Kev's directions to Lac Bleu were straightforward and easy to follow. We took the footpath out of Arolla, up onto the west hillside and to the north. Sometimes we contoured, sometimes we gained elevation rather steeply on a path much rougher than we anticipated! Before long we were shedding raingear and the rain was stopping. In some places the route even had fixed chains to protect from the exposure - which wasn't bad in itself, but the trail was so rough and eroded that we found ourselves using the fixed chains to keep our footing. Up to this point we were hiking with Aussie Bill and the Brits. When we got to a point above Satarma, Cliff and John decided they'd had enough, this was too much work to get to a boring lake on what was supposed to be an easy day. They took the side trail down to Satarma. The rest of us continued to Lac Bleu which was only about 15 minutes away at that point. It was a pleasant little place, and the lake was incredibly blue. A pretty waterfall served as its inlet. Bill continued down to La Gouille, while Brian, Jason, and I took some pictures and watched a herd of cows approach us. They were the dairy cows from the little farm just down the hill. We had to take pictures quickly before they all went to the lake to drink and make a mess! As Jason and I were leaving, Brian sat to have his lunch - and a friendly dairy cow stopped right next to him to - er - leave a present. All three of us had to laugh in disgust!
We didn't stop at the dairy farm to get milk and cheese as Kev suggests; instead we headed downhill to La Gouille. The trail was rougher than we anticipated and quite steep! In La Gouille, we saw Cliff and John eating lunch (and enjoying beers!) at the small snack cafe. Jason and I couldn't resist a craving for french fries, so we ordered a plate. Somehow I got tea instead of french fries; I must have made a grave error in pronunciation!
From La Gouille, we walked down the road a short ways (you have to walk ON the narrow road, not a good feeling; if there's a walking path on the roadside, it's been washed away by erosion). To the right of the road, our path continued as a jeep track. It passed a cute white chapel and continued downhill to Les Hauderes - this part of the walk was very easy. We loved Les Hauderes, with the slate roofs and flower boxes galore. We initially took the wrong path out of town; we walked straight uphill from the town center toward La Forclaz, and realized our mistake when we came upon the paved road. We had to walk on the road to where our jeep track intersected it, and then head north to La Sage on that track. This was also an easy walk and it took us just 45 minutes to get to La Sage. We walked from 10am to 3pm - a five hour day. Aussie Bill was already at L'Ecureuil - we could see him on the balcony.
Dinner was fun, with all eleven of us sharing one table. I think we wore the poor waitress / proprietor out, especially since we all consumed a drink or two (or in Cliff and John's case, a drink or eight) that night! Brian rolled his eyes at his friends' drinking habits, but we soon learned that Cliff and John were superhuman in their ability to drink all night and get up the next day to walk. Dinner consisted of vegetable soup, beef (omelette for me), green beans, fries, and ice cream for dessert. We enjoyed the company of this group since tomorrow we'd be splitting up. Jason, Aussie Bill, and I would be going to the Cabane de Moiry, while everyone else had decided to do less elevation gain, going to the Barrage de Moiry instead. Some of us were planning to do Hotel Weisshorn and others were not. We hoped to meet up again in Zinal or Gruben.
September 10: La Sage - Cabane de Moiry
Breakfast was at 7am today. Our hosts had set out everything for us,
allowing us to serve ourselves; we had hot water and instant drinks, bread,
jam, and butter. We said goodbye to our friends and wondered if we'd
really meet up again.
Our biggest difficulty today was due to a complete lack of waymarks on our trail! This was the first time we had seen a route that wasn't waymarked at all; most are almost waymarked too much! The trail today was so steep that at times we just called it "stairmaster from Hell". The steepest section was from Le Tsate to Remointse du Tsate - seriously, no switchbacks at all and just heading straight uphill on a path that was slightly terraced. We had no navigational problems getting to Remointse du Tsate, as there were signposts and such on the way here. Above this point, there were no waymarks and a confusing braid of trails heading up the hillside, most of which did not exist on our map. We started following one faint cow trail which took us too far north; not wanting to waste energy by going back downhill and then up again, we looked for a way to contour south. By this time, mist was rising up out of the valleys and obscuring our view every so often. After wandering uphill for a time, we found a cow trail contouring south along the bowl. We followed it and ended up at the crucifix (actually, just a wooden cross) at the head of the stony basin, and we could fleetingly catch glimpses of the Col du Tsate.
