small trips around a big world
The fall colors in Switzerland's Loetschental valley are spectacular. We first discovered this secret paradise during Chris's birthday trip exactly a year ago, waking up to mountains aflame with brilliant orange larchwoods. This was the scene we were anticipating when we returned on the same weekend a year later, but instead, we watched from our little... Continue Reading →
People have been wandering through the Lötschental Valley since before the Bronze Age. Up until the Middle Ages, the Lötsch Pass was an important connection between Switzerland's Bernese Oberland and Valais. Nestled between the Bernese and Valais Alps in the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site, the remoteness of the Lötschental has preserved a simple way... Continue Reading →
I had my weekend sights set on the newly opened World's Longest Suspension Bridge, connecting Grächen to Zermatt on the breathetaking Europaweg. So on Friday evening I put my computer away, hoisted my pack over my shoulder, and jumped on a three-hour train to Visp. From there I climbed on a yellow post bus that... Continue Reading →
Once upon a time, herders used to walk their sheep across the massive 23km Aletsch glacier from the Belalp to the Riederalp. Sadly, today this is no longer possible due to the effects of global warming, which have caused the largest ribbon of ice in the Alps to retreat 3km since 1870, with 90 percent of... Continue Reading →
Walking through Brig on New Year's day, we passed one of the most exciting advertisements I've ever seen - an oversized alphorn carved with the words "2017 Swiss Jodelfestival - Brig, June 23-35". Yodeling is an integral part of Swiss culture, having developed many centuries ago as a form of communication in mountainous and inaccessible... Continue Reading →
For a peaceful transition from 2016 to 2017, we decided to unplug for the weekend and retreat to the mountains. We had planned a relaxing New Years in a rustic wooden hut above the town of Riederalp, situated at the end of the Aletsch Glacier UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Europe's largest and most powerful glacier,... Continue Reading →
(Spoiler: we did not see Ibexes, only their hoof prints – or maybe they were just plain old goats – in the sand along the Rhone. But you can see photos of Ibexes here!) A visit from Allison’s brother inspired our second trip to the Swiss wine region of Valais, this time during the beautiful autumn colors.... Continue Reading →
We hopped on the train after a morning at the local farmers market in Ferney on a rainy Saturday. We were heading northish then eastish around the lake to the Valais canton -- a valley framed by the Alps and punctuated by jagged mountains and occasional glimpses of some of the tallest white-capped mountains in the Alps.... Continue Reading →