Last day, trip to Trümmelbachfälle and Wengen - Manlichen

May 30

So now we're all packed after yesterday, right?  More to come on that. But for now the weather is better for the destination than it was yesterday. So we head out about 9AM for Trümmelbachfälle. Think waterfalls, about 13, that you can hike into and around. Not to mention that the views of the Öberland valley are spectacular.

On our last train before getting on the bus with all the other tourists we found the mail car. "Why?" you ask. Because all the other tourists and commuters had taken and packed all of the other seats and cars.  This car was the runt that no one wanted but us. As you can see the kids didn't care and wasted no time getting a game of the Great Dalmuti going. 

Now on to the wonders of Trümmelbachfälle. Here's what you see as you approach the entry and pay point. 

FYI - they only take cash and the souvenir shop outside of the entry too. But it has the lowest prices on any souvenirs! 

With our fee paid, up we went. You can ride an elevator up and then hike up some to see some falls and then hike down to see the others. We opted to walk up and then down to grab the elevator back down. I will confess that I was a bad father/tourist and did not note which fall the pictures are of or that the children are standing in front of. With that disclaimer out of the way here we go. 

See the rainbow from the mist kicked up by the massive volume of water moving in this fall. Noise wise it sounds like a jet engine at full throttle on a southwest flight when sitting in the back on take off. 

 

Here are the kids enjoying it. 

This fall was interesting because it had what appeared to be a tree stump in the middle of it. We were unable to determine if it was the remains of a tree that had been felled and gotten washed into the fall.  Or if some insanely crazy individual had gone in to cut it to minimize the risk of it falling on tourists. I tend to think it was the former, but there was a branch with green leaves attached to the stump that was occasionally visible.  

I believe this one is called Corkscrew falls. 

This is a little closer shot.

Here's one that J wanted to be photographed with. Sorry for the white washout streak on the left. 

Here's a shot of D as we waited for the elevator to take us down. How many waterfalls can you spot falling into the valley?

Here's a picture of the three of us. 

I was able to go up a couple steps and get this 360 degree picture.

For the interactive version click here.

Then we grabbed the elevator down. This is the view down. I'll try to post the video of it. 

Here's a picture of D in her element. I think she much prefers this to wet, damp cold tunnels with noisy waterfalls. 

Here's a 360 degree image so D can go back any time. 

For the interactive 360 view click here.

Next we got our souvenirs, thank you to grandma. Then it was back on to a bus to go back to the train station and catch a train to Wengen. Once in Wengen we caught a sky tram that runs on cables and takes you up about 3000 feet in elevation change in about a minute or so. It's quite impressive given that there is only one tower between the terminals. 

This is the view from below. 

You can't even see the upper terminal because it's in the clouds being snowed upon. 

Here the kids are boarding the car and ready to go. We only had about 4 other individuals join our journey up. 

Once on board the operator came on board and got out journey underway. No safety announcement, just check the instruments and pushed a button and we were off. Check out this picture of J. I think he was enjoying it. Thanks to BUSD that is homework he has on his lap! Grrrr. 

D was wandering around the car checking out the views. While making the ascent and talking with the operator we discover that they has been closed yesterday due to severe weather, wind and snow. We were also informed that closure rarely happens as this aerial tram has these orange triangle structures that keep the cables from getting twisted. The outer two cables are guide cables and the middle cable is the pull/push cable. As one car ascends the other car on the opposite side descends.  While we are talking about this the car goes over the one tower and releases off. Naturally the car gently swings a little, like a ski lift does. People's natural reaction kicks in and they get startled. The operator says not to worry, it happens all day long. I then asked, "It never gets old, does it?" He simply grinned and said, "Nope".

Anyway we arrive at the end and disembark and start our hike to the top of the mountain. It should say something when you notice that the snow-blown path end and there is a rope and avalanche fences on either side, but we kept on walking. Liz and D turned around and headed back to the tram terminal. We kept going to the North Pole. Seriously this is a sign post telling how far and in which direction to head to reach certain mountains in the Alps. Normally during this time of year the snow is mostly gone and things are in bloom. 

We'd paid our money and wanted to see the view. Here's a picture that summarizes what we should have been able to see and what we saw. 

Well we'd reached the summit amid mild snowfall and we had chocolate cookies (think Hits) to eat. Not to mention the boys were having fun in the snow. 

Here's J loving it. 

Just as we were about to leave the clouds parted in the valley on the other side of the mountain. Here's what we saw. 

Here's a panoramic to try to give some perspective. 

And another. 

Here's J and I, not my best look, but not a complete photo bomb either. 

On our hike down we saw these flowers that didn't get the memo that spring had not begun. Matter of fact today's paper, Friday May 31 talked about some ski resorts that were reopening due to the fact that snow is still falling!

Here's J coming down the path. 

Getting closer

And closer, with a snowball. Run with fear!

If you know J you know that he loves snow. He was geeking out about the icicles and ran under them and was shouting, "Ahh. Icicles, I'm gonna die!" and kept repeating it. 

Then a little more snow time. 

Then we met up with Liz and D at the terminal. While boarding the weather cleared allowing these shots from the terminal.

What the kids looked like on the ride down. 

Then we got to the bottom and could actually see the top terminal where we had been. Can you find it?

Here's what we saw as we took the train from Manlikchen and made our way back to Steffisburg. 

So about being all packed. Yeah, not really. We got back to the house with instructions on how to prep dinner since grandma and grandpa still were tying up loose ends in Bern. Liz was already packed, but Catherine and I were not. So Liz was kind enough to take on dinner prep while we packed, and packed we did. By the time grandma and grandpa got back Catherine was all packed and bags weighed. I had one bag packed and weighed, but wasn't sure how much room I needed and if I had all that I was taking back for grandma and grandpa. Anyway I finished packing and got to bed by 11pm since I didn't do the blog. I'm doing it at 35k feet above sea level.