Tuesday 19th August: Morning Cloudy and cold, Afternoon Sunny and Cool 5°C to 18°C.
Zermatt to Europahut:16.8K: 9.00am to 3.30pm: 6hrs 30 mins
Looking back on Zermatt
The Glacier Express in the tunnel.
How much further up Ian?
The view is worth the climb
It's good to be back in the Alps
The broken suspension bridge
Clouds lifting to a warm sunny day
10 minutes to go to the Europa Hut
Highlight of the day was simply finishing at the famous Europa Hut at a height of 2220 metres after a 850 metre climb out of the Mattertal valley. It was also a bonus that the weather improved throughout the day to a beautiful cool sunny day in the mountains.
It was nice to have a warm flat bed and after an early night we were awake at 6am to cld drizzly rain. More re packing then a beautiful Swiss breakfast with a spread of cereals, yoghurts, fruits meats and cheeses - all with a view of the Matterhorn shrouded in mist. We leave a Chinese bag (full of stuff we really don't need) at the hotel as we'll be returning on the 28th then head off through the village and stop at the local Migros supermarket to stock up on meat cheese bread and tomatoes and don't forget the chocolate, for two days worth of lunches. Then its off down the valley.
There's signposts every which way but we're headed towards Randa then up and up to the Europa Hut. The track is a narrow goats track above the train line and the Glacier Express crawls past with passengers "doing" breakfast while watching the scenery. It's still drizzly but warming up as we walk past Tasch, a valley village that's just a huge parking lot for all the cars that can't get into Zermatt. The first bench seat we see in the sun we stop at for our first coffee of the trip. As usual when we first start out Ian can't find the spoon, I can't find the sugar, but we'll get organised for tomorrow.
An hour later and we're at Randa where the track then climbs out of the valley to the Europa Hut. The huge rockfall that crashed into Randa a few years ago is still dominant. Crossing the highway, we find a sign that says its 2hrs 30mins to the hut, and it's only midday - we're doing well for the first day out. The climb is steep and we slow down to incy steps one after the other up and up through the forests. But the view down the valley and across to the alps is worth every step.
After climbing for 1hr 30mins, we're famished and stop for a piece of bread and cheese - not too much or it breaks one of my rules not to eat lunch before a climb - the blood diverts to the stomach draining the legs and causing them to seize up - not fun with another hour of climbing.
There's lots of walkers on this track, mostly heading down, but at least we've finally encountered real hikers and not Zermatt posers. Some have been to teh Dom hut, a further 600 metre climb above the Europa Hut. They're travelling with ropes, helmets and crampons - no thanks. It's not long before we see a waterfall of boulders and rocks in the crevice cascading down to the valley. And across this minefield is the remains of teh suspension bridge that was knocked out several years ago, preventing use of the section of the Europaweg between the Europa Hut and Zermatt. This is the reason for our walk along the valley to Randa then up, instead of climbing strainght out of Zermatt.
It's not long til we see a sign showing 10minutes to the Europa Hut. And then around teh corner and we're there. It's got a huge balcony overlooking the valley and is in full sun. We grab a bed each in the 6 person dorm, then head back down to the balcony for a drink and the rest of lunch. We pay 4 Swiss Francs each for a coin operated 2 minute shower and get organised enough so that we can jump in as soon as the coin hits the start button. The water is beautiful and hot. Drying with a one foot square face washer is not easy but it saves carrying a full sized towel that takes up half the back pack. There's time to do a bit of washing and hang it on the still sunny balcony.
Time to blog before dinner and chat to Francis, an English girl doing the Tour de Monte Rosa as a prelim to her taking a group from KE Adventure around starting in 2 days time. She was checking out the route prior to acting as guide to 4 British walkers. This was an unbelievable co-incidence as I had stumbled across this tour whist researching our own trip. Francis was a wealth of information not only for the Monte Rosa but also for our next stage, The Walkers High Route from Zermatt to Chamonix, a route that Fran had done 3 times as a guide. We were reassured that we didn't need crampons and ropes for our last day crossing the glacier Theodule, something that had bothered me.
Dinner was at 6.30 and really nice for a mountain hut. Hot soup (thin onion soup), meat with carrots and mashed potato, then vanilla custard. We don't last long at the table and by 8.30 we're off to our 6 person dorm with bunk beds.