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Published: July 23rd 2011
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View from Bort track
View over farmland to the Upper Glacier from track to Bort The weather has improved somewhat and although it’s not a clear and sunny day, it isn’t raining. We caught the busy Grosse Scheidegg bus up as far as the Vogel Park (a mountain bird sanctuary) which is about 2/3rds way up the hill. We walked up the road further and took the 1600m track across the hills and on up to Bort. A lot of it was uphill, some through forest, over streams and steepish farmland. We even saw a deer in the wild. It is extremely beautiful at that level. The farmland is magical and dotted with chalets and wooden farm buildings. At the same level are the upper and lower glaciers in all their glory with the towering sheer rock walls of the Wetterhorn and Eiger to each side. It really is a most grand view and would be hard to be surpassed. The problem is, how to hold that view in memory for the future. Having been here 10 times, there has to be a last time we come. Is this it?
We reached Bort which is dominated by the First cable car passing through. From here we chose a forest path to take us steeply down
Grindelwald bus
Often the Grindelwald bus's take up the entire road and sound claxon horns to warn people they are near. This one runs from Grindelwald, over the Grosse Scheidegg and down to Meirengen to the town again. On reaching Terrasenweg we visited the Panorama Hotel for a cup of tea and apple cake. Very nice too. We have always visited the Panorama for a meal on past trips but on this trip we have been happy to eat at the house.
We were back at the house by mid afternoon and in time to see much of the Tour de France on TV. Thomas Voeckler who had been leading most of the race had a real problem with this final hilly leg and dropped badly from today’s leaders. Tomorrow there is just the time trial to go and we leave here to meet Ray and Judy in Grenoble for a week in France.
Walking along we often discuss why we keep coming back to Switzerland when we come from a beautiful country. Maybe it’s because New Zealand is too precious with it’s scenery and it’s too locked up as a ‘wilderness’ for the average person to access. Here, it doesn’t matter whether you are fit, old or disabled, there is still the opportunity to get right up into the Alps and experience everything you want it to be. You can walk up or you can take a cable car, train or bus and stand on top of extremely high mountains and be surrounded by the most majestic scenery. At home we have astounding scenery but it is essentially difficult for the average person to experience unless they are fit. That is a shame, because not everyone is as capable as the next. On the downside in Switzerland, there isn’t enough wilderness that man hasn’t worked or made accessible. Tourists overrun the best places which doesn’t make it the best of experiences. However, if you know where to go to avoid the hoards you can have a very quiet and serene experience.
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