Thursday, August 4th- Hike to Chilchbalm

Walter’s assistant, Tim, treated us to a nice breakfast in the early morning, complete with videos, and Google Earth instructions on where the best hikes were in the area.  We chose a hike based on Tim’s recommendation, and it turned out to be one of the best, most scenic treks that we have ever taken together.  Maybe even better than some of our hikes in the Rockies! 

The first half of our hike to Chilchbalm:

Two lonely backpacks in paradise:

Chris on the trail:

Shirtless old man wandering along a river:

Street sign marking the trails:

The trail narrows and goes through the meadow shortly before Chilchbalm:

The hike took us from Gimmelwald down a trail that followed a gushing white water mountain stream, and terminated in a bowl (named Chilchbalm) surrounded by huge mountains with a half dozen waterfalls.  The hike was about 3 hours total.

The end of the trail- at Chilchbalm:

Rock painted to show arrival at Chilchbalm, 1,631 meters elevation:

The cairn Alan built:

 Here are a few short videos that add sound to the beauty of the area:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUJQj0x_rJ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpWgTeYaqBI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZrp8ir95ro

In the afternoon, we took a gondola ride up to Murren, where we enjoyed a coffee and milkshake at the Bellevue Hotel terrace restaurant, and soaked in all the scenery and ambience of the mountains that we could. After all, it was our last full day here in the Alps. Hopefully the pictures will capture the beauty.

Gondola station at Gimmelwald:

We ended our day with pizza from the Hostel down the lane.  Met a nice young man from Alaska who was taking 5 days to hike the Alps before he returned home, and an older lady from Ohio who was also staying at the Hostel.  Our uphill walk back to "Walter's" was strenuous as we treated ourselves to a rum and coke at the Hostel.  Probably not a good idea with the steep walk back.  We made one small stop on the hike uphill (there happened to be a bench, thank goodness) and enjoyed our last view of this magnificent setting.  It's raining here now-which will make it easier to leave, but I doubt we will ever find anything close to this in magnificence and beauty, even in America.  Feeling blessed for the experience, but ready for home now.