It took us 3.5 hours to get to the Col du Tsate (7:45 to 11:15). Bill was lounging on top; there was mist on the Arolla side of the col, but it was clearing on the Moiry side and we could see a glacial lake below. Clouds formed and blew over the col; for a fleeting moment we could see the Weisshorn before it was obscured again. Bill informed us that the other fellow (who had just left) was climbing the peak just south of the col. He had come from Val de Moiry and was headed back that way. The interesting thing is that Bill told us this fellow was at least 75 years old! I hope we're that fit at 75.
As we headed down the col we could start to see "Parking du Glacier" below us and the magnificent Moiry Glacier at the head of the valley. Somehow we took a wrong turn and walked right through the thick of a muddy, messy, sloppy cow pasture. We were calf deep in cow pies and had to chat with the cows to get them to move out of our way. On this day I decided if I never walk through anothe cow pasture I'll be truly happy. Our pants, boots, and poles were just disgusting.
The buvette at Parking du Glacier was closed, but we had trail snacks. The restroom was open and there were a few cars where people had parked to go for a hike. We left Parking du Glacier at 12:30 (4:45 from the start of our day). The hike uphill and east from here was not too strenuous. We crested the lateral moraine and walked on its top for a stretch, then went down the other side and up on the valley wall. Only one or two sections were protected with fixed chains, and they were not terribly exposed. We could see the steep uphill stretch to the Cabane de Moiry, and were we dreading it!! The Cabane sits atop a bluff overlooking the Moiry Icefall. The bluff has thirty-some switchbacks zigzagging up, 500 meters vertical in a very short distance horizontal. Fortunately it's not as difficult as it looks at first; this may be the only place in Switzerland that has wonderful switchbacks. It's long and tiring, but not as steep or difficult as the climb to Col du Tsate. We came to a rock that had a message painted on it, in French, informing us that we had 17 more contours to go. We counted 19!
Dinner was soup, spaghetti (with cheese for me, Axel, and Stephanie - with meat for Jason and Bill), beans, and canned pears. It warmed up with all the bodies in the dining room for dinner, but afterward the hut cooled off in a hurry! We wore hats, gloves, and fleece in the dining room. The toilets and sinks were outside - no showers and no hot water. It would be a chilly matter to go outside and use the restroom in the middle of the night! We kept our headlamps handy and hoped we wouldn't have to go. The blankets in the dortoir were warm and heavy, and we had no trouble staying warm through the night.
September 11: Cabane de Moiry - Zinal
Yes, September 11 - this is the one year anniversary of that horrible day
in 2001. The hut guardians from last night had remembered and mentioned
it to us. We wondered what the day would bring, and if we'd even hear
anything about it.
Morning revealed a thin dusting of snow and ice, and we were completely fogged in. The toilets and sinks all had a coating of ice. We ate breakfast at 7:15 and were out the door by 8:10. The initial part of the trail was by far the worst. The first two contours down are a path of flat rocks, and with the coating of ice it was literally impossible to step on them; we had to step in between and use our poles as best as we could. This was the first day we really needed to wear our warm shirts, hats, and gloves to start out. As the path became more of a real trail it was much easier going. We still had to watch for stray patches of ice here and there. As we descended, the fog that surrounded us started to rise, making a low flat ceiling of clouds; right where the glacier was, a window of sun was shining on the ice. It was breathtaking.
We contoured past Parking du Glacier, then rose above Lac de Moiry - it was a deep, turquoise blue and we could see the barrage at the other end. This part of the trail was quite pretty, contouring over a meadow with red rocks sticking out. We took a quick break where the trail forked just above the barrage. A red fox appeared out of nowhere and wandered very close to us! We realized after a bit that he was licking his chops and waiting for a treat - obviously very habituated to humans, but extremely cute at the same time! We meandered up the easy track toward Col de Sorebois. We saw a couple of Chamois here grazing on the hillside.
The lack of rest days was starting to take a toll on me, and I found the climb up to Col de Sorebois very challenging. It really wasn't very steep or difficult; I was just exhausted. It alternated between gentle switchbacks and steep, loose grit. Toward the top, I was taking ten steps and then resting ten seconds. As we got to the top of Col de Sorebois, the clouds still had us socked in - but as we started to descend, they were starting to break up... and we got a wonderful view of the Weisshorn and Zinalrothorn. Awesome! This was well worth the climb! We also got a view into a different world than the wild valley we just came from; we were walking on a bulldozed ski piste. We ran across numerous walking parties, ascending to the col as a daytrip from the cablecar station. We continued down the ski piste until we arrived at the touristy Sorebois cabecar station.
