Tag Archives: Hiking in Switzerland

Aug24

A Big Hike #2 – My hike to Arbenbach Falls

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Monday, 22-July-2024


The day started off rainy, or at least foggy and cloudy, but that’s absolutely no obstacle for excellent adventures… as the views I found at Arbenbach falls prove.

It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts to my second long hike, I’ll admit. I got going a bit late, was feeling tired, and it was cloudy and foggy when I went into town to pick up some breakfast and lunch snacks.

I persevered, though, quickly diving into the trail and picking my way through the minor horde of tourists that was going between the start of my trail and the first of the interesting stops along the way. It was absolutely lovely, as most trails in Zermatt are, and I took full advantage of this first stop. It was a small hamlet of four or five houses called Z’mutt, with two little restaurants in between the clusters of houses. I had a quick cup of coffee… and took the chance to apply a whole slathering of sunscreen in preparation for my ascent.



The sun was strong, the trail steep, and my legs strong.

I forged upward, sweating enough that I ended up cooling down by hiking without my shirt for a bit… a smart decision at the time, it seemed, but one that would bite me in the butt (shoulder, technically) later on… but for the time being, it was a lovely ascent.

I hiked, my poles pounded on the trail, and the sun slowly burned off the clouds and fog surrounding the nearby peaks. The Matterhorn never quite escaped its blanket of cloying mist, but it came close on quite a few occasions – always standing proud and giving simply stunning views to yours truly.

By and by, I made it to Arbenbach falls. They were, unsurprisingly, beautiful and photogenic – absolutely perfect for an afternoon stop for water, electrolytes, and lunch. I sat, I supped, I rested and I appreciated the views. Hikers passed me in both directions, never once noticing the recharging American sitting in the shade of the waterfalls with his book, his sausage roll, and a quickly-emptying pile of waterbottles.

It was… I just can’t even describe. It was glorious, even recounting it now so many weeks later.


The descent was, somehow, equally beautiful as the ascent. More-so, in some cases, as the sunlight stretched toward the horizon and the mountains around me lit up with the glow of golden hour.

I trekked downward, having put on my knee braces as a preventative measure, making good time on my return to Zermatt. I armored up with my shirt, now that the day was cooling off and the sun wasn’t burning down on me quite as intensely, and found myself cruising down the mountain alone… all the previous tourists having headed into town for Fondue or something of the like.

It was quiet, it was lovely, and it was serene. I was serene.


Aug22

A hike in the rain #2 – The Zermatt fitness trail

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Sunday, 21-July-2024


After my morning hike in the rain, and a glorious bowl of fondue and a delicious cup of coffee, I was ready for a bit of a rest… which I took.

And then I went hiking again.


Earlier in the week, specifically when I hiked through Gorner Gorge, I noticed an interesting set of signs on a short portion of one of the trails I was on. Something about a “Zermatt fitness trail”… which seemed interesting, especially since Zermatt is particularly conducive to fitness – elevation, mountains, no cars, etc…

What sort of fitness trail would a village in the Swiss Alps have? I needed to find out.



What I found was basically exactly what one would expect a fitness trail to be, regardless of location and elevation – it was a lovely trail, through the mountains, with various workout stations scattered throughout. Jumping jacks, lunges, squats, pull-ups, and push-ups. Lots of -ups.

Today was, in the end, one of my rest days… regardless of how much hiking I was doing. As such, I went light on the fitness trail – just stopping for a single station to do some pull-ups, since those targetted antagonistic muscles to those I’d been using on my hiking poles… and muscles unlikely to be dramatically necessary to the hike I had planned for tomorrow.

It was lovely, it was rainy, and I felt good.

As should be!

Aug21

A hike in the rain #1 – Toward the Edelweiss Hut

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Sunday, 21-July-2024


After a long and amazing hike the previous day, I decided to take Sunday as a rest day.

That fits pretty well, in my mind. Some kind of historic significance to that…


This is me, we’re talking about, though. In one of the most beautiful mountain towns in the world. I wasn’t about to sit on the couch eating bon-bons and watching TV… no matter whether or not they were available in large supply in the various chocolate shops around town.

Instead, I did a few hikes. Or… attempted to, I should say.

You see, it was rainy out, which adds a bit of challenge to the trail… and risk of injury from slipping… and limits the views available on said hikes. I still wanted to get onto the mountainside, but I made sure to do so safely and cautiously – which means that I went slowly, and did a nicely simple hike to start out.



My target was the Edelweiss Hut – a restaurant / lodge high up on the steep slopes to the West of town. It… well, frankly it was a bit too ambitious, in terms of elevation gain over distance, but still. It seemed like a fun idea, to hike and then have lunch and then hike down.

It wasn’t to be, though, as the trail that I was aiming for was one of the victims of the recent flash floods, and was closed down with quite a bit of caution tape barring my way. I could have gone around, of course, via a similar (but much longer) trail… but that would have been pushing a bit too far in terms of milage for my “rest” day.

On top of that, I was sticking to the rule of 3. Three things go wrong, you cancel the trip. End statement. Prior to the trail being out, I’d forgotten my hiking poles, and… something else went wrong too, that I frankly can’t quite recall at this time. Suffice to say, I simply took it in stride, and headed around a shorter loop… consoling myself by finding an absolutely LOVELY fondue restaurant when I made it back to town.

And, to be clear – I was rewarded for that discretion. The new trail I took was stunning, and granted me some amazing rainy views that I simply adore. I hope you do, as well: