Zermatt, part deux: Above the Treeline

awestuck. 

After a much-needed lunch, we headed back to the trail, feeling quite a bit fuller, sleepier, and altogether happier than before.

It wasn’t too long after we started hiking that the trail started to become a lot steeper. Golden trees gave way sharp rocks and boulders. Although the landscape was mostly grey and brown, the giant rocks and jagged mountains give it a strange, almost eerie, beauty. Still, I couldn’t help but imagine how gorgeous Zermatt must be in summertime, when the now-dull valleys would be lush and green. I generally don’t like to visit places more than once (there are too many new places to see!) but I think a summer trip to Zermatt would be well worth the time. 

re-fueled and ready to go!

...but not before taking some silly pictures with the iconic
swiss cow! sometimes it's fun to be a tourist. 

our wonderful group,  swiss cow, and the matterhorn in
the background.

brown fields, grey mountains, and the majestic matterhorn.

so happy to be spending time outdoors!

reflections in a glacial lake. 

resting on a rock, left to right: riikka, amy, lizzy, and me. 

almost at the top!

stopping to admire the enormous sheets of ice. 

giant glaciers, carving paths in the mountain. 

the matterhorn. 

ben, me, glaciers. 

there were so many black birds (crows?) circling the mountain!

3100 meter train station.

as fantastic as the hike up was, by the end of the day,
we were all ready to take the train down, warm up, and
rest.