Wengen Cow Parade-Gimmelwald-Lauterbrunnen-Trummelbach and base jumpers
Dairy cows live high in the mountains during the spring and summer months eating grass and wildflowers. These plants are what make Swiss cheese so different from other cheeses. Swiss cows wear bells around their neck so they can be found by their herdsman.
In September, herdsmen and their families lead their cattle down to the valley to protect them from wintry weather. Today we experienced the decorative parade of cattle and the hard working families that keep watch over them.
Cable car rides and trains took us to many different villages to see the parade and for afternoon adventures. Gimmelwald’s population is mainly cows with a few families and no cars. Stores are “honesty stores,” open for you to shop and purchase based on honesty. No one will greet you nor ring up your sale. What looks like little free library boxes are full of cheese for sale, not books to give.
We ate pizza at the Mountain Hostel. Back in my 20’s my sister and I stayed in the Mountain Hostel and experienced the “Heidi,” a hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. Cheers to the good old days!!!
M is reading The Hobbit for school and we were enveloped into J. R. R. Tolkien’s canvas for a few hours as we ventured down to Lauterbrunnen Valley. I love it when real life meets with learning.
Trummelbach is a spiral waterfall through the mountain like a vertical slot canyon. An internal ride takes you to the 6th level of the falls. Once you exit the ride you can walk 4 levels up and then descend all the all back down. There are 10 levels of waterfall viewing. M and Randy are leaving the observation area on the top of the steps heading right around the outside of the mountain. Only Trümmelbach drains the huge glaciers of Eiger (3970m), Mönch (4099m) and Jungfrau (4158m) with up to 20,000 liters of water per second.
Continuing through the valley we saw paragliders, base jumpers, helicopters, and even a rescue helicopter transporting a first responder dangling from what looked to be a 200 ft rope. The rescuer was dropped off, secured the person needing rescue to the line and waited for a return ride. The rescued person now was the one dangling below the copter as it flew out of the valley. The helicopter returned to get the first responder. We were exhausted after watching this and decided to go straight home, skipping other adventures.
Lees in France 