The day started with the usual mad rush as we check the weather, make our final plans, check the bus or train schedules and find that if we hurry we can catch the next one. We grab Peter his daily Wifely (croissant) and walk up to get line for the bus. We find out it is a “tourist bus” which means and extra charge, its not covered on the Swiss Pass. We hurry into the station and purchase our ticket, and our ticket for the private bus from Schwartzwaldalp to Grosse Scheidegg.
We make the bus and take our usual spot in the very back of the bus. The ride up is, of course, astounding. Mountains, rocks and glaciers. The bus fills up with hikers, bikers, climbers and peak baggers. Then they start getting off at the glacier or favorite climbing spots or trails. We have just enough time to get kaffee and hot chocolate in Schwarzwaldalp before the next bus. There is a historic sawmill, but nobody is interested.
The bus climbs high into the alps to Grosse Scheidegg, the end of the line and we follow the Wanderweg signs for the Panoramaweg. For the next three or so hours we are surrounded by flowers of all colors, meadows and views across the valley towards Wellborn, Kleine Wellborn and Eiger. It's partly cloudy and perfect temperatures. No rain! As we hike old, limestone mountains rise to our right, and fall steeply away to our left to a valley far, far below. On the other side rise some of the jagged, glaciated and glacially worn mountains that make Switzerland famous. The trail is through never-ending pastures with two or three creeks running down and across the trail.
We find another idyllic spot for lunch, next to a creek. The Swiss not only tunnel into anything, they also love to build dams. On this tiny creek, hikers had built a tiny dam, over time. Peter and I substantially contribute and dub it Peter Lake and Schaffner Dam.
While we eat lunch, there is a sudden roar. Scanning the valley walls for avalanches we find a roaring waterfall, far in the distance, that wasn't there a few minutes earlier. Sure enough after 5 or so minutes, it stops, like somebody turned of a water faucet. There are other hikers within view, some of them saw it too and everybody is stunned and laughing.
We also noticed, like Dyan et. al., that the people timing the trails are moving along pretty fast, and they must not be admiring scenery or having bread, cheese or chocolate breaks. It takes us longer than expected, which we find is pretty usual. Amy and Peter are getting tired, and I am content with a such a nice long hike. Instead of making a final climb to First, we drop down to Schreckfeld. There we catch a very nice gondola “Firstbahnen” down to Bort and to Grindelwald. It’s pretty touristy and lots of people, but we find a great boot and shoe store with shoes for Peter, his first pocket knife (Swiss Army of course), and a great Leki walking stick for Amy. It even has Edelweiss designs on the shafts.
In Grindelwald, we grab a pastry and enjoy the sunny afternoon at the Bakarie. After beautiful ride to Interlaken on the special Golden Panorama and the milk run to Meiringen, and we are home!