A hike to the Trift Suspension Bridge

My sister came to visit for a week in August, and the apartment was pretty full, at times up to 8 people in here! It was pretty chaotic, but we managed to organize ourselves enough for a couple of hikes/excursions (and one 13-hour train ride, that's still to come!)

This one hike we did was to a very popular suspension bridge, so popular in fact that you get assigned time slots for the 8-man cable car and have to wait up to an hour for your turn up! The cable car takes you only part-way. The hike to the bridge is about 1.5 hours uncomfortably uphill (I think it took us over 2 hours, but mainly because of me. It was too too hot).

The bridge and the glacier lake below it were worth the exertion and the crowds. The story is that years ago, the Alpine Hostel above the Trift Glacier could be accessed by walking across the glacier, but as recently as 2004, the glacier had receded so much that they had to build a bridge across the gulf. The bridge was modeled after the three-rope Tibetan bridges, but became so popular with tourists, that they had to replace it with a much sturdier one in 2009. At 100 meters in length and 170m in height, the pedestrian suspension bridge is one of the longest and highest in the Alps.

On the way back we took a long, but beautiful car ride over the Susten Pass.

The excursion started with a 12-minute gondola cable car ride partway up the valley.

Look at that hiking trail over there! We'll have to try that some time....

If we were willing to split up as a group, we could get extra spots in the cable car, and didn't have to wait as long to ride up. I was the last one of the group to go up.

Rest of the group is waiting for me on the third trip up.

Start of our hike: Trift Bridge, 1.5 hours.

Start of our hike. Joshua says, "what's the point of hiking", but I think he enjoyed it!

On a very hot day, this uphill climb was rather strenuous (for me....)

Something more exciting than hiking...

Taking a break in the shade of some boulders.

Looking North back down the Trift Valley.

Our hike to the Trift suspension bridge.

And finally we are rewarded with a view of this fantastic bridge.

The boys are the first to cross the Bridge.

Jeffrey and Josh loving this excursion to one of the longest pedestrian suspension bridges in the Alps.

This bridge is a very popular attraction.

Trift suspension bridge.

Now it's the girls' turn.

There is Jeffrey, our photographer.

On the Trift Suspension Bridge.

On the far side of the suspension bridge, this is where we decided to have our picnic lunch.

On the far side of the suspension bridge, this is where we decided to have our picnic lunch overlooking the Trift Glacier and glacier lake.

The glacier at the back filled this entire basin about 20 years ago. Before the original bridge was built in 2004, you could cross by walking over the glacier.