The morning begins like the Evening endedwith thick clouds of fog. Visibility into the Valais? Not a chance. A glance at our weather app shows a tiny hint of sunshine in Valais. You take what you can get, and there's still the matter of hope to prove.
So we roll out of the soup on the pass down into Valais. The clouds play mystically around the fir trees and the lower we get, the less visible we are. At some point we think in parallel: the drizzle could stop and we'd like to see the suspension bridge (Hängebrigga). As soon as we finish thinking, the sky clears, the car park approaches and we walk across the suspension bridge in bright sunshine. If that's not good planning.
After a cosy round (and an espresso, what else?) in the mountain village of Ernen, we sit happily and sun-kissed in our Felix. Oh yes, we could switch off the heating - even without it, our mobile home is turning into a sauna again.
But where to? Further towards Riederalp and the Aletsch Glacier? There are two problems at once: My dear friend doesn't like travelling to places she already knows (which is getting difficult, by the way) and the webcam shows thick clouds of fog high up in the mountains. So where to go? To Martigny and on to Gruyères? Or would it be better to go slowly up into the Lötschental and then take the car transport back home through the mountains?
With sweet Valais apricots, the decision is made: Lötschental. At the end of the valley, a dream backdrop spreads out before us: The Fafleralp and the Langgletscher glacier present themselves in the most beautiful sunshine and framed by lush greenery. It quickly becomes clear: this is where we are hiking. If it weren't for this little café that tempts us with nut croissants and apricot cake. "First hike, then feast," I say and have to wonder about myself.
So we hike along the little river, which - of course I had to test it - is freezing cold. Of course, it is fed by two glaciers. And as we know, they are (still) made of ice. We take a break at a mountain lake that couldn't be more romantic. A little overconfident, I throw off my clothes and want to take a dip in the lake. But I don't even get as far as my stomach, the lake is just around (what feels like) freezing point. Just to be careful not to die of heart failure here, I get dressed again in good time before the next hikers come round the corner and we continue our little hike. And we have a goal: apricot cake and nut croissants.
If that's not a nice end to a far too short but lovely girls' weekend, I think to myself. Neither of us really wants to leave, but as Monday stretches its arms out to us and we are both dutiful, we eventually sit happily in our expedition vehicle and head towards the next challenge: the Goppenstein - Kandersteg car transport.
Here we were not allowed on the train at first, our Felix had a fever. It was over 250 degrees and the friendly gentleman came with his clinical thermometer and checked the brakes. "You can't get on our train and into the tunnel with that! We'd better wait half an hour for it to cool down." Hm, I've never had that before, but now I know that you're simply not allowed to brake when travelling down mountain passes. However, I also don't know how else I'm supposed to get downhill safely without brakes. I'll ask Gerd tonight if there's any way I can downshift on an automatic.
At some point our Felix was no longer feverish, so we took the next train and spent the 20 minutes in the tunnel getting cosy with a little Grodino and a slide show.
As soon as we leave the tunnel, we are greeted by the pleasant rain of the Bernese Oberland. We look at each other and the rain doesn't bother us at all here in the evening, after all we've had two wonderful, partly sunny - and most importantly - days together! What a pleasure!
Merci for "travelling with us
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Date: 24 November 2024 4 pm (doors open at 3 pm)
Location: Germany, Landgasthof zum Mühlenteich 15345 Eggersdorf near Berlin
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