Simply Swiss

I’ve already discussed a little bit of Switzerland in my last post, but here is more, because Switzerland deserves more.
After briefly stopping in Interlaken, Switzerland Monday night to rest and reprovision, we three intrepid mountaineers (Rosalie, Kathy and I) ascended high into the snow covered Swiss Alps of the Berner-Oberland. Basing out of a wonderful and welcoming little hostel in the picturesque little town of Gimmelwald, we delved deep into the untamed wilderness, risking both life and limb. Take it from me, hiking through mountain valleys, admiring perfect little Swiss huts on perfect green hillsides, trying to comprehend mountain vistas and eating fondu is hard work.
Teusday afternoon, we did a warm up walk of the valley that holds Gimmelwald and about four other little towns, then ate a wonderful dinner at an out of the way restaurant. The hike was both a warm up physically and mentally, since it had very little elevation gain (something hard to come by in the Berner-Oberland region) and let us ease into the incredible views of the region and accustom the mind to such vast mountains.
On Wednesday, while Rosalie explored the waterfalls and hanging canyons around Gimmelwald, Kathy and I mounted an attempt on a nearby peak. Disdaining the gondola system that would have effortlessly whisked us to the top of a higher nearby peak (for the modest price of an arm and a leg) we set out to see the top of the world. 1400 vertical meters later, we gasped our way to our destination in time to enjoy a brief glimpse of the Eiger (ogre), Monk, and Jungfrau (young girl) through a break in the clouds that had lightly rained on us all day. The Eiger, Monk, and Jungfrau are the real peaks of the regions, clothed year-round in glaciers and more often than not clouds. Despite how we felt on the climb, Kathy and I actually ascended a sort of minor second cousin once removed of the Eiger, rather than a legitimate mountain.
Thursday morning, we bid a fond goodbye to Gimmelwald and flew off down the mountain to our next destination. And by flew I mean we literally flew down the mountain, assisted by some paraglider pilots. For those of you unfamiliar with the intricacies of the many ways humans have discovered to fall from great heights, paragliding does not involve jumping out of an airplane (as does skydiving), or jumping off a cliff (as does base jumping), but rather running down a steep hill and then flying off a cliff. Needless to say, the experience was quite breathtaking. Not only were we surrounded by some of the most spectacular mountains I have ever seen, but we were 1000 meters above the ground flying around like a bird. It was a pretty sensational way to start the morning.
Finally, after landing safely we hopped on a train to Lucerne, where we would part ways with Kathy. (to be continued in the next post)