Awhile back, a good friend of mine passed along an invite to a Navigator's Labor Day Weekend retreat in Kandersteg, Switzerland. Being that I hadn't seen Jana for well over a year, and hiking in Switzerland has been at the top of my Euro-"to do" list for as long as I can remember, it took very little convincing to get me to check out plane tickets and travel logistics!
I made it to the little hiker's/climber's town of Kandersteg on Friday afternoon by way of Milan, Italy. On Saturday morning, we got up. (had a stern talking to with my still present jetlag), had breakfast, then headed into town. About half of the group of hikers were starting the hike from town level, and the rest of us decided to by-pass the first hour by taking the Gondola up to the Oeschinensee Glacial Lake. In addition to not being sure how my leg would do on a strenuous hike, and being ridiculously out of shape, Jana and I had a plan to hike high enough up towards the actual Glacier that we could have a better vantage point of the lake, and see a few waterfalls that feed it.
Well. Some pride issues (we joined forces with a new friend, and I don't think any of us wanted to be the "one" to throw in the towel!) and one too many "just a little bit furthers" later, we got to the point that we were SO CLOSE to summiting the glacier, that we couldn't turn around!!!
So many hours and heart palpitations and sore muscles later, we MADE IT to Frundenhutte!! By this point, yes, we were above the clouds and practically on top of the world. I have never seen anything more incredible. Crayola, if you're reading this, no Crayon box will ever be complete without the color of that water!!
We made it about as high as you can go without having special equipment... but seriously. How amazing is this? I've always had it in my head that Switzerland has GOT to be some of God's best work. And now that I've been to a glacier in the Alps, I can say with experience and confidence that I wasn't wrong!
Go Team Gimp!!!
I made it to the little hiker's/climber's town of Kandersteg on Friday afternoon by way of Milan, Italy. On Saturday morning, we got up. (had a stern talking to with my still present jetlag), had breakfast, then headed into town. About half of the group of hikers were starting the hike from town level, and the rest of us decided to by-pass the first hour by taking the Gondola up to the Oeschinensee Glacial Lake. In addition to not being sure how my leg would do on a strenuous hike, and being ridiculously out of shape, Jana and I had a plan to hike high enough up towards the actual Glacier that we could have a better vantage point of the lake, and see a few waterfalls that feed it.
Well. Some pride issues (we joined forces with a new friend, and I don't think any of us wanted to be the "one" to throw in the towel!) and one too many "just a little bit furthers" later, we got to the point that we were SO CLOSE to summiting the glacier, that we couldn't turn around!!!
So many hours and heart palpitations and sore muscles later, we MADE IT to Frundenhutte!! By this point, yes, we were above the clouds and practically on top of the world. I have never seen anything more incredible. Crayola, if you're reading this, no Crayon box will ever be complete without the color of that water!!
We made it about as high as you can go without having special equipment... but seriously. How amazing is this? I've always had it in my head that Switzerland has GOT to be some of God's best work. And now that I've been to a glacier in the Alps, I can say with experience and confidence that I wasn't wrong!
Go Team Gimp!!!
2 comments:
I sooooooooooo agree . . . God's best work!! :D Wow . . . amazing! Glad you had a good time!
SO SO SO SO beautiful! I am so glad that you got to go and that you had a lot of fun! I love you and miss you!
Post a Comment