Monday, Molly and I get up early to catch a 7:30 train to Zermatt. This is the home of the most famous mountain in Switzerland and the namesake for the popular theme park ride at Disneyland….the Matterhorn. Zermatt is also a city with no cars.
We trained to the town of Visp, at which point we transferred into an old-fashioned, red and white, noisy, needs grease, train that pulls you one hour up the mountains closer to the Matterhorn. “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” The views were amazing. The colorful fall trees, the mountain rivers, the yaks and sheep on the hillsides and the geologically astounding rocks. I kept taking pictures of the houses and buildings on the way~they all have slate roofs. Slate, not shake, not composition, not tile…….beautiful, huge pieces of slate. I know now that slate is cheaper in the area than wood.
We arrived in Zermatt, checked into our hostel (prices just keep amazing me….this hostel was $65 per night PER PERSON. I am changing the spelling of the country to $witerland) and headed off to take a gondola and go on a hike. We had both been wanting to hike and I think today, we got our fill.
In summary, we hiked about 18 km (12 miles?), almost 6 hours and an elevation gain of over 1,000 km (I don’t know, but it felt like a lot!). We hiked along glacier streams, past a dam, thru snow, mud and ice, thru alpine flora and a larch forest and little "hamlets" all to see the spectacular view of the north face of the Matterhorn. The "'Hamlets" are little tiny shacks that hearders use in the summertime as they move the cows and sheep around....... In all its glory and magnificence, the Matterhorn was all ours. Just ours alone, for one day, it was just ours.
We took a different route down, trying to catch the last gondola into Zermatt by 4:30. Needless to say, we missed it and had to walk an additional hour down to get back. The steep climb down smashed my toes, jammed my knees and made my legs shake, but, I made it along with Molly. Although exhausted and sore, it was a once in a lifetime adventure, that I think both of us will remember for a lifetime.
We were going to go hiking again the next day, but I think both of us had second thoughts…..a spa day would be lovely.
