Frolicking through the mountains

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Greetings from Gimmelwald! This town takes the cake for least populated place on my trip so far--it's a farming community of 130 people perched on a cliff in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland. It is only accessible by cable car, and is a carless community. There are breathtaking views of snow-capped mountains, dozens of wildflowers in the fields, the most refreshing public water (runs out of natural springs all over the village), and the clanking of a cacophony of cowbells and sheepbells from animals grazing nearby. What a great break from the rest of the world! But probably my favorite part about Gimmelwald--the Honest Cheese stores. These self-service stores run out of people's houses serve the most delectable dairy products for cheap (and it's vacuum-sealed so I may be coming home with some...) I have been hiking here for the past two days, definitely getting a workout from all the elevation change--Gimmelwald is about 1200m above sea level, and the highest trails run around 2400m. Let's just say that the hills are steep enough that there are avalanche barriers up everywhere around here. On my first day of hiking, I saw a marmot! They're similar to prairie dogs in appearance and that they create burrowed colonies, but they only inhabit alpine meadows and are much more skittish. I'm also the sole occupant of my 6-bed dormitory at the hostel; the room has great character since it's under the eaves on the top floor of an old wooden hotel (don't mind the creaking). I've been getting spoiled with all this space and privacy right before going back to the big cities with packed hostels hehe.

Prior to coming to Gimmelwald, I stepped aross the French border to the mountain town of Chamonix. I already recounted some of my adventures there in my last blog post, but since then I took a few more exhilarating hikes and enjoyed myself immensely. I hiked up to another glacier (Bossons Glacier), which was even better than Mer de Glace because the ice was more visible with less debris on top, and I could get closer to the actual ice. I also went on my first trail run with a friend from the hostel and one of the owners of an outdoors store in town. I'm not going to sign up for any 100 mile trail races any time soon (you're welcome, Mom), but it was a different way to experience the hiking trails and was definitely a good workout. Lastly, I ate my heart out since it's France after all; Cheese fondue #2 (and #3 just happened tonight, but I didn't order it so it doesn't really count), local chocolate (extra-dark 70% cocoa was the best), and macaroons (grapefruit curry, olive oil basil, and green apple, with the latter as my most preferred). I also loved the hostel--it was really just a house that had been turned in to a hostel of sorts, with a dormitory and several private rooms. Most of the other guests had been attending an international glaciology conference happening in Chamonix, and were really interesting to talk to. It was also very relaxed, clean, and homey: nice when I'm still 4 weeks from sleeping in my own bed.

One last hike around Gimmelwald tomorrow, then overnight train to Munich for country #5! Switzerland is currently in the lead for most beautiful country, and I really like its quirks (own currency, obsession with watches, the fact that you go from one end of the country to the other and the language and architecture is completely different). Wish me luck in finding the tastiest bratwurst in the land!

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Photos

Gimmelwald from above
Of course it rained on me making it back down.

Honest Cheese!
Alpkäse (local specialty cheese) is the best

The end of the valley

Glacier de Bossons
I also got up to around the midpoint of the glacier. That's a lot of ice!