Friday June 19, 2020 -- We had another week of vacation this past week, but the weather wasn't good to us. So we saved all our hiking for the end of the week, as the only place where the forecast was showing as full sunshine and cloudless skies was in the Matter Valley (i.e. where the famous Mount Matterhorn is located at the end of the valley), so we reserved a hotel room in Zermatt and headed out from home early Friday morning for two days in that area (takes us four hours to get there by train).
We were very surprised (and rather disappointed) that not only was there no sunshine, we had fairly thick fog and even rain, and needless to say, no view of Mount Matterhorn. Rarely has the weather forecast been so wrong.
Most people who come to Zermatt take the train up to Gornergrat to look at the glaciers and the Monte Rosa Massif (highest peaks in Switzerland) and of course the Matterhorn, or they take the funicular up to Sunnegga for a walk to the five lakes and a view of the Matterhorn, both excursions which we have done with great success on other occasions. This time we wanted to walk toward the Matterhorn, and had planned a long 5-hour hike with the mountain always ahead of us, past the dammed lake and way down the valley. But with no let-up of rain and fog in sight, we shortened the walk to the dam only, and opted for a lunch in the tiny hamlet of Zmutt, in one of its TWO restaurants, both pretty popular!
Once the wet clothes are only memory, we can look back and say it wasn't a bad hike after all: We saw deer, marmots, a golden eagle, Valais Eringer cows, Valais Black-Nosed sheep (the best) and had a 10-minute window of the Matterhorn after all, with the wind trying to blow the clouds off its surface, a very stunning experience. Plus we passed by the OLDEST barn in Europe (built in 1261) and returned to a very nice hotel room with (finally) a wonderful cloud-free view of the Matterhorn before heading to bed at 9:00 p.m, with great hopes for the next day.....
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| On the train heading down the Matter Valley toward Zermatt: Fog hung low over the steep mountains, it wasn't looking like it would clear up any time soon |
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| Our plan for this trip was to walk toward the base of Mount Matterhorn on its North side, with the mountain in view. But there were none of the high mountains to be seen. Never-the-less, even with the fog and rain, there were many highlights along the way. It was also a very good trail, and we managed the 500m ascent from the train station in next-to-no-time (ascent is always easier when it's not too hot!) |
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| Heading up the hill through the side streets of Zermatt |
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| Regardless of fog, we had really nice views of the meadows. At least we were not walking IN the fog. |
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| A sign along the way lets us know we are going to see the OLDEST barn in Europe, built in 1261 |
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| A sighting of a deer makes up for the bad weather! |
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| The first of the old barns in Herbrigge... .I didn't pay attention to which one was the oldest! |
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| Cluster of very old barns in Herbrigge, some of the oldest in Europe |
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| The trail continues up the hill. Here is a look down at Herbrigge (with the oldest barn in Europe) and below that the city of Zermatt |
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| We were very pleasantly surprised to run into a large herd of Valais Black-Nosed sheep hogging the trail! Usually we admire them behind fenced in pastures |
VIDEO:
Valais Black-Nosed Sheep on the trail
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| These black-noses were not at all shy, and came right up to us to lick our hands (and Urs' bare legs too!) |
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| Zermatt down below |
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| A large herd of Valais Black-Nosed sheep own the hillside and the trail. Even though they are cute, we respect their size and their horns! |
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| And the trail continues more uphill! (Those are baby sheep below, when they are around you have to show respect for the animals. Even a mother sheep can be dangerous!) |
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| We are pretty sure this was a Golden Eagle. The wingspan is much larger than a hawk, but the bird was too far away to see clearly |
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| First glimpse of Zmutt below as we pass 150m higher up. We decided to walk only to the dam and then return to Zmutt for lunch |
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| Our original plan was to walk further into the valley, past the lake. But because it was now raining, we decided to switch back here along the trail and head back to Zermatt via Zmutt |
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| What the hills looked like above our trail! |
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| Descending to Zmutt with its 30 buildings, chapel, and TWO restaurants! |
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| We chose this restaurant to have lunch (inside, because it was raining) as the other one was WAY too busy! There is an easy trail from Zermatt to up here, where most of the people walk up... |
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| While we enjoyed our Rösti with cheese, tomatoes and bacon, the rain let up and the weather improved |
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| A little walk through Zmutt before heading back on a lower trail to Zermatt |
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| Leaving Zmutt! |
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| Leaving Zmutt with its two restaurants and chapel |
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| Up ahead of us on the far side of the valley above Zermatt is the Findel Glacier, where we walked on the glacier's moraine in 2017 (to get up there you take the funicular to Sunegga). Photos HERE. |
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| Highly zoomed view of the Findel Glacier. In 2017 we walked along the glacier moraine, at approximately where the red line is drawn! (Photos HERE) |
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| Another look behind us at Zmutt as we leave the "easy" trail and head along a "middle" trail back to the old barns at Herbrigge |
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| The rain makes lush vegetation! |
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| Some more old barns along this trail |
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| Returning to Zermatt along the trail below the one we originally walked |
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| There were a couple of places with steep drops to a pasture below, but no problems to cross! |
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| When this happened, i.e. when the wind all of a sudden blew the clouds away from the Matterhorn, we were exactly in the right place to be able to watch for about 10 minutes. At one point the West side of the mountain was free of clouds, but they never quite disappeared on the East side. And then, the clouds settled again and there was no more mountain to see again. |
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| Heading back to Herbrigge with its old barns, on a very nice trail. And the sky is starting to clear. |
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| Back at the 800-year-old barns, a good place for a coffee break |
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| This is an Eringer cow, a special breed of cows that are raised to fight each other at large competitions. |
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| These Eringer cows are short and stocky, and they like to push each other around to establish dominance in the herd. They are raised for meat, not milk. |
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| Descending back to Zermatt |
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| Another thrill was to catch sight of a marmot! |
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| The sky has cleared and we get a good view (this one is zoomed in) of another peak called the Small Matterhorn. Amazing that there is a cable car going up here (on the photo) and a crane currently set up there for additional building!!! The Small Matterhorn is 3883m compared to 4478m for the Matterhorn. |
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| This beautiful domed peak is part of the Breithorn Massif, near the Monte Rosa Massif and part of Switzerland's 4000+ peaks |
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| Looking down at some of the oldest buildings in Zermatt |
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| Some pretty Lupines in someone's garden |
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| A fitting fountain in the center of Zermatt: Marmots drinking from the fountain! |
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| Our hotel with a room with a balcony and a view of the Matterhorn |
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| At about 9 p.m. the skies totally cleared up and we could see the light from the setting sun on the Western side of the mountain. |
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| On the left in red is what we had originally planned to walk, about 1 hour longer. As it is, our hike was 3.5 hours of walking time. |
This is what the Matterhorn looks like from the more popular vantage points to the East: Sunegga and Gornergrat.
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| The last time we were in Zermatt was in October 2017, when we took the funicular up to Sunegga and walked along the Findel Glacier Moraine |
(Photos from our excursion to the Findel Glacier can be found by clicking HERE)
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And the time before was in August 2014 when we rode the Gornergrat Railway up to the highest station, and then walked down leisurely to Riffelalp (one of the mid-stations)
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