For dinner, the three of us went to a pizza restaurant at the north end of town. We saw Axel and Stephanie briefly on the street, but then we never ran into each other again. Our other errands in Zinal consisted of getting more trail snacks at the Supermarche (two of these in town, plus an ATM!), using the internet station at Hotel le Trift, and getting reservations for Gruben the following night. We went to the Tourist Information office in Zinal to make the reservations. The clerk in the TI didn't speak English, but we were able to convey what we wanted, and she very graciously called the Hotel Schwarzhorn for us and got us three beds in the dortoir - all the rooms were taken! Interesting. We never did see our friends from earlier in the trek. We wondered if they'd be a day ahead of us or behind us from here on out.
September 12: Zinal - Gruben
Breakfast was at 7am and was one of the best we'd had so far! Cereal
with milk (were we ever craving that!!), pear tarts, bread and jam, orange
juice, applesauce, coffee and tea. Splendid. Our clothes were
still wet this morning, so we strapped some of it to the outside of our packs
so it could dry during the day. We set off about 7:50. Bill quickly
left Jason and me in the dust - either really fit, carrying a very light
pack, or a combination of both!
We followed Kev's directions easily out of Zinal and onto tracks leading us uphill and out of town to the northeast. It became quite steep for a while, and after a short time climbing my heels hurt too badly to take it anymore. I wasn't getting blisters, but instead rubbing the skin raw on my heels. I had been doctoring them with moleskin, and it just wasn't working anymore. Today I stopped on the trail to apply band-aids and duct tape. The skin was so tender that any pressure at all was hurting me. This could be a rough day. The weather was great, though, perfect temperature and a few clouds.
After the initial climb, the trail leveled out for a LONG way. We were now following the course of the Mountain Marathon that goes from Sierre to Zinal. We couldn't imagine running along this trail; the elevation gain would be tough, the terrain was quite rough underfoot, and to add insult to injury, we had to be very careful not to slip on cow patties. Nevertheless, the views were nice and we enjoyed the easy level stretch along the hillside. Some of the tundra plants were just starting to show their fall colors.
At the group of huts that Kev calls "Alpe Nava", there was a faded sign directing us to Forcletta. The trail was indeed faint in many places, but if we looked carefully we could see waymarks to follow. The trail became more well defined as we headed uphill. We marched across tundra for a ways past Tsahelet, then switchbacked up to the pass. The trail was nicely graded the whole way, and though we were tired and my heels still hurt, it wasn't an awful climb. We enjoyed the views about as much as we could from the top; for a few days we had been joking about our amazing ability to attract the mist and clouds as soon as we arrived on top of a pass! It happened on Col du Tsate, it happened on Sorebois, and it was happening here. Clouds were gathering around all of the peaks above our level, limiting what we could see... we could catch a few fleeting glimpses of some minor peaks, and the bottom of a few glaciers in the Turtmanntal - but nothing else, unfortunately. It was cold and windy here. We took shelter in some rocks and ate a snack as we watched the clouds gather even more - clearly, we weren't going to get a view from here. At about 12:15 we packed up and headed down. We weren't terribly disappointed; indeed, we couldn't have asked for better weather on the days we really needed it so far.
We followed farm roads down, leaving the farm roads when we saw yellow diamonds or white-red waymarks off to the side. Just before we got to treeline again, the trail forked - one way claiming to take 50 minutes to Gruben, the other way 1 hour, 20 minutes. Bill took the long way while Jason and I took the short way. The trail was actually quite easy and switchbacked; Jason and I remarked to each other that this seems to be the only place in Switzerland where they know how to grade a trail properly! Ha! We came down to a farm and met a very friendly German couple who walked with us into Gruben - they were on a walking holiday, just out for the day here. We met up with Bill again as we got close to town - and guess what! He'd met Bill and Erika coming down from the Meidpass as he descended! Our friends had caught up to us after all - the rest of the group was right behind them. We would all be together at Hotel Schwarzhorn in Gruben.
