Hello!

Yesterday was madness. It was our last full day in Interlaken, so we decided we wanted to go on a full day hike. We found one that said it took 6.5 hours to hike straight and went with it. To begin the hike, we took a train up into the mountains of Grindelwald and then a lift up to First. First is 2168 m high. The hike we chose began in First, hit Bachalpsee (a lake lookout), passed through Faulhorn (another lookout point) and ended in Schynige Platte. The length totaled in about 20 miles.

Josh and I began out hike with lovely views. After the lift up, you were already in a stunning place without walking anywhere. We were ill prepared for this hike to say the least. We didn't bring our hiking gear on our trip because of lack of space so I was in leggings and sandals and josh was in leggings and tennis shoes. We both had rain coats. I've been hiking in these sandals a few times on this trip and it's been fine but this was a much larger hike... We bought socks at the bottom of the mountain before beginning and they were the best purchase I may have ever made in my life.

It was drizzling as we started hiking but the views were so amazing we didn't care. Right away we came to a barn on the path that had many cows and goats that Josh ran after trying to touch. They were wonderful! We had a fun time taking photos of them. After about an hour, we arrived at Bachalpsee where the lake lookout was. This was one of the most beautiful stops of our hike. The fields were lined with happy cows and the lake was a perfect blue. Everything was at peace with itself. We stopped and had a snack on the edge of the lake while cows came up to us and poked for the trail mix we had. We stayed for about 40 minutes at the lake enjoying the views and cows. There were a handful of people with us at the lake.

We started again towards Faulhorn. The hike up was pretty steep and the oxygen was thinning because of the height. By the time we reached the top, I was very out of breath and lightheaded. It was definitely a push up. We sat at the top and ate our lunch, drank water and breathed. At this point, we were about 2 hours into our 7 hour hike. Faulhorn was a very open lookout point. Absolutely breathtaking. We walked in amazement towards Schynige Platte. Along the way, there were many cow to talk to and views that were once in a lifetime.

To speed this up a bit, I will skip ahead 3 hours till the point we were both very tired physically and mentally about 6 hours in. I thought the hike was one hour too long but still beautiful and manageable. The path had gotten very uncomfortable because of the many rocks. We essentially were walking on tons of misshapen stones rather than a path and the sandals were allowing my feet to feel all of it. We hadn't seen anyone in about 2 hours when a group of three people ran past us about 45 minutes away from the end. We asked why they were running and they said they didn't want to miss the last train that was leaving in 20 minutes........ Uh oh. At this point, we assumed there would be many trains down the mountain. It was only 5:30pm. Or at least a bus or taxi to get down. We sped up but kept a similar pace because we were so tired. We got to the "town" and boy was it small. There were no roads. Only a train station and two buildings. The last train down had left 10 minutes after we had arrived. There were no trains down after 5:53pm. Uh oh.

At this point we both got a bit worried. We had to leave early the next morning for Zurich and so we had to figure out a way down. There was a man who told us the only way down was to walk (we had figured this out already) and to take the train tracks since it was getting later and it would be safer than the hiking trail through the woods.

And so it began..... The four most hell-ish hours of my life.

The train path was brutal. The who thing was poured rocks that were never walked on. It was extremely bumpy. Not just that, but it was 40ish degree angle downhill. THE ENTIRE TIME. We hiked down, down, down through tunnels and on tracks. The tunnels were so scary. They were complete darkness with no light at the end until you were at the end. My ankles were killing me but then my knees started to hurt. They were so painful that I could barely stand. We were moving downhill very slowly. Josh held my hand the whole way down for support in more ways than just one. He thought I had torn a tendon in my knee because the pain was so intense. The little people that live in my head woke up and gave me moral support all the way down. I felt like we were part of a super intense movie where the main character is dying and going crazy. After four hours, we made it to the station. We still were not home but we were in civilization. It was dark and had been for over an hour of our hike down. I collapsed on a bench in the station and cried from disbelief of being down. We had literally just hiked down an entire mountain. Our highest point was 2686 meters and we were now at ground level.

Remember that sock purchase? Saved my feet.

It took two more trains to get home but finally we were there. It was 11pm. I couldn't feel my legs. Josh was ok. He said he felt like he had gone through a tough gym day. We had walked over 50,000 steps and around 30 miles.....which is more miles than in a marathon. He is literally superman.

Today my legs were sore when we woke up. Hahahaha. Of course. We had to run to catch our train. My legs actually hate me. If they had the ability to separate from my body and leave me, they absolutely would. We made both trains to Zurich and then the train and bus to Egilswil to my family's home. We got to Susi and Urs's home and Susi was home to meet us! I love seeing my family! For dinner, everyone was home and we made pizzas. They are such a beautiful family inside and out and I'm so glad we are getting to see them on our trip! Tonight was lovely and we had such a good time.

Sleep is very needed so goodnight for now. Tomorrow we head to Zurich!

All the best,

Lilly

Day 24 & 25 - We Are The Alpine Inch Worms

lilly.hannele.brown@gmail.com

Blog

Day 24 & 25 - We Are The Alpine Inch Worms