On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
BigJimSlade
I couldn’t help a selfie here, leaving Bachalpsee, with a window to Wetterhorn. Embiggen
After quite a bit of climbing, we get to a pass where we can see where we’re headed. It was also a popular launching point for paragliders. Embiggen
From the top of Faulhorn, just about the hotel/restaurant/hut (whatever you want to call it), which is out of sight to the left. In the background you can catch a glimpse of Thunersee, the lake to the west of Interlaken. Embiggen
Looking off to the right, we see a small lake, and further down, a portion of Brienzersee – the lake to the east of Interlaken. Embiggen
We had taken a dirt road up to the top of Faulhorn, but took the single track down, which was on quite a steep hillside, and at times it looked like it lead nowhere, or into the sky. Embiggen
Looking back at Faulhorn. Embiggen
Paragliders turned up at the oddest times, like just as Faulhorn was getting socked in again. I think they must be the Swiss national bird. Embiggen
another tiny patch of turf and flowers – Embiggen
…and we continue on… Embiggen
AlaskaReader
OK I want to go there too.
…only I’ll need a helicopter.
eclare
That selfie of you with the lake and the mountain in the background is perfect!
oldster
Oh, that little triangle over your shoulder above the lake? Looks like a pretty small knob of rock — you probably scampered right up that one later that day, right?
Barbara
@AlaskaReader: Don’t know about Chamonix, but there are alpine peaks you can visit via gondola and just hike the trails along the ridge if so inclined. No helicopter required!
stinger
So enjoying this travelogue! Evocative pics!
Betty
The Alps are gorgeous. I like having a face to associate with the name.
frosty
Beautiful! This is a great hike, your pictures are bringing back memories. I don’t remember a restaurant at the Faulhorn in 1977, but maybe we were too cheap to give it a try. We packed our own food with us. Veggies, sausage, and cheese; no cooking needed.
We went the other direction and the downhill to Grindelwald was the toughest part. It just killed the quadriceps.
satby
Great selfie!
WaterGirl
@eclare:
I think of the first picture as BigJimSlade photobombing the picture of the Wetterhorn hillside. :-)
Yutsano
It’s fun to see alpine hills so far away yet they look familiar. And flowers!
CaseyL
What a beautiful hike! Mountains, lakes, and bright little flowers = perfection.
StringOnAStick
Thanks for including direction references in a few photos, it let me visualise exactly where you were and remind me of our hikes in the same area. The Alps and the huts are an amazing experience!
BigJimSlade
@oldster: If there’s a safe trail to the top of that, I would be interested! But we don’t do the crazy stuff, just the kinda hard stuff. We’re not too comfortable with “exposure” (that’s when you have a big drop off to one side, you know, like a cliff).
BigJimSlade
@Barbara: To go to the top of Aiguille du Midi you take 2 gondolas. But instead of taking the lower gondola, you can hike along the Balcon du Nord to Montenvers, where you can catch a cog rail back to Chamonix. This is what we did, except that we got there too late for the last train and had to walk to 2hrs back down into town. From Montenvers you can also visit the (retreating) glacier, which we skipped (again, it was late in the day).
BigJimSlade
@frosty: Glad to help bring back some memories :-)
And, yeah, we try to avoid the bigger ascents/descents. Though our first hike of the trip, going along the Balcon du Nord above Chamonix, we were too late to catch the last train down (as I just mentioned above), and had to hike maybe 2,600 feet down. But that’s an issue with these alpine valleys! If you don’t want to pony up for gondolas or cog trains, you got big climbs (sometimes you can catch a bus to a pass and start pretty high)! Notably, for our first trip to the Dolomites in Italy, we stayed in Cortina and managed to not need any gondolas! That trip was covered in a single post (back then I didn’t realize we could put together a whole bunch of posts!)
agorabum
@AlaskaReader: The alps are full of little towns with gondola systems that will whisk you to the top of mountains for a reasonable price.