We arrived in Gruben about 2:45 - 7 hours for today. We checked into the Hotel Schwarzhorn, which was FULL - what a difference from the hotel in Zinal last night! Where did all these people come from? We counted one guided group of Americans, a group of about ten Swiss or German young people, but we were never sure who else was taking up space in the hotel that night. We ended up on the fourth floor (ask me how thrilled I was to be climbing stairs at that point!), in a crowded dormitory - mattresses on the floor with a narrow aisle in between. Still, we had a sunny window where we could lay out our still-wet clothes to dry out. The hotel also had a big industrial dryer which they allowed us to use, and five minutes in there dried off all the rest of our stuff. The mattresses were soft, and the folks sharing our room swore that they didn't snore. Great!
We sat around outside and waited for the rest of our friends to arrive. One by one, we reunited with Bill and Erika, Andrew, Cliff, John, Brian, Peter, and Holly. Everybody else had stayed at the Barrage de Moiry while we were at the Cabane, and then they hiked over Sorebois and all the way to Hotel Weisshorn last night while we were in Zinal. Tonight we were all together again. Cliff and John had spent more at the Hotel Weisshorn on alcohol than they did on the rooms (quite a feat, from what I understand). John had accidentally taken his key from the hotel and didn't know how to return it! In spite of their evening of partying last night, Cliff and John started right in on beers as they arrived at Hotel Schwarzhorn. We laughed and had a great time.
We all sat together for dinner - spaghetti for me, chicken and rice for everyone else. We also got soup and ice cream. Most enjoyable was the company - we had a blast. The dining room was quite nice at Hotel Schwarzhorn. Outside, we could see a quarter-moon setting over one of the peaks in the Turtmanntal... awe inspiring. We slept well that night, in spite of the fact that one of our dorm-mates lied about his snoring!
September 13: Gruben - Gasenreid
Today we would cross our final pass of the walk! The Schwarzhorn had
a nice continental breakfast buffet; after breakfast we left about 8:10.
The climb to Augstbordpass started right behind the hotel, where we followed
a path uphill following the guided group of Americans. My heels were
hurting badly again, but today I'd used "Second Skin" which was helping tremendously.
The path was steep but not rough, and we followed it easily up to treeline
and beyond. As we got to treeline, Andrew caught up to us and we walked
with him the rest of the way to the pass. There was a small farm in
the grassy / stony basin below the pass, with cows everywhere. Andrew
couldn't resist petting one, and he made a friend that tried to follow him!
He complained, but we teased him about getting what he deserved for giving
the cow attention!
We also caught up to Bill and Erika. We marched right up to the rocky headwall and started switchbacking up the final ascent to Augstbordpass. Here in the shade, the rocks had become quite icy overnight and they hadn't melted yet! It was really treacherous and we had to step in between rocks instead of on them. We went through one bouldery section that took much longer than it would have because of the ice. Past this point, the trail was really quite easy and we made it to Augstbordpass at around 11:20 - three hours, not bad. The weather was absolutely perfect, few clouds, no wind, and lots of sun. We stayed on top for a half hour and ate lunch. As soon as we sat down, Aussie Bill came down from the north. He'd taken Kev's suggestion to climb the Schwarzhorn while he was here - he said the views were fantastic, but if he never saw another boulderfield, that would be fine with him. He sat with us, Andrew, and Bill and Erika to eat lunch and relax a bit. Erika got the idea that we should all meet in Zermatt on Sunday night at a little place called Cafe Fuchs. We agreed to meet there at 7pm two days hence and have a celebratory dinner together.
The walk down into Jungu was quite easy. From Jungu to St. Niklaus the trail went on for what seemed like forever. We did a little steep descending and a lot of contouring around the very steep valley wall, contouring what seemed like too far to the south. We crossed a bridge and continued straight along a rocky face for a long time, stopping every so often to admire the work that had to go into building Stations of the Cross along this path. Finally we entered meadows and the trail took us directly to the cablecar station and then the rail station. Here we reunited with Aussie Bill; we went to the little cafe next to the train station to plan our next move. We got here about 3:30pm, roughly 7 1/2 hours today.
The TI office helped us out and sure enough, Hotel Alpenrosli was not full! Looked like we were walkin'. We found Europaweg maps in the TI office; our topo maps did not have the Europaweg marked on them, since the trail is too new. We bought the map, happy to find it here. The clerk in the TI office also told us an important tidbit of information. There was a landslide on the Europaweg between the Europa Hut and Zermatt... just a short ways past the hut. The detour around the landslide would add an hour and a half to our final day. We decided we'd survey the situation when we got there, and either take the detour or just walk on a trail down to Randa and then follow the valley to Zermatt.
