Lauterbrunnen - Day 32

This morning we get up and it is extremely overcast again. We have decided to leave the big ticket items, the Jungfraujoch (the Eiger mountain area), the Scilthorn (The 007 James Bond Mountain) and the Lake Breinz boat cruise for Wednesday and Thursday because it would be pointless doing them with this amount of cloud around. We are hoping the weather forecasters have got it right when they suggest the next 2 days may be fine. So with this in mind we decide to do a hike to the Trummelbach falls. This involves a walk along the Lauterbrunnen Valley following the river to the falls. The track is stunning and it makes for a fantastic walk. The one thing that Switzerland does well is its signage. They have so many walking trails, most of them in the mountains and in the middle of nowhere, but there will always be a post with half a dozen signs on it telling you exactly where to go and approximately how long it will take to get there in walking time. This is great, but they are not much good if you don’t read them which is exactly what happened to us. Instead of following the track we ended up on the main road through the valley with buses and heavy vehicles passing and the fence line ran about a foot from the road on both sides. Apart from a couple of close calls we made it to the falls in one piece. The Trummelbach Falls are a glacier waterfall inside the mountain and the only waterfall inside a mountain that is accessible in Europe. They basically drain the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains, three of the largest mountains in the Jungfrau area. When we enter you have an option of taking steps up to the falls or taking the tunnel lift. We opted for the tunnel lift. 20,000 litres of water per second flows through the falls and to see it is amazing. There are tunnels all over the joint that allow you access to all different areas of the falls and it was a really amazing experience. Kris and Tyler chose to take the lift down while Mia and I decided to walk the stairs. By the time we got out the rain had set in but with our new rain jackets we were sweet and the walk back was made easier due to the fact we read the signs a little better than on the way in. When we got back we had a quick bite to eat and headed back out to do the same journey as yesterday, up to Mannlichen and over to Grinderwald but this time we wanted to go further and go to First a mountain that stood 7112ft high and accessible by cable car. When we get there it has fined up a bit but there is still clouds low enough that we think will ruin our trip. So off we go again in our 6 seater cable car and ascend into the clouds....again. The clouds are so thick up here all I can see is Kris and the kids! We can’t see the cable car in front of us or behind us and it is quite eerie. The cable car takes about half an hour and continues to rise but when we hit the top the cloud has not budged. It is really disappointing that all we see is....well, whatever is 2 foot in front of us and we have to turn around and go back. When we get back to Grinderwald we have missed the last cable car home so we have to take the same route as yesterday which is via Klein Scheidegg on the cog wheel train. By the time we pull into Lauterbrunnen train station it is 6:25 and the Coop supermarket shuts at 6:30. We make a mad dash and get there just before it closes and by so food for dinner. The kids are putting on another Master Chef for us tonight so we stock up and head back to the apartment.

Hiking to the Trummelbach Falls

 

Some of the scenery along the way

Hiking back from the Trummelbach Falls

Yep.....that sign was pretty clear!

 

The view across to the Mannlichen cable car station

I think my snoring has got out of control and Kristine is making a decision....

The kids having a play up at Mannlichen

The cable car down to Grinderwald

 

The train coming back down the mountain into Wengen

Mmmmm, an M&T special.