Zermatt

With a day and a half to spare we hoped to do some of the great hikes in the Zermatt area. Unfortunately the weather has not been cooperating. 

We had hoped to hike up to the five lakes hike that begins at the top of the Sunegga funicular. Unfortunately we woke to rain. The rain slowed and stopped and we got a nice view of the Matterhorn from our hotel 

The weather forecast thunderstorms and rain at 11 so we (Leah Peta Arielle Ethan and my self) took the funicular up to the trailhead.  A funicular is a very steep train like device often enclosed in a tunnel to take you up the mountain. It was not my favorite transportation form for sure. We did the 9km hike around the lakes and got glimpses of the Matterhorn as we hiked. 

The weather was quite variable. Raining one minute and sunny the next. At one point a wall of low lying cloud moved in below us. It was really surreal.  We asked a kind gentleman to take this shit when that happened. 

We eventually made it to Stellasee. It is a famous lake where many photos of the Matterhiorn are taken. Just as we arrived the cloud rolled in and we were lucky to see ourselves. 

Hoping for it to clear we waiting but the cloud did not leave. We walked down to the funicular and hung out for a couple of hours. During this time clouds came and went in front of the Matterhorn. We tried to get a nice photo which entailed hopping up every so often and running over to the other side of the deck to get a photos. It was quite the sport. 

Eventually we took the funicular back down to town. I bought my train ticket to Geneva for the next day. We talked to the tourist info about what hike we could do the next day. We visited the mountaineering museum. There we learned about an early mountaineering accident and the controversy surrounding it. We also visited the mountaineering cemetery. 

The evening was quite fun as all the people we had met on the trail got together to have a drink and eat at our hotel. There were at least fifteen people swapping stories from the trail. It was good fun. I really hope to meet up with these people again. We took a group photo but it was on a camera so Incant post it yet.  Goodbye Haute Route and my trail friends. I hope to hike another day with you.