We grabbed Bill and got our packs, and at 4:50pm the three of us set out on foot for Gasenreid. Probably the most masochistic thing I've ever done. We really needed a rest day, we'd had four difficult days in a row, and yet we were going to push ourselves to the very limit of our endurance. We walked through St. Niklaus, on a bridge over the river, through the little town on the other side, and then uphill to Wichul. We walked through Wichul, out onto a grass footpath, and straight uphill. We passed a chicken coop, over a fence, and hit the road once. Climbed even more steeply uphill; after a while we came onto the road again, where we had to walk on it for a while (I've grown very averse to walking on roads!!) and then continue uphill after a hairpin bend. We passed a goat farm and came to Gasenreid in short order. We were hot and it was humid; I've never been that sweaty before. I don't think we realized that Gasenreid actually begins about 60 meters below where the hotel is! Even after arriving in town, we had to hunker down and push uphill on the steep streets. A kindly gardener was pushing a motorized wheelbarrow full of potatoes up the hill ahead of us. He offered to carry us or our packs on his wheelbarrow! We had to laugh at the thought; we walked all the way from Chamonix to Zermatt, yes sir, except for this small stretch where we rode on a wheelbarrow full of potatoes! We politely turned him down and struggled uphill to Hotel Alpenrosli.
We barely made it in time to go to the epicerie across the street and stock up on snacks. We'd given up on anything fancy at this point, and stocked up on the simple energy foods; candy bars, gummy bears, and cookies. It was 6:10 when we arrived in Gasenreid - it had indeed taken us about 1 1/2 hours. Holy smokes were we exhausted! The hotel was very nice, one of the nicest we've stayed in so far. We had a private bath and a spacious, warmly decorated room. We had a television and a balcony! Dinner was at 7pm, and I ate everything offered to me and was still a little hungry! Vegetable soup, salad and kraut, fried egg with macaroni and spinach, and chocolate pudding.
We slept like logs that night. What a day. We had wonderful weather today and a clear night ahead of us; we hoped tomorrow would be nice weather - we would be exposed to the elements almost all day.
September 14: Gasenreid - Europa Hut
We got a late start today, 8am for breakast - we needed the extra rest!!
At the hotel we met three fellows from Great Britain who were also planning
to walk the Europaweg - Colin, Toby, and Roger. We'd see them a few
times today. The hotel cost us about 70 Swiss Francs per person, which
we considered not too bad for such a nice place and two big meals.
We left about 9:10am, walking very stiffly from the punishment we put our bodies through yesterday! It was unfortunately very foggy when we started... we could barely see fifty feet ahead of us. I can't even describe the suffering of the first climb of the Europaweg. After we followed the path level out of Gasenreid, it went brutally uphill for 600 meters. It was hot, we were sweaty, every muscle in our bodies ached, and our packs never felt heavier. We took a lot of breaks to drink water, shed layers, and complain. We didn't expect it to be this steep!! After about 2 sweaty hours we reached the viewpoint at Grat and also broke above the level of the fog. This was a tremendous place, a rocky outcrop with an outstanding view of the Bernese Alps, the Weisshorn, and in the distance, just peeking over the morning fog in the valley, the little jester's cap shape of the Matterhorn.
But we weren't done climbing. We continued hoofing uphill to the St. Bernard statue (the person, not the dog) where we ate a snack and felt a lot better after a break. We met up with Roger, Toby, and Colin again, as they passed us while we were snacking. Bill of course had left us in the dust long ago!
We crossed one rocky combe that was bouldery but not too bad, then negotiated our way to the Grosse Grabe. A sign warned us of rockfall and to "Cross the Danger Area Quickly". Nervously, we moved as fast as we could while still walking with care. Everything seemed to be fairly stable today, but I wouldn't want to be here after a big rain or during a freeze / thaw cycle. After getting through the "danger area", we had to climb / scramble over some big boulders with so many waymarks it was almost obnoxious. It was slow going but not too bad. Roger, Colin, and Toby were having their lunch in this area.
We followed the contouring trail through a few more fixed rope sections (the exposure really wasn't too bad here, this was much easier than the accursed walkway). We could see the big Randa rockslide really well from here, and it was massive. Our final obstacle before getting to the Europa Hut was a suspension bridge under the Hobarg Glacier. The glacier hung right overhead, massive ice blocks perched on the edge of a cliff. It was an awesome sight, and though we really didn't think we were in danger of getting hit by iceblocks, we hurried. We crossed the suspension bridge one at a time - it SWUNG! That took us off guard. I had to walk very delicately to keep from feeling like I was going to get dumped into the ravine.
