“Do something every day that scares you.”
I’m pretty sure Eleanor Roosevelt would approve of this jaunt…
The morning after my decedent meal in Interlaken, I woke up early and ready for a physical adventure. The plan was to go canyoning, but water levels were too high. I decided to go paragliding while I figured out what else to do with my day (this isn’t the scary part).
Paragliding is actually pretty easy. You take off running with your partner and float into the sky. It’s a peaceful ride!
While I was flying through the air with my guide, I picked his brain for suggestions about what to do for the afternoon. He suggested a hike and told me about a place he likes. One train and a bus ride later, I was at the bottom of a mountain in Stechelberg ready to hike to Mürren.
It started out innocently enough. There was a light rain, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The air was crisp and the foliage was a stunningly bright green. I took off, humming to myself as I climbed.
The rain picked up, but wasn’t too oppressive. The higher I went, the colder it got. I was moving at a pretty good clip and the cool air actually felt good. When the rain turned to big, fluffy snowflakes I was thrilled!
The spring snow was pretty wet, and I was getting soaked. I stopped in a little hut along the trail for a snack and to dry off. I thought about turning around, but I had a goal in mind! I kept moving and tried to enjoy the awe-inspiring views.
Inside the hut
When the snow began accumulating, I got a little concerned. There were signs along the trail telling me I had about an hour and a half to go. I’d already gotten half way up, so it seemed silly not to continue.
The further I went, the harder it snowed. I still didn’t feel cold, but my hair was soaked and my ears were starting to sting. You know that panicky feeling you get when you begin to doubt your location and ability? It started creeping in. I forged on, checking out signage about avalanches, gawking at mountain goats, and admiring tulips in the snow.
I knew I had to be close, but that didn’t stop me from being concerned. I started wondering who would find my frozen body (a silly thought, I know). I hadn’t seen any one else the entire hike. I started running, but that was tiring on such an incline. I needed to calm down. So I sang some songs to myself. The Sound of Music, I Wanna Be Sedated, the Georgia Tech fight song… then houses appeared in the distance.
I wasn’t going to die!!! I’ve never been so relieved to see a gondola in my life! 5374ft. Whew.
I’d originally planned to hike for another few miles to the next town, but I was done – mentally and physically. And I was thirsty.
The next gondola down wasn’t for an hour, so I went into a little restaurant to thaw out and have a sparkling water. The view was unreal. I couldn’t believe I’d just hiked through the snow (totally unprepared).
View from the restaurant in Murren
Soaked, but accomplished!
View of Stechelberg on the gondola ride back down
Back at the bottom of the mountain, I jumped on the bus to Lauterbrunnen. I must have looked like a cold, wet puppy because the bus driver befriended me and gave me chocolate. When I asked where I could get dinner, he suggested a place called Hotel Oberland. He said they served authentic fondue that wasn’t too “touristy.” Funny, because it’s owned by an Australian!
I had been in Switzerland for a week and hadn’t had any fondue! I parked my cold buns in the seat, and ordered a beer to go with a giant pot of fondue. It came with a delicious salad too (much needed with all the cheese). The fondue was served with mushrooms, chives, garlic, and onion to add to the boiling pot. There were bread pieces and potatoes for dipping.
It was quite good – the bubbly cheese was flavorful and pleasantly sharp. I greedily shoveled in the first bites and burned the crap out of my tongue. Oops.
Fondue is tasty, but that is a LOT of cheese. I ate about 2/3 of the pot before crying uncle.
300 floors and almost 24K steps later, I was done. Side note: my Fitbit is now at the bottom of a gorge in Zermatt. But that’s another story.
***
Needless to say, I slept like a baby. It was marvelous.
Have you ever gone into uncharted territory and panicked a bit?
Do you sing to yourself to calm down? What song?
You my friend are ballzyyyyy…. All that in another country? Epic. At least you had some traditional Swiss food to cute the temperamental uneasiness!
Food cures all! 🙂
What an adventure- love it!! And if I lick the screen will I taste the fondue? Yummmmm
LOL! Depends… have you been cooking with your laptop on the counter? 😉
YOU are amazing girl, I am Swiss and used to the snow but I would have started to cry. Or yes, sing – Happy Birthday (in case I wouldn’t be alive at my next b-day anymore) Or My Uncle has a farm…..or Kokaboora!
I love that you are wearing my jacket! Makes me feel so proud and V.I.P.
Kokaboora? What is that??? You wouldn’t have cried – I watched you beast it the whole time I was there! 🙂
Thank you again or loaning the jacket to me! I actually would have cried without it. I hate being cold!
Jesus, you are adventurous! That would be a tad terrifying. I’m not sure how I would have handled it…probably not as well as you did, I’m not a fan of snow, lol. Glad that you survived!
Adventurous… crazy… it’s a fine line. 😉
That is scary! That’s like a movie or something. I’m glad you found the gondola and restaurant at the top!
Wow paragliding cool! That totally scares me. Looks like you had a blast!
It was cool, but definitely the least scary part of the day!
