2nd Day at Lauterbrunnen

Breakfast view from hotel Staubbach

After a good breakfast, we headed out immediately to our planned hike. The wet weather and disheartening weather reports required us to start our day early. We took the train to Wengen which was another scenic ride with views of mountains, cliffs and waterfalls.

We then took a gondola ride up to Mannlichen and the view of the town of Wengen was lovely. The ride up to the cliff-face offered a very pretty sight markedly improved by the dampness of the morning and the showers the night before. The air was crisp and the morning freshness truly perked up the spirit. The ride up the gondola took us through the low hanging clouds that peppered the landscape. Visibility was crystal clear except when the clouds got blown our way.

Upon reaching the top at Mannlichen, we had a glimpse of the beautiful Bernese Alps.

However, within minutes, the clouds moved in and the window of opportunity for great shots of the valleys below and the peaks above became very limited. Within minutes, the clouds moved in and we were shrouded in thick fog. Visibility was reduced to about 10m. The very light rain made our fleece and the windbreaker insufficient. Out came the ponchos, which came in very handy indeed for this and subsequent hikes.

The trail we took was the Mannlichen - Kleine Scheidegg trail which is an easy 80min trail stretching over 5km with a difference in altitude of 126m ascent and 284m descent. Such published information made trail-selection much easier as we could decide on the trials appropriately matched to ability and endurance level. The panoramic view of the beautiful Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, as well as Grinderwald, Grosse Scheidegg and the Wetterhorn was the reward for the energy put into the walk. The possibility of seeing animals along the way would be a real treat - marmots and chamois. The trails took us through ice-fields, much floral varieties and, where the clouds were kind enough we could see the world around us. The shroud of clouds only offered pockets of teasers of what a clear day would bring - truly awe-inspiring. Towards the end of the trail as we approached the view-station of the Eiger, the skies cleared and the hidden beauties of the glaciers and the snow-capped peaks were revealed. The hunger for the beauty of the hike was only partially satisfied. The cloudiness and the dense fog along the trail only offered us little bites of the real beauty and left a much to the imagination.

By the time we headed back to Lauterbrunnen on the slow scenic ride on the train, we were hungry for lunch. We headed to the restaurant at Hotel Oberland. Known for their friendly service and good food, we were not disappointed. The chirpy Polish-Spanish waitress was extremely friendly and welcoming. We had a small meal of a pizza and delicious vegetable soup with some bread, dipped into an interesting spicy sunflower oil, spiced up with a range of herbs soaked in the bottle. Wonderful meal, topped up with a half-pint of the local draft.

After lunch and due to the heavy rain, nothing else could be done except to blog and publish the pictures on the web-albums.

When the skies cleared in the later part of the evening, we headed for the Staubbach falls. The magnificence of the majestic high free-falling waters beckoned every moment we laid eyes on it. It took us only a couple of minutes from the hotel to the foot of the falls. We were enticed to follow the trail to the foot of the falls. The sight of people going up there with their brollies alerted us to being prepared. Stowing away our camera into the weather-proof bag, we donned our ponchos and headed up the steep climb along the path. As we approached the base of the fall, the feeling was like we were in a very misty spray of light rain coming in all directions. As we walked through the tunnel under the waterfall, we could hear the roar of the falling waters and the 'light rain' became heavier as thirty tons of water fall every minute over a height of 400m splashing onto the bare rocks below. We went into the walkway behind the wall of falling water. Our ponchos were ineffective against the energy of the splashing waters. Water came from everywhere, as if we were in a hurricane, pounding loudly and blasting our bodies with jet-sprays of water.

Being unprepared, we dared not venture further. We surrendered and turned back to the safety of our hotel room nearby.