We got two bunks in a nine-bunk room that night; it was a Saturday and all the beds in the Europa Hut would fill tonight! The hut even kept many mattresses to sleep extra folks on the floor, and all of those would be taken. The hut had only two toilet stalls and one shower room with a sink; the showers cost money again; Jason and I opted out for tonight. We sat around on the balcony, socializing with Aussie Bill (who didn't get a reservation, but did manage to get a mattress on the floor), Toby, Roger, and Colin. Roger kindly gave me a big band-aid for my heels the next day, and it worked so well I had adhesive residue on my heels for weeks after I got back from Europe! Bill pointed out the questionable landslide area - we could see it from here! It was just across a combe from us; we could see rubble covering the entrance to an avalanche shed. Bill said "but I have good news. I've been watching people walk right across that area all afternoon. Nobody is taking the detour, and there haven't been any problems." Interesting. I guess we'd decide what to do tomorrow. We had some fun watching a helicopter pick a couple of people up, and take them down to the valley floor. When the helicopter left, it lifted up for just a moment and then nosedived straight down into the valley! It must have been an exciting ride.
At dinner we met Mark and Lynne from Great Britain; they were walking the WHR, and actually took a whole day (smart move) to walk from St. Niklaus to Gasenreid. So they were a day ahead of us up until that point. They had gotten engaged in Arolla! We were thrilled for them and enjoyed their company; very nice folk. Dinner was chicken curry (vegetable curry for me), fruit, onion soup, and chocolate pudding. We went to sleep almost immediately after dinner; I was just exhausted. I slept so soundly that in the middle of the night, one of our roommates dropped his inhaler on me from the second bunk; he searched for it with his headlamp, found it, removed it from my head - and I never even stirred.
September 15: Europa Hut - Zermatt
Our last day of the trek! We woke up to clear, calm skies - it would
be a beautiful day for a walk, and it would turn out to be the most glorious
day of weather we'd had on the entire trek. What a way to finish!
We woke up at 6:30am and soon the hut was buzzing with activity. Everywhere in the hut it was crowded... bedrooms, bathrooms, hallways, and certainly the dining room. Once we could make our way to the little breakfast buffet, we helped ourselves to muesli, milk, bread, cheese, jam, and coffee. This was a fairly expensive place, about 65 Swiss Francs for the demi-pension... almost what we paid at the hotel the night before. But not exorbitant when you consider that there are no roads here and everything must be helicoptered up!
We left at 8:10am among a big crowd of people. Almost immediately we came to the rockslide area where the trail was roped off and marked as closed. We watched the entire group ahead of us step over the ropes, and although it's poor logic to use this as a reason to step into danger, we did it too. We first had to walk behind a waterfall (where we did get a bit wet). We turned a corner, crossed a small ravine, and then saw the big problem. It was a small landslide, but it had obliterated the trail and covered the entrance to an avalanche shed (looks like they should have extended the shed back a bit!!). On the map, the landslide is near spot elevation 2298 and "Gruengarten". A group of about fifteen Swiss walkers was right behind us. They were following Jason too closely; the guy immediately behind Jason was actually planting his trekking poles right next to Jason's feet! So we decided to step aside and let the group by. However, when about 8 of them had passed, the remaining 7 decided to stop and adjust some layers - so we fell into line there. When we came to the landslide, people started crossing. It involved stepping carefully on the loose boulders and mud, up and over a few large rocks, and then squeezing into the avalanche shed through the side. No one was leaving enough room between people... it made me nervous to see four or five people at a time stepping onto the unstable terrain. We left some room and started to cross, when a girl in front of us wearing a long skirt decided she didn't have enough mobility with the skirt on - so she stopped right in the middle of the landslide to change out of her skirt. Jason and I looked around and fretted about what a horrible place this was to just be standing around waiting. We would have turned around and waited back a bit, but now the seven people behind us caught up and actually started passing us on the narrow "trail" leading through the landslide debris! If we could just speak German (or did these folk speak French? We may never know). With this many people standing on the slide, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Finally the girl with the skirt finished what she was doing and continued, and we could move on - now in a very big group with people following us too close for comfort. In retrospect we should have just waited 20 minutes for this group to cross and then we could have moved in greater safety.
