Switzerland - July

Walking into ZermattWe arrived in Zermatt 2 hours after leaving Chamonix, we checked into our hostel and had dinner. After dinner we went for a walk around town before retreating to the pub as rain developed. The showers hung around the next day but we were still keen to get out and walk so we chose a low altitude loop of the valley. It was a good combination of forest, grassland and mountain chalets so we were never far from a hot cup of coffee.

Monta Rosa Peak and the Gornergletscher

The next day we went off on our most ambitious walk from the gornergrat railway station across the Gornergletscher to the Monta Rosa hut and back down to Zermatt village. The bad weather cleared early in the morning and we had awesome clear skies.

Crossing the Gornergletscher

We dropped steadily down to the glacier and began to cross it. It was fascinating with crevasses, deep blue pools and massive rocks, after an hour on the ice we clambered up the valley side to the Monta Rosa hut. At the hut we sat back in the sunshine enjoying a cold beer, lunch and the spectacular glacial scenery all around.

Lunch at the Monta Rosa Hut

The old man springing over the crevasses
Views of the Matterhorn heading back down to Zermatt

After lunch we headed back the way we came as far as the train station, after that we continued on down to the Zermatt Village enjoying great views of the Matterhorn. We got back into town at 7pm, 10hrs after we started walking. After dinner we went back into town for a couple of beers to celebrate our last night in Zermatt.

The next day we packed up, got back into the car and headed over to Milan. It was a good drive as we went up over the Simplon pass and then down past lake Maggiore in Italy where we stopped for lunch and a swim. We then drove on to Milan to return the rental car and have our final night. On Sunday dad took the train down to Florence for the first of his conferences. It was a great trip, we saw lots of cool stuff and got some awesome hiking in.