Friday 29th August: Sunny but slightly overcast - Morning 12°C, Afternoon 18°C
Zermatt to St Niklaus: 23.3k: 9.00am to 3.00pm: 6hrs
Expensive concrete delivery
It's a long long road to St Niklaus
Coffee break in the pine forrest
Rock slide at Randa 100 m from us
Rock slide gathers momentum
Walking beside the Glacier Express
Pretty Chalets in Herbriggen
Looking back at Herbriggen
Lunch. Time to check the GPS
Sewing Repairs on Ian's Back Pack
Today is the start of our second stage from Zermatt to Chamonix. It was supposed to be just a long casual walk down the valley of the Matter Vispa River from Zermatt to St Niklaus, but soon after coffee we saw a huge landslide about 100 metres in front of us. Not exactly the highlight of the day but definitely a memorable moment.
Breakfast is delightful. A full breakfast of fruits, 6 different meuslies, yoghurts, 10 different breads, meats, cheeses and jams, all with a view of the Matterhorn. It's a little overcast today but no sign of rain. It seems to take forever to repack all our washing and the excess stuff we stored at the hotel to pick up for our next stage. But when we pick up our packs, they seem to weigh a ton, compared to the last few days of the Monte Rosa trip when we used up all our shampoo, soaps, tea, coffee, sugar and nuts. No we have a full store plus more maps and books and mine is at least 2kg heavier - back to just over 8kg.
First stop is the Zermatt Post Office. Ian can't throw away is tattered Storm Trooper, so it get's posted back to Luca in Bern to retrieve when we visit him and take back home. We know the scenario having been to the Post Office yesterday so it only takes 5 minutes and we're on our way. We've already travelled part of the track before on the first leg of the Monte Rosa, so this time we walk down the road instead of the forested track, just to see some different scenery. There's a lot of construction work going on in and around Zermatt and the only way to get concrete delivered is by helicopter carrying a huge bucket.
It's very relaxing being able to look up and enjoy the staggering mountain sides hovering above us this time. 2hrs later and we're in Randa looking for a seat to have coffee, and lo and behold a table and chairs appears in a park. Perfect. A few minutes later we stop to chat to an American group who are on their last day of the Chamonix to Zermatt Route which we are doing in reverse.
Just lucky we stopped for coffee then a chat, for five minutes later, we hear this almighty thunderous roar and look up to see and avalanche of boulders catapulting down the mountainside about 100 metres in front of us. We stand in amazement as clouds of dust drift our way. A second fall occurs and we stand still for 10 minutes wondering if it's safe to go on. And then an emergency helicopter hovers high in the sky checking out the damage and descends to land less than 20 metres from us. We're not sure but we think he dropped down to warn us. The dust settles and cautiously at first we walk beneath the rock fall, and then we run as fast as we can to get around the corner. This Randa rockfall has been an ongoing drama. According to Wikipedia, 'In April and May 1991, two consecutive rockslides occurred from a cliff above the town of Randa in the Matter valley of Switzerland. The rockslides released a cumulative volume of approximately 30 million cubic meters of debris, with each of the rockslide stages occurring over several hours." That's a huge volume of rocks.
Continuing on, our path follows the Glacier Express and through the really pretty town of Herbriggen with every chalet having flower boxes and masses of coloured flowers adorning the building. Looking back down the valley, we see that Herbriggen is a beautiful village with views right back to the Alps above Zermatt. We're starving by 2pm and find a seat, which is only half a seat, under a shady pine tree, for lunch. The usual bread, meat, Mace (leaves that look like clover), cheese with mayonnaise.
At 3pm we roll into St Niklaus, and looking up, we're a bit daunted by the massive high mountains that we're climbing up tomorrow. A climb of 1700 metres up and over and down into Gruben. There's a slight rain shower as we continue on to find our Hotel Edelweiss at the far end of town, but the good thing is it's only 100 metres from Migros store - ham salad in the hotel Room again tonight. The dinner downstairs is Cheese Fondu - which is really masses of stale bread dipped in hot melted cheese, probably left over from the Hotel's breakfast.
Time to shower, re-pack, resort, see what else I can throw away ready for the big climb tomorrow, and do some sewing repairs on the bottom of Ian's MacPac. The plastic internal support is poking through the bottom and needs some TLC so it doesn't dig into his back. Then it's off to the supermarket just 100 metres up the road. We try to be careful not to buy too much as we'll only have to haul it up the mountain. A log of mortadella, fresh bread - a light one and a rogenbrut that weighs a kilo, cheese and 2 large cans of beer.
Back to our hotel room, where we spread our goodies on the table, add yesterdays leftovers of Mace and tomatoes, a dash of mayonnaise and it's yum. The internet doesn't work, the TV doesn't work, maya as well go to bed early. It's 8.30pm. A long day tomorrow.