cast the shadow of a large man wielding a huge knife moving toward the
front opening of the tent. We were the only ones for miles around so
screams for help would be useless. The knife was now slicing through
the front door of the tent. Small, intense eyes peered through the
fresh gash.
Just kidding! I thought my last few postings might have caused a drop
in the GNP due to over sleeping. Hopefully, you can make it thru this
one without the aid of chemical stimulants (caffeine excepted-have
another cup).
As advertised, the weather was cloudless in the morning, so we shelled
out the price of a ticket to ride the cog railway from Zermatt to
Gornergrat, taking us from 5600' to 10,000' in about 25 minutes,
including stops at 5 intermediate stations.
Gotta hand it to the makers of this rail line. It is amazing. It
climbs at an unbelievable angle taking you up with a silky smooth
ride. Huge windows-walls of windows really-and fantastic scenery make
for a marvelous trip. The Matterhorn is center stage the whole way,
and the surrounding peaks, which don't get the credit they deserve
create a glorious mtn scene.
At the top we unloaded with the other hundreds of riders, enjoyed the
views, got our picture snapped with some St. Bernard dogs and then
began the hike down, our day's activity. There was a bit of snow to
negotiate in the early going and we found the Swiss no nothing about a
10% grade-the trails are steep, but we soon left the snow and
switchbacked through rock fields then heather and finally to treeline
where a mountain chalet serving beer snared us for a sunny stop on
their deck. The weather was changing, with clouds rolling in, but
little threat of rain as the sun poked through now and then. We left
our beer glasses and headed down to the first rail stop where Sally
and Cindy got on and I walked the remaining 3-4 miles back to camp.
Zermatt has a Coop food store with the lowest prices for food we had
seen since coming abroad. We had purchased enough food for two nights
dinners the night before, so we cooked up repeat of the previous
night's fare, noodles, sausage and sauce, then spent the evening
visiting with Dan and Heathwr and other campers in the campsite.
The crowd at the campsite had grown. Tomorrow there is a marathon
through Zermatt. It starts 5 Km down the valley and ends up at 9000'
up the Gornergrat rail line. A few of the tents were occupied by these
hearty runners. The rest are climbers and bacjpacjers from all over
Europe hoping to summit nearby peaks. In this 150' by 150' patch of
grass are at least 5 languages intermixing and being butchered as
everyone tries to communicate across the language barriers. Camping is
definitely the way to go. Everyone is so open and friendly and looking
to make new contacts while sharing the common bound of mountaineering.
Heather and Dan mentioned they were going to climb to the Hornlihutte
on the Matterhorn tomorrow. I invited myself to join them and they
more than happy to have me join them.
The Hornlihutte is built right at the base of the summit pyramid of
the great peak at 11,000 ft. A hundred yards from the hut a small col
abruptly ends with the first wall of the Matterhorn. A few fixed
ropes help a climber ascend out of the col and onto the peak.
We decided to leave at 7 in the morning. Two team rides can lift you
to 9000' to begin the climb to the hut, but we decided to walk the
entire distance thus saving about 60 francs a piece for the tram
rides. Sally and Cindy picked a hike for themselves as well. Toned
after dark with a great day coming tomorrow. I drempt of a man with a
large knife sillouttled in the moon light . . .
Chuck
No comments:
Post a Comment