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Stage 3 - Switzerland - Zermatt
I was almost tempted to wait a day for the wall to wall sunshine, just to compete the Lac Blanc hike, but the cable car needed to get to the first level had already gone on it’s late Summer break, in readiness for the upcoming ski season. So I continued to Switzerland.
My first task was to purchase a vignette (affectively a mandatory tourist road tax), all the tourist info, made it clear that one could be bought at customs…Not a soul there! I drove for an hour, before pulling in at a service station and getting one….cost about £36, for the year….fine about£140 in not having one. Phew, I could relax now!
So, Zermatt, here I come, and more specifically the iconic Matterhorn. However all the high peaks were immersed in cloud! That is 20 peaks over 4,000 metres 😳
Zermatt itself is car free, so I camped in the village down the valley, Tasch….and a nice campsite too (for ref: 27 Euro pn)….after setting up, I “tootled” up the bike track to check out Zermatt, sans helmet…but the tootle turned into quite a MTB challenge, even defeating me on a couple of the loose stoned ascents (ignominiously being passed by e bikes 😫)…
Zermatt was very….err…..Swiss….alpine village, but packed with tourists, watch and chocolate shops etc etc….all I was interested in, was whether the cloud would clear to see the Matterhorn.
And it did, and WOW! I find some natural features quite spiritual….but the best was to come, tomorrow was to be total sunshine!
And it was! But I awoke to ice all over the tent and car….but survived! Planned a quite well known walk after some research, The 5 Lakes (or Seenweg)….I was marching to catch the Zermatt train by 8.15am (thumbed a lift too), and from the station in Zermatt, set off to the start point of the hike.
MISTAKE! Later I discovered I could’ve got a ski lift to the start point, but instead struggled on a ridiculously steep climb through trees, for probably more than an hour….discovering that the route was a sort of endurance test path, with stages and minimum time limits…basically to assess fitness for climbing the Matterhorn. I’m not sure if I passed or failed!
Anyway, suffice to say…what enveloped was one of the most mesmeric hikes I have , or will ever have done….there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the Matterhorn stood out, as proud and as modest as could be, so iconic, and as I stated previously….something quite spiritual about it. I simply did not tire of looking at it….without the Matterhorn….the other peaks would have been sufficient, but the Matterhorn really does steal the show!
The hike passed 5 lakes (surprise surprise) with varying degrees of enhancement to the vista…see the classic reflection photo, and my favourite was the last lake….I chatted with a number of peeps on the hike, but specifically a couple from Southern California, Dave and Robin, older than me, but heck, Robin was fit! Used to live in Windsor and ran half marathons!
I knew now to take a vehicular back down to Zermatt, the Sunegga, an underground one…no wonder I missed it!
Wow what a day that was, I deserved a pint! Sadly googling, “pubs near me with football”, I found myself in the "Grizzly Bear"...and yes, the north London derby was in full swing….anyway several pints of Guinness later…great converse with the well travelled English barman, a couple from South Carolina (first time out of the States) and a craggy Latvian mountaineering guide (£1300 approx cost to be guided up the Matterhorn!)…anyway a good night was had, but it hadn't finished. The first restaurant I walked past was an Indian, I couldn't resist, even when a standard meal was at least 30 euros ! 😳
Catching the 2115 train, and with a walk to the campsite (I tried thumbing it again!)....another morning of ice, but by 10 I was off to stage 4 of the tour....Interlaken!
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