Walk to Interlaken... almost

I planned to meet Hannah, the group leader, at the train station in the morning so she could provide the train station attendant with proof that I'm part of the Oak Hall group so I could get a discount on a hiking pass for the week. The pass was expensive but it would provide me with unlimited access to the buses, gondolas and trains in the area. We ended up missing each other at the station (she missed the first bus and didn't check inside the station for me when she finally arrived) so I was left to find something to do on my own. I had heard about a path down the valley from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken (about twelve kilometres) so I got directions from the staff at the train station and called the chalet so they would know where I was headed.

The walk was well-marked and was supposed to take between two and three hours to walk one-way. I started walking before 9:00 a.m. so I had plenty of time. I took it slow, shot plenty of photos, and just delighted in the beautiful surroundings. By the time I reached the other side of Wilderswil, a town just before Interlaken, the walk turned into a stroll through town. I wanted to stay in the snow and forest so I turned around instead of continuing all the way to Interlaken.

It was a beautiful day that made me appreciate my sunscreen and sunglasses. Absolutely glorious to be in the mountains and snow. I ended up walking for about seven hours, taking twenty minutes to eat my lunch while sitting across from a church, next to a covered bridge, alongside a stream, with the sun shining on my back.

One of those "life is good" kind of days where you end up exhausted with sore feet but not really caring because of the beauty you enjoyed.

There were numerous wood piles stacked randomly alongside the path.
Dad, you would have been impressed with their precision.

A frozen puddle.

They really need to update their image files for making signs.

This sign made me laugh.
The Swiss apparently need their signs to be extremely explicit.

So many peaks made me think, "Hey, I'll bet that was the inspiration for the Grinch's mountain!"