Although we stayed in
Kandersteg for our untour, we had planned to head for Zermatt if we got some
clear dry weather. We knew where we wanted to stay and verified that we could
go on short notice. The Matterhorn is
shrouded in cloudy or stormy weather, but we got two weeks of clear, hot
weather. With such a guarantee of
weather, we headed to Zermatt for a couple of nights, taking the train from
Kandersteg, to Brig, Brig to Zermatt.
After lunch, we took the
short walk through town to the Alpen-Metro Sunnegga, a high speed underground
funnicular to Sunnegga from Zermatt.
The views of the Matterhorn were fabulous, in the hot clear
weather. I was left by the others to
hike down to Zermatt on this beautiful sunny day with the Matterhorn in view
the entire way.
The first part of the path
was a walking and farm path, with only walkers and bicycles, and there were not
so many of those. The sun was warm, the
grass green and the flowers bright. As
the path progressed fewer people were walking, but I came to a Gasthaus with
restaurant that was very busy serving cool drinks on the deck. They had semi reclined lounges under
umbrellas with a drink bar, viewing the mountain. “Weiswein, bitte, zwei deci's”.
After refreshing myself,
heading on down the valley, the path turned to a footpath, finally a
trail. Here I saw only two people for
the next two hours, as the trail made broad switchbacks across the valley
slope, still the mountain in view. Mid
afternoon the mountain began to make its own weather on top, the top with its
own cap of clouds. True to Swiss
nature, the trail was complete with a tunnel blasted through rock, a Swiss
Cross painted on a rock by a stream and periodic benches oriented to view the
Matterhorn. By late afternoon the trail
entered dense conifer and mixed hardwood forest, with frequent streams coming
down, fed by the snowfields far above.
Above Zermatt the trail flattened at a high plateau and opened into a
broad meadow, and to a view directly above Zermatt. A Cross was placed on the
edge of the trail. It was over Zermatt with the Matterhorn in the
background. The trail then dove quickly
down to the edge of Zermatt and emptied onto the small side streets housing
numerous Chalets and Hostels for the skiing tourists, finally into the
village. After a dip in the hotel pool,
dinner Zermatt style (with a creepy waiter), and an awesome sunset view of the
Matterhorn we collapsed.
Photos, Sunnegga
to Zermatt with Matterhorn Views