Hiking Through Switzerland Day 5

 Day 5: Trümmelbach Falls and Mürren

We finally hit a patch of bad weather. Skies this morning were gray with low hanging clouds clinging to the mountains around Lauterbrunnen. We decided to walk the 2 miles to Trümmelbach Falls, a series of 10 cascading waterfalls found partly within a mountain. On the way out of town, Molly did her now famous ice cream lick, performed in no less than 8 separate countries all over the world.

Along the route we passed several of the waterfalls that Lauterbrunnen is famous for. There are 72 waterfalls in and around Lauterbrunnen, though we only got to see a few.

The rain held off long enough for us to reach Trümmelbach Falls.  They’re a series of glacial waterfalls inside the mountain, draining the  Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau,  nature’s own water-sculpted art gallery, with 10 cascades thundering through rock. They’re accessible via elevstor, tunnels, and paths

As we left, the line to get in had grown from nonexistent when we arrived to at least a 30 min. wait.  Timing is everything.

It was staring to mist a bit, but we still decided to take the cable car to Mürren which left from Stechelberg, a 5 min. bus ride away.  Mürren is a car-free mountain village above Lauterbrunnen.  The cable car goes nearly vertically upward, and today, right into the clouds.

Molly really enjoyed the ride.

On top, we were in a very dense moist cloud and there was a persistent mist that permeated the air. We obviously came at the right time for wildflowers, since they have been everywhere.

The village was charming, and the dense fog made for some nice photos.

The mist and the cool temps in the 50s begged us to find something hot for lunch.  After deciding against the menu at a couple of Swiss restaurants, we found an Asian restaurant  that we could all agree on.  Spicy Tom Yam did the trick.

Then back down the cable car and a bus into Lauterbrunnen. 

We had the same bus driver who brought us to the tram, and he actually remembered us, commenting on the quality of my German (with a wink and a smile). He was quite a character telling us stories about growing up in the Netherlands. We had to stop for a bit while a teenager cow refused to get out of the way of traffic.

The weather did not improve at all and we elected to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing and doing some laundry.  The hotel had 2 washers and driers for use about 2 doors down from our room.  Very convenient.

With the continued rain, we stayed in again and ate dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. We even had our same waitress, who we now knew by name (Marie). Tonight we kept dinner simple, pizza and salad (still about $50 a couple).

Tomorrow we are off to Lucerne.  Hopefully the weather will improve.