On Vox: Gornergrat
(Mon 29 June - Part Two)
Glacialtributory
Descending back down from the glacial heights of Kleine Matterhorn, we set off back down through the hotels of Zermatt in search of our original goal. The Gornergrat Railway starts close to the main railway station - the only way to get to Zermatt - and this might be one reason for the "happy hour" prices we were glad we spotted. Another might be the lure of the restaurant and the "highest shopping mall in Europe" at the top, neither of which we felt the need to seek out!
With tickets discounted and then halved again by our trusty Swiss Pass, we climbed aboard the narrow gauge cog railway for our second ascent to above 3000m of the day. With few people traveling at this time, we got great seats, being able to look ahead over the driver's shoulder as the train wound its way up the mountain. In fact we ended up with a whole carriage to ourselves, apart from the guard resting his feet after a bit.
As the gradient kicked in, the big bottle of juice I had stood on the floor toppled over and went rolling down the carriage, and I set off in hot pursuit, much amusing the guard. Just as I caught up with it the opened bottle of pop on the table decided to join in the game. Fortunately it was pretty empty, so the guard could still be entertained rather than cross!
Kleine Matterhorn
Soon we were rewarded with incredible views, including looking across at the nobble we had stood atop earlier in the day. From this perspective the rock peak looked very small amongst the ice and snow.
Our observation skills were rewarded again with a second sighting of an alpine marmot, standing guard on a ridge and scampering for the burrows as the train passed. Imagine extra large squirrels with the tail of a beaver. Very cute, and there were probably many more that vanished without us catching a glimpse!
Eventually the top station was reached, at 3089m above sea level. Ignoring the restaurant/shopping mall/space observatory/hotel towering above us we watched as a couple of our fellow passengers readied their mountain bikes for a trail that definitely lives up to their choice of bikes. Hope they had lots of wear left on their brake pads! Hmm. Bike loan was included with our hotel room .......
Matterhorn from Gornergrat
Then there was the view. Woah! There were at least 8 glaciers, many of which cascaded down into the same valley, squeezing along together like stripy toothpaste as one big river of ice. Blue rivers wiggled over the immense white river, with sapphire lakes glinting in the sunshine. Huge cliffs of ice tower precariously, waiting for gravity to notice them. We ran out of words and just stood and looked for a while.
Then we had the chore of traveling back down the mountain to Zermatt and then on down the valley towards our hotel. All that scenery, and the trains doing all the work. Terrible!
Originally posted on planetprent.vox.com