We were both so tired last night we were relieved to know that we had a relatively easy day today with only a short 3 hour walk from Wengen to Murren. We were already salivating at the thought of a long lunch somewhere, and a peaceful afternoon to re-group and prepare for the following two days, which are going to be challenging. Previously we have been surreptitiously making our "piece" for lunch at breakfast, and it is amazing how a piece of fairly unappetising waxy Swiss cheese at breakfast time magically transforms itself into a gastronomic delight after several hours hiking! It was all shaping up to be a walk in the park, crowned with a "proper" lunch. However, as they say, the best laid plans.....!
The forecast for the day was showers, but we were prepared for that and thought that with a shortish hike ahead we would just press on, get the job done and then be able to make the most of our afternoon in Murren. We set off at 8.30am, and woke up the legs with a jarring descent into the village of Lauterbrunnen which lies in the valley bottom. We weren't able to see much of the village as low lying cloud hid her from view, but we could hear the steady chiming of church bells below summoning the good people of Lauterbrunnen to church, which was a timely reminder that today is Sunday!
From the village of Lauterbrunnen we continued straight on and began to ascend the other side of the valley. However, a momentary lapse of concentration on the note reading, and after blithely following what we thought were the correct "Wanderweg" or footpath signs, we realised we had missed a vital part of the instructions and were heading off on a tangent. That was Mistake Number One! Mistake Number Two was after consulting a kindly passing motorist and ascertaining where we thought we were, we opted to continue on our way, not double back to correct our error, and make our way to Murren on our existing route. This led us on an excrutiatingly steep path through the woods, 1:3 most of the way, for the best part of an hour, ascending 700 metres straight up to the village of Grutschalp. Having been forecast rain, I wryly thought that that only showers we were experiencing this morning was the steady torrent of drops of sweat falling off the end of my nose as we laboured our way upwards. The irony of our situation was made even worse by the fact that our tortuous route took us directly beneath the cablecar, which would glide effortlessly overhead, making mockery of our self-inflicted torment.
Finally with our waterbottles already spent, and our energy levels flagging, we reached Grutschalp, just as the train to Murren was pulling out of the station. In desperation Anthony waved at the train driver, who fortunately took pity of these two bedraggled and sweat soaked apparitions which stood before him and slowed down to allow us to board. (OK, so I love Swiss cows, but now I REALLY love Swiss traindrivers!). After a short train journey through cloud covered forests, we arrived at Murren, just in time for the rain to start falling.
So, what should have been a pretty straight forward and scenic walk to Murren became a fairly hard core climb, but as always, after a hot bath and clean clothes, and with the prospect of a good lunch and a relaxing afternoon ahead, all is well again! However the lesson has been learnt that you disregard the notes at your peril. We will definitely have to sharpen up our map/note reading skills for tomorrow, when, weather permitting, we are undertaking one of the hardest sections of the hike via Sefinefurke at 2,612 metres. We stay in a mountain hut where our luggage is unable to reach us, so we must carry whatever we need. This may be the moment I regret the purchase of my tiny 10 litre "day" rucksack!
Low level cloud and rain have not made today a photographer's paradise, but hopefully the weather may (?) clear for tomorrow, when we should have some spectacular views. Tonight we check with our host at the hotel about the weather conditions for tomorrow. Sadly if things don't improve we will have to look at a low level option as bad weather conditions will make it unwise to attempt the high pass.
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