This is crazy awesome, go you! I’m not big on cheese but I sure wouldn’t mind a chocolate fondue :-)!
Wow you are very brave, that is definitely one of my worse fears when camping, hiking, etc. I wouldve have probably started crying. That being said it does look like it was worth, amazing views and a pretty awesome story. I sing to myself when i have to get blood taken, but when I’m lost I only have a one track mind of panic, haha.
I should try singing when I have a throat culture… that’s my worst fear!
That sounds so scary! But awesome at the same time 🙂 The first time I had proper fondue it killed me. The first food to defeat me – 2lbs of cheese…
Wait. A food defeated you?! My image of you is ruined. 😉
WOW this sounds so scary but what a fun way to see and conquer a new area! You can say I CONQUERED MURREN! Lots of love to you!
Thank you!!! You’ll have to try it one day. 🙂
I love how paragliding was NOT the scary part of this story! I went in Cape Town a couple of years ago and while it was thrilling, I agree that it’s much scarier than it looks.
I would have been terrified on the mountain in the snow though!!! I’m prone to imagining the worst in scary situations haha.
One time the BF and I got lost in the mountains of Belize at night on an empty tank of gas in an area restricted by the Belizian government. Thank goodness we managed to have enough gas to get out but it was pretty scary while it was happening. We blasted Passion Pit in our rental the whole time, trying to chill out 🙂
Whoa… I would have flipped my shit getting lost like that!!! Excellent choice in music though! 😉
i swear we hiked that same path and ate that fondu!! AHHH wish i was with you. Next time! that way you don’t have to panic.
No way. Really??? Next time let’s do the Matterhorn!
I’m glad you went with a pot of cheese, even if you couldn’t totally finish it. That actually is a lot of cheese (!), but I love the chives and garlic additions. I would have killed the salad too. 🙂
You just admitted the cheese was a lot?! Expect a cold front. Hell just froze over.
I’ll have an extra drink tonight so I can come to my senses. 🙂
What a great story! I bet you will remember that hike for a long time! I was once on a hike in the snow (surprise snow) and we decided to forge on up. On the way back down it had snowed so much that it obscured the trail!!!
Thankfully someone among us had brought both a trail map and a compass (so prepared, and it wasn’t me) and managed to navigate us safely back down to the bottom. But who actually brings a printed trail map and a compass with them hiking? Let me tell you – I do now.
I’m so glad you had such an accomplished hike – and you look so happy and adventure-seeking in that photo!
Oh yes – I’ll never forget this one! Brilliant idea about a trail map… who would have thought? LOL!
Wow, that is impressive!! I would have been terrified all by myself, but that’s awesome that you made it so far… & in a different country!! A good story adventure to tell now though. 🙂
Thanks! At least by the time I got really concerned I was closer to the top than the bottom. 🙂
OMG this brings back memories! I para-glided while I was living in Spain in college. I wish I had pictures of myself in the air. It was actually easy and not scary at all.
Spain is so beautiful! I ‘d love to paraglide there. Or live there. Either way. 😉
WOW! What an experience! I give you so much credit for tackling a hike like that on your own! I would have been a little apprehensive and probably would have freaked out when the snow started! You’ve got a lot of moxie, Laura!! 🙂
Thank you! I love the word moxie. 🙂
I SO SO SO SO ADMIRE YOUR—what my people call—CHUTZPAH.
and yes.
I rap to myself.
freestyle.
Thank you! (And I speak the Yiddish!)
Girl, I can’t imagine. I’m such a chicken. Sometimes I sing to myself when running if I’m starting to struggle a bit.
I’ve done that hike before with my fam! I love it up there 🙂
And fondue…Mmmmmmmm!!!
Glad you made it safely on the hike, though! That weather up there in the Alps can be crayyyyyy.
Really??? Lindsay Cotter said she did too! Small world for as big as it is. 🙂
So amazing!
Amazing! Soaring through the air and then diving into cheese. Champion.
What a wonderful hiking, such an incredible time!
You are so full of awesome spirit!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you!!! Spirit with a side of over-confidence. LOL!
You are SUCH a beast!! And yes… I know that exact panic feeling. I think that feeling is worse than the situation most of the time, you know? I was laughing thinking about you singing I Wanna Be Sedated, too LOL!
It seemed like the perfect song. LOL! 🙂
girl you are crazy 😉 love ya!
A little, yes. It just doesn’t occur to me that I can’t do something. LOL!
Wow, that looks like the trip of a lifetime!!! Love the pictures!
It was definitely up there! And I learned I love traveling alone (and crashing random blogger’s houses -Lucie was a blast!).
It’s like a Colorado hike!! I’m thinking Switzerland and Colorado are closer than they seem, right? 🙂
Touche…
HOLY HELL, WOMAN!!! I got lost once on a trail in California…two hours and TEN miles later, I made it back…starving and with half a dozen blisters! FYI: not such a good idea to break in a pair of Vibram Five Fingers on a ten mile trek for your life! Lol
Ohhh, sorry to hear about the Fit Bit! 🙁