Rest Day in Grimselpass

August 17, 2016

We woke to a fog-embanked mountaintop! Thankfully, this is a rest day, but what about tomorrow? Is this typical of mornings here?

The view of the terrace where yesterday afternoon we enjoyed a victory beer! You can barely make out the tables!

Looking back down the valley at 11:00 AM! Hard to make out even the mountains, much less the road.

But then, 18 minutes later, it really started to open up.

So while I was wandering around the hotel and grounds, assessing things, I asked the front desk about that. Well, the weather predictions were not too positive (this I knew), so I can't say I learned much. My biggest concern was visibility; I can deal with rain!

So we had breakfast and relaxed. That's what rest days are for. And to let it continue to warm up and clear. The hotel lobby had a great view of the mountains that evolved slowly, so we hung out there while I worked on my blog.

Working on the blog, all from my iPhone! And yes, it can be tedious at times.

But I'm not one to lay around much and wanted to get out and hike somewhere. But we really did not have hiking shoes; they were barely walking shoes! But we could take the Sidelhorn Aerial Cable Car to the tip-top of the pass and walk over to one of the other restaurants and grab a beer! So off we went.

The view of tomorrow's climb as we left the hotel for the cable car.

And in the cable car. 6 CHF each way (per person), but for some reason, we were able to ride down for free. There is no attendant; it's all automated!

Looking back down the valley and at our hotel. Very surreal . . .

Mark at the top as we walked back down to the "tip-top," where the main road crosses the pass. The cable car takes you higher to another road, which heads west to another lake and several more hotels. But that was a 3-1/2 mile "hike." We were headed the other way.

So there are several lakes all about, all artificial in the sense that their size can be attributed to the fact that they are dammed.

We walked over to Hotel Restaurant Alpenrösli and had lunch and a beer. It was still chilly outside, so we sat inside to stay warm(er), although there were plenty of day tourists sitting out on the deck. We spend plenty of time outside, so we don't necessarily feel the need . . .

At the tip-top, the views are back down the valley we came up and over the lake seen above to the mountains beyond, one of which (I believe) is the Pizzo Gallina located in the Lepontine Alps and overlooking the Nufenenpass. Maybe our next trip will tackle that one . . . Annecy, up the valley to Brig, and from there, to Locarno or Lugano. We will see! Need to finish this one first!

So no view of tomorrow's steep descent! Of course, if we had walked a bit further, about 1/2 mile further down the road, we would have laid our eyes on it, but we decided to wait till tomorrow.

So back to the cable car and a short rest before dinner. Our hotel, Grimsel Hospiz, is excellent (but, be warned, expensive) and, in my opinion, has the best views. We really enjoyed the dining.

Tomorrow, the descent to Brig!

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