned around a rocky point, protected with a simple rail, and revealed a high overhanging waterfall with the path itself winding down the cliff face to pass behind it. Once under the falls, you could look downstream and see the distant peaks revealed through the shower of water and the narrow crevice sliced through the rock by the fast-tumbling stream. What a treat. The waterfall must be incredible with snow melt in the spring.
On the far side of the waterfall, the trail resumed its climb through the woods for some time till it opened out into a series of meadows forming the headwaters of the stream feeding the waterfall. Amazingly, here was a small restaurant that catered to hikers (of course closed in November). Seems if winter is the ski season, summer is definitely the hiking season, with the infrastructure to prove it. The trails look rustic and private this time of year, but are universally marked with professional signs at every intersection giving destination, direction, and walking time. Hard to get lost, even if we didn't "sprechen sie Deutsch".
Instead, we crossed the stream at a washed out bridge and traversed the hillside on another narrow country road through alpine farms. Here we finally saw Kim's favorite cow, a Swiss Brown. To this point it had been the red and white, coarse haired dairy cows. The satiny gray of the Swiss Brown is quite beautiful, if not exactly brown.
We then began our descent into Murren. The road turned back to pavement, and we began to see the ubiquitous fountains common to the Swiss countryside. We had seen similar, though simpler ones in the hills above Gruyere. Here again at regular intervals were spring fed troughs and fountains, some as simple as a pipe out of the hillside. Others like that above nearer town were quite decorative. As we descended we stopped near one of these fountains for lunch procured from Kim's magical pack, more cheese, bread, nuts and chocolate to refuel before we hit Murren and jumped the cable car to the Schilthorn.
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