Lauterbrunnental

A week after arriving in Switzerland, Joel and I went to do a hike from Kleine Scheidegg to Männlichen and then on to Wengen.  This hike is in the Jungfrau Region of the Alps and it was even more magnificent than expected.

Fresh Alpine Air

The Lauterrunnental
(tal means valley)

The North Face of The Eiger shrouded in clouds.

Along the path

Wildflowers photographed by Joel

Happy Cows

And friendly!

Joel on the way up to Männlichen

On the top!  Literally in the clouds.

About to hike down 3000 feet in one hour.  As in straight down!

Clearly needed Avalanche Gates

More wildflowers

Just a day in the Alps

Picture perfect mountains

About half way down.  Trees!  

Alpenglow

Miraculously we got on the last train out of Wengen and made all of the final connections back to Adliswil.  Talk about lucky! 

If you would like to visit Kleine Scheidegg and the Jungfrau Region, here are a few tips. 

Joel got the book Classic Walks in Western Europe at Powell's before we left and this was the first walk we did from the book.  Highly recommended!

We were surprised at how sore we were after this walk.  Hiking straight down uses completely different muscles, so be prepared to take it easy for a few days afterward, or train yourself adequately ahead of time.  

Half-Fare Travelcard holders can save money on train fare with the Tageskarte (Day Pass) from SBB.  The Tageskarte will get you all the way to Wengen and then you have only to pay 12 CHF for the private Jungfrau Railway to Kleine Scheidegg.  

Not a Half-Fare Travelcard holder?  SBB has offers for visitors from abroad.  For an even thriftier approach, look into the Eurail Pass before leaving home as Swiss Trains, like everything else, are notoriously expensive.  

However, once you get there, it's like those Mastercard commercials. Utterly priceless!