Trip Log - Sunday, September 07, 2014

first full day - correct pictures coming soon

Walked from hotel to theEbenalp lift. But before thatwe had a delicious breakfast. Crusty Croissants and rolls. Meusli. Cold meat and cheese. MIlk, orange juice. Dad liked the jelly. And whole milk. Real whole milk.The table was by the window, The grass here is so green it doens't look real.

the plane
Then we went for a walk. First from the hotel to the Ebenalp lift along the babbling brook.

the walk
Just missed the cable car. So we had to wait for the next one. VEyr crowded with people and parachutes. CLear blue skies with a nice breeze. After we got off the lift we walkd to the Wildkichli (Church in a cave on edge of cliff) To get there we had to walk down hill through a twisty cave hihg up on the mountains. On one part of the trail they had a wooen pathway hanging over the edge.I did look down once and yes you could see through the slats.It was a long way down.

the lift
Walked to a restaurant on the cliff edge but it was packed. So we continued on our trek.They had lots of rabbits in cages. Probably somebodies lunch. Saw some rock climbers. A guy was flying a drone with a camera.to get views ofthe vallety and cliff. It crashed. Guess he needs ot work on it some more.So far the hike is pretty good. Harder than a walk but not to bad. Walking along the mountain side. You could see villages below and alake that was so clear you could see thebottom. There was a restaraunt at the lake and there were alp horn players. the sounds drifted up the moiuntain so we could hear..

restaurant in the cliff
Took the long way instead of hte switch backs along side teh cliffs. We did have some steep sections and we had to walk slow. We saw 2 intelligent people wearing hats like dads.

tough hike
Next restaraunt along our trail looked like the Alp huts the herders use in the summer. We did not eat there but did get t osee some goats up close and personal.

next restaurant
After a nice rest it was time ti continue on.You could see the next restaraunt way up on the top of the mountain which was along our path. The hike was tiring and steep but doable.We took a detour up to mini peak where you could see the valleys on both sides of the mountain.

goats
Then we hit the edge of the cliff. The trail was one and a half feet wide. rocky. steep. and very skinny.in parts they had cables to hold on to. Sometimes on both sides.Met a very energetic older lady that started talkign to us. I told her in German that we did not speak German. She kep talking anyway. I think she either said she lived near the lake or was askign us if we walked from there. She went by and now we have to continue along the cliff edge. To far to go back. So we kept going.

the cliff edge
Getting steeper and skinnier. They had a set of very steep metal stairs to get up one section of the cliff. At the top of the stairs you turned, grabbed onto 2 sets of cables and pullled yourself up onto some other steps. These were betweeb 2 mountain peaks that came together. At the top of these steps we turned again and continued the rest of the way up the mountains. Still cabels on one side, not the edge side.but againast the mountain side but at least the trail was a little wider. But not much.

the stairs
Finally made it up to the next restaurant but w ecould not eat here either. No cash. Dad and I forgot our ATM cards. Good thingsome of the kids are coming in a few days so they can bring it. I thought this was teh restaurant that you could see from the gondola in the beginning. Nope. We still have another 30 minutes to walk before we get back to the lift. While we aere at the top resting we could see the clouds rolling in and covering the mountain top. The food looked amazing. To bad. No cash. Since we could not see anything we headed to the gondola.to take us down. Finally made it.

next resaurant
While we were waiting to take the gondola back down we watched the para gliders take off. There were 10-15 of them waitign their turn. Whp in their right mind would willingly jump off a cliff?

heading to safety
When we got to the bottom they have a place to walk in the stream to cool off your tired achey feet. I didnt think dad would do it so I didn't either. Went to the train station across the road and it was goig to be 20 minutes before the train arrived.. So we decided to walk. At least that kept us awake.

At the bottom
Walked up the hill to the hotel. cleaned up.Had supper. Went to sleep.

back at the hotel