Mürren - Schilthorn

Got up this morning and checked the weather forecasts, as all good mountaineers do. I say "forecasts", plural, because we checked Mürren, Wengen (similar altitude, opposite side of the valley), Lauterbrunnen (valley floor), Schilthorn (above us), Männlichen (similar altitude to Schilthorn, opposite side of the valley) and the Jungfraujoch (the highest train station in Europe, across from both Schilthorn and Männlichen). The mountains had forecast clear skies until 2pm; the lower towns were all cloudy at 8am (just had to look out the window to confirm this!) but were all clear around 11am, with the cloud rolling in again later. Yes - the forecasts are that detailed, and so far have been pretty accurate. We decided to head up the the Schilthorn pronto. It's one of the smaller peaks at 2970 metres, but it's reputed to have the best 360 degree panorama. It's also where they filmed "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" back in 1969. (Phil wanted me to call this post "Bond - Phil Bond". I told him no.)

We walked up the 186 steps to the gondola station and caught the 9.10am gondola.

Heading upward through the cloud from Mürren (altitude 1638m) to Birg (2677m); the 50-odd people on the gondola simultaneously "oohed", "aahed" and "wowed" when we broke through the clouds and had fantastic visibility of mountain tops. There was even some applause!

We changed gondolas for the final leg to the Schilthorn (2970m). "Horn" means "peak" in German. Out we hopped to wander around the viewing platform, which was circular and on a lower level than the revolving restaurant, Piz Gloria (pronounced pits). Although the peaks were clear and sunny, the valleys were filled with cloud.

Phil, as a James Bond fan, wanted shots of some of the Bondy bits.

The temperature was 1 degree, but it felt much warmer, especially in the sun. And yes - we remembered the sunscreen! There was plenty of snow around, too. (So much, in fact, that most of the hikes above 2000m are closed due to snow, which is not normally the case in June.)

There was plenty of snow to eat, as well.

This photo shows the three main peaks in this part of the world: the Eiger (3970m), the Mönch (4107m) and the Jungfrau (4158m). (The Ogre, the Monk and the Maiden).

We went and sat in the restaurant for a full rotation, which took about half an hour. The cloud was gradually lifting and we were seeing more and more of the valleys.

There were icicles, too!

Back outside for some clear valley views. The first shot shows the Thunersee. We couldn't see any mountains at all from the Thunersee, but this photo proves that they were there!

And a photo of an Alpine Chough. Pink legs, yellow beak, nice background.

We could even see the tennis courts down in Mürren! Although that was about all we could see of Mürren. (It's the tiny red spot in the exact centre of the picture.)

As the day wore on, the cloud started coming in down lower, so we thought we'd head down to Birg so we could see Mürren. By the time the gondola got to Birg, the station was enveloped in cloud.

We hung around for a while, hoping it would clear enough to get some good views of Mürren. And sure enough, the cloud lifted. And came back. And lifted again. You get the picture. Note the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau.

Phil went down from Birg to Mürren after 15 minutes; Caelli and I stayed a bit longer while there was sun on the viewing platform. This is the gondola that Phil's riding down.

And a shot looking down towards Mürren from the gondola.

Phil went out to the tennis courts to get some photos looking up to Birg. You can't see the Schilthorn in this photo.

After a late lunch at the apartment, we all rested. I sat outside in a chair in the sun, looking at mountains. It was 9 degrees but felt much warmer. Later, Phil and I headed off to Gimmelwald again. I took lots of flower photos. We explored Gimmelwald, which didn't take very long as it's pretty small - about 100 residents. Caelli made her way down to meet us at the gondola, and we rode up to Mürren again.

This photo is looking up at Mürren from Gimmelwald. You can see a few houses on the cliff.

As I'm trying to put this latest post together, Phil's sitting on the couch watching "Short Circuit" with German dubbing. It's actually pretty good! This blog is taking far too long!!