Another rest day . . . of sorts. We did take the bikes out. Up the Lauterbrunnen Valley, in fact. But unlike last year, when Mark and I biked from our hotel to the end of the valley and back and then on to Brienz, this year we biked the rim of the valley. At least between Grütschalp and Mürren, which has a nice hiking and biking trail with great views of the mountains. But not the valley per se, as you are too far up and the valley is too narrow.
Our ride up the Lauterbrunnen Valley. MP 1.4–9.1 is the part by train. Plus there was some "operator error" on the train ride back.
So we slept in a bit and went for breakfast at 8:30. It was raining, heavy at times. And we had had thunderstorms during the night. So after breakfast we chilled for a bit until the sun finally appeared bright and strong around 9:45. We were on our bikes and headed for the train station by 10:15!
Happy and I waiting at the train station for Jerry to buy tickets.
A complication we ran into was payment. The kiosk needed a PIN to use a credit card, which Jerry did not have. So I hunted up an ATM and did a cash withdrawal to cover the train and to give me some local currency in my pocket. We don't want to depend on cash too much since once we leave Switzerland, we'll be back in Euro land for the rest of the trip. So, all that resolved, we boarded the train. 15.20 CHF for each passenger and 15.40 CHF for each bike! Fortunately, at those prices, round trip!
Jerry's and my bike hanging on the racks. His has the tiny, 20" wheels (snicker).
From the Lauterbrunnen train station, it was an easy transfer to the cable car that would take us up to Grütschalp, elevation 4675 feet. 9 CHF for each passenger and 6 CHF for each bike, one way! They have an interesting way of transporting the bikes. They literally hang in a "basket" beneath the main cable car along with other luggage and sundry products needing to go to the top.
And then we were at the top. We were told this would be a flat ride. Not from our initial viewpoint! Wow! But it settled down nicely to a rolling terrain, and we kept the bikes mostly in a low gear and spun through the mostly forested highland.
The initial view from the cable car landing and terrace.
And up a little further were several gates that we needed to navigate, which meant stopping and opening and closing them, losing momentum! Mountain bikes make more sense on this trail, but we managed.
Then the cable car ride down to Stechelberg and lunch. This ride required a transfer about halfway down and cost 11.40 CHF for each passenger and 5 CHF for each bike, also one way! This time the bikes rode in the car itself.
A suspension bridge should you choose to hike down.
We didn't actually land at the end of the valley but about one mile "downhill" from it (a rolling downhill), so we mounted up and went to lunch at Hotel-Restaurant Stechelberg.
