Day 5
- When: July 15, 2024
- Where: Wengen, Brig
Good morning!
Moving day. If I end up sick, it’s likely because of the woman sitting tandem to me on the Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken train. She has that “meaty” cough. Mask? No. After a few minutes I moved over to the separate area of the train car where people get on and off and idled there for the remaining 20 mins of the ride. We’ll see.
The train route today was Wengen -> Lauterbrunnen -> Interlaken Ost -> Spiez -> Brig. With the point-to-point train tickets (unless you buy a SuperSaver reduced fare), you just have to use the ticket that day and make sure your voyage takes the purchased route. For example, there were two different routes from Spiez to Brig, so I needed to ensure I hopped on a train that got there via Lötschberg-Basistunnel. Not a problem since those come frequently and they take like 30 mins instead of over an hour.
Given all that, plus that I couldn’t get into my hotel in Brig until after 3, I had some midday time to kill. I hopped off at Spiez, which is on Lake Thun, one of the two lakes between Interlaken. It’s gorgeous.
The train station and shops are up a hill a bit from the lake. I was feeling pretty warm by the time I made it down to the lake, and that was heading downhill. There was probably at least a -10 degree temperature difference down there, absolutely perfect. There’s a lakefront walk called the Strangweg that goes for a long, long way. I did about 20 minutes and then had a nice sit and watched the goings-on on the lake. The fronts of my shins continue to bother me, so even flat walks I have to take a bit slower. After the walk I made my way back up the hill to Migros cafeteria for the most overpriced meal I’ve had in my life. But the view was tops and it let me kill time before catching my train. I intentionally chose a later train (2 of mine passed while I was at the cafeteria). One was showing as super crowded, which, to be fair, wouldn’t have been a major inconvenience for a 30 minute train trip – I’ve certainly done worse on Caltrain – but the optimal one was the 2:42 which placed me in Brig at 3:11, shortly after check-in time at my hotel. Perfect.
My hotel in Brig, Hotel de Londres is an easy ~500 meters walk from the train station, a very slight uphill but super reasonable compared to Wengen! Frankly, I’m enjoying these boutique, mom and pop hotels. The staff is SO nice, there are amenities like lounging areas and Honor Bars, and twice now while hanging out in a lobby have I been asked to flip the lights off when I head to bed as the office staff is going off duty.
I booked a neat balcony room that faces a small public square with two restaurants. It’s not nearly as noisy as I expected. Since my balcony is facing south, it was screaming hot out there when I arrived. One the sun went down and the temperature dropped to around 68, it was perfect out on the balcony.
Dinner was a nearby sushi place. It wasn’t great but at least it was fast and they were very friendly.
Late evening, around 11pm. I have the three windows cracked, there’s a light rain, and I’m feeling optimistic for a solid sleep tonight. Tomorrow I’ll head on the train to Mörel, around 30 mins away, then cable car up to Riederalp at ~6100 ft. From there I’ll launch off on a “Casselweg themed trail around the Riederhorn”, which is 6.2km with 219m of ascent and the same descent: trail. The vertical ascent for the PG&E Trail at Rancho San Antonio Park in Cupertino is around 300m, so I’m feeling comfortable with the 219m. My ideal scenario for tomorrow is to get an early start and have that hike knocked out by lunchtime. Then there are a few traditional Swiss restaurants in Riederalp on my radar. I do hope the front of my shins hold out, especially on the downhills.