mountains & medicine.: (Almost) Scaling Schilthorn

My last month in Switzerland-- June-- was pretty hectic. Ben and I were both zipping around finishing up projects, spending time with friends, and trying squeeze as much out of our Swiss adventure as possible.

This included, among other things, one last trip to Lauterbrunnen Valley.

I know. It's ridiculous. Throughout the past year, Ben and I made six trips to the Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen area (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here). While it's certainly beautiful, and easily one of my all-time favorite places, it was definitely a place we had seen and explored, and there were many areas in Switzerland which we had not.

So why did we go back?

Schilthorn.

Schilthorn, the Piz Gloria, a 2,970 meter mountain in the Alps, with breath-taking views reaching from the Black Forest of Germany in the north to France's Mount Blanc in the south.

Naturally, we had to climb it.

We started off already well-above the valley, and spent the night in the beautifully rustic Mountain Hostel.

the mountain hostel!

unfortunately, the lovely hostel was plagued with some local wildlife:
there were SO many flies!

The next morning, we were off!

normal people take the gondola to the top. we hike 2000 vertical meters.
totally the better choice.

despite being mid-june, it was definitely pretty chilly.

more local wildlife :)

looking down on the outskirts of murren below.

...and even more local wildlife!

The first six hours or so were absolutely gorgeous. Green hills, icy streams, and snow-capped mountains, all blanketed in a cool, almost other-worldly mist. We even saw a group of ibex! The trail was steep, but the scenery was spectacular.

hi, ben!
this certainly gives you a sense of the scale of our landscape!

mountains, mist, me.

ibex on the horizon!

river snaking through the hills

more ibex! my camera is on super-super-super zoom, hence the blurriness.

And then, we saw snow.

At first, it was almost amusing-- hey look! It's mid-June and there's still a bit of snow! We're really in the mountains! But then there was more snow. And more snow. And even more snow. The beautiful mist turned into an icy rain, and I soon found myself hiking in knee-deep snow drifts, absolutely freezing. By the time we decided to finally call it quits, we were a mere 200 meters from the peak-- but, given the snow, had absolutely no idea where the trail to the top actually was. While it was certainly a bit disheartening-- we were so close!--it was still a wonderful, albeit cold, hike.

first sign of snow! please note the hat (protection from icy rain, not sunshine),
and the knee-length legging (not exactly weather appropriate). yikes.