Swiss National Day in the Mountains

Wednesday was Swiss National Day so we headed up to the mountains.  We drove to Lauterbrunnen and took the cable car up a ways.  Here are some pictures from the cable car.

Then we took a short train ride to Murren.

Then we started hiking up towards the Schlthorn.

It was (as you can see) about the most beautiful day you could hope for.

As is often the case, cows were sharing the trail.  The kids and I were for going around, but Brett pushed through.

We stopped and took in the view when we got here.

And had a snack.  You know, Talmage whined just a bit right when we started out, but then he –and all the kids- did so so well.  Good troopers.  Brett said that Talmage said, “Dad, you like hiking, don’t you?”  And Brett said yes.  And he said, “Well I don’t.”  And Brett said “How come?” and he said, “It takes too long.”  Ha ha.

See that peak right there?  Brett said we should keep going to the top of it.

So we started up, but it was really steep and quite hot.  We had to try to get drips of water from the side of the rock.

Talmage said, “Take a picture of me like this.  But I’m not going to smile.”  Okay, dude.  Whatever you say.

We wet down ourselves and dipped our hats in the cold brook.

Here’s Talmage trying to flick water on me from his dripping hat.

Then I saw a lizard and Hazel caught it.

Then we got about here and I said, “We’re done in.  We’re stopping here for lunch.”
 
So we went up this lovely slope and sat down and got out our oh-so-delicious sandwiches (not because they were really extra special, just that eating sandwiches when you’re really hungry and you’ve been hiking all morning and you have a nice view of the mountains is the best way for them to taste extra wonderful).

Orrin was soooo excited to be out of the backpack and was running all around.

We all raised our arms to show that we’re the kings of the mountain.

Even me.

Then Brett still kindof wanted to go higher, but the rest of us not so much, so we decided to stay and play where we were while Brett went higher.  He actually went to the very top of Schilthorn.

Meanwhile, we played in the brook.  Jethro, like a good boy, started building a dam, and everyone pitched it, and they made quite a good one.  (“You never know when a tramp will turn out to be a beaver.” –Charlie the Tramp, Russell Hoban)

When Brett got back he was tired.

We also braided a flower crown while he was gone.  But by the time he got back with the camera it was already a bit wilted.

And back down.  Going down steeply is quite hard when you’re tired out.

We took a bit of a different trail down, and saw some little mountain huts that I’m pretty sure you can stay in.

Loveliest little path I may have ever seen.

We even came upon a zipcord.

And here we are, very tired out, waiting for the train to take us down.

We had some dinner when we got home and put the little ones to bed, although I snuck Ethne and Talmage out for just a few minutes to watch a few little fireworks.  I liked these paper lanterns with candles in them at our neighbor’s house.

Jethro and Hazel got to stay out later.  And play with a few sparklers.

Then we saw a bonfire at our farmer’s field, so we decided to go check it out (we were told it’s a big get-together for anyone/everyone).  On the way, we could see more bonfires across the valley.

The bonfire was huge, and it was fun going there, albeit a bit awkward since I didn’t know anyone there.  But the farmer recognized me, and he asked if I wanted some coffee.  I declined, then I heard him say something to the guy next to him about milk, and I was guessing he was saying to him, “This is the family that drinks so much milk,” and Hazel later told me that that is what he said.  Then the other guy asked in broken English if we wanted some treats.  So Hazel and Jethro and I had some.  It had been lightninging for quite a while, and then it started raining and really blowing, so we took off running home, and we ran the entire way  back and it was really fun.

Awesome day.  The end.