We followed the trail around a spur where we got our first view of the Matterhorn today! Next we followed some fixed-rope sections which were still not terribly nerve-wracking, but more exposed than anything we had seen on the walk so far. We went through the tunnel into the Wildikin combe, and my little LED headlamp really didn't shed enough light for us to see. If I kept my light on the rope handrails we did all right. Most people went through without headlamps, and you didn't really need them - the footing was even and you could use the handrail.
After exiting the tunnel, signs warned us of another rockfall danger area. We passed this and then crossed the steel footbridge (much nicer than the swing bridge and the wooden walkway from yesterday!), and worked our way out of the combe. This walk was nice and level; we enjoyed it. Once out of the Wildikin combe, we stopped at a picnic bench with a very nice view of the Matterhorn for a little snack. Next, we had to descend a LOT, switchbacking down the hillside, to go under an avalanche shed. This one is a very impressive defense system. We had a concrete lip and some iron tunnels to walk through, and below us some manmade moraines had been built to divert avalanche flows into a safe area. A descriptive sign showed us the proper way to walk under the concrete lip! Along this slope, out of the trees and high above the valley, we got some fantastic views of the Matterhorn and now we could also see Zermatt.
Out of the avalanche defense system, we now had to regain the elevation we lost - so we climbed up the hillside, sometimes steeply. We rounded the corner and started into the Taschbach valley. The walk to Taschalp down this valley was easy and level. We walked through the little village up the road, and shortly left it for the continuing trail heading round the other side of the valley. This was a beautiful little village in a fantastic location. We passed our big group of Swiss friends who had stressed us out so much while crossing the landslide area! They were scattered about the hillside, basking and snacking. We had to admit, it was a beautiful day for that.
We had to go uphill just a short distance, and then came to our favorite part of the Europaweg, hands-down. For many kilometers we walked on a level trail through pretty green meadows, with an ever more impressive view of Monte Rosa, Zermatt, and of course the Matterhorn. We made very fast progress south along this trail and loved every minute of it. The weather was so great! Before too long we started passing groups of people out for day walks, and we knew we were getting closer to civilization. In due time we came to Tufteren. Here, there's a trail that heads downhill to Zermatt in just 50 minutes! But did we take it? Noooo - we followed Kev's suggestion that the 'right' way to finish the WHR was to continue on to Findeln. Maybe we should have taken the shorter route, as we were exhausted and just so ready to be done with this walk! But, the Findeln route was beautiful and we had to admit it was a pretty finish.
We walked into Winkelmatten, and had lots of trouble finding the church that Kev told us is the place to turn. We walked generally downhill, confused about where Winkelmatten ended and Zermatt began. We passed the YHA hostel and knew we had to be close. After a little more downhill, we stood for a minute scratching our heads, and Jason pointed - he could see our hostel! The Matterhorn Hostel was just ahead. We practically ran there, marched up to the front doorstep, and... closed!! Wouldn't open again until 4:00pm, and it was 3:30 now. Doh! Disgruntled, we kept our packs on and walked downhill to the first restaurant we could find, and there we found our friends Lynne and Mark from the Europa Hut. They were also booked in the Matterhorn Hostel and were waiting for it to open! We had drinks with them and toasted our success on the trek. We really did it!
Finally we were able to check in, shower, call our parents from the Swisscom payphone (just use your credit card; it's not expensive), and wander around Zermatt a bit. We couldn't resist getting some crepes even though we knew we'd be eating dinner soon. We asked the Tourist Information office where we could find Cafe Fuchs, and of course it was closed! But our friends had shown up anyway at 7pm! All of us were together again - Bill and Erika, Aussie Bill, the Brits, Peter, Holly, Andrew, Jason, and me. We walked into town and ended up at Hotel Derby, where they treated us very well and we ate like pigs. We exchanged stories - Jason, Aussie Bill, and I had Europaweg tales, and everyone else had stories about sightseeing in and around Zermatt. We all exchanged what our most favorite - and least favorite! - parts of the trek were. It was a great finish to a truly great trek.
We all exchanged hugs and e-mail addresses, and bid each other farewell. I think the thing we'll remember most about the trek is the friends we met along the way.
From left to right: Erika, Bill, John, Cliff, Peter, Holly, Brian, "Aussie"
Bill, Jason, Dawn, Andrew.