Day 8
- When: July 18, 2024
- Where: Zermatt
Starting the day with breakfast at the hotel:
And then: another hike! What else? This one was called Afternoon hike at Nature Trail: Riffelalp - Sunegga. I had it in mind that I’d take a train up higher than yesterday, hike down to the top of the same funicular (Sunegga), and then from there I’d rent one of those kickbikes and shoot down to town that way. Without all the leg and knee hurt. The hike starts well above Sunnegga, so most of the way is down, except for the last mile or so, which is Very Up. It was an overall fun hike, with incredible views of a (clear) Matterhorn, as well as a few lake stops.
The uppermost lake of the hike, Grünsee, sits at 7500ft and is ice cold as you might expect. Despite the frigid water temp, there were a few kids swimming in it, because kids.
I was beat by the time I made it to Sunnega and wasn’t really feeling kickbike at that point. I had a pricy buffet lunch there at the top (I know, you’re paying for the view), then rode the funicular back down.
As the hike progressed, I started to dwell more on not having a place to stay starting tomorrow. Zermatt’s not transportationally close to anything, so I knew I had to make it out of the valley. But from there, choices were wide open. I still wanted a smaller town or village, which removed places like Lausanne, Basel, and Bern from consideration, even though they would’ve been convenient to get to. I didn’t want to overdo it on Lauterbrunnen valley or the Interlaken area, so Grindelwald, Mürren, and Interlaken itself were out. I briefly considered Spiez but I wanted more of an alpine vibe. Ultimately I ended up setting some parameters on booking.com (e.g. 1 person, July 19-21, rating 8+, actually available) and that reduced my choices considerably. I panned through the valley I’d been in before Zermatt, where Brig is located, and happened upon Riederalp and Bettmeralp. Riederalp is where I took my glacier hike from, and was nice. Bettmeralp is the next town up the valley and also located up the hill. It’s a no-car village that requires a cable car to reach. There was one room left, at Hotel Waldhaus next to the lift station. Perfect. Book it.
That was a huge load off! I read on my kick-ass balcony at the Tannenhof for awhile, had a shower, then set out in Zermatt to find dinner. I think I walked up and down the main street, from the train station all the way past the main church, at least three times, inspecting menus and my own feelings. I had a fine meal at Derby the night before, and it truly wasn’t a problem eating alone, but tonight I didn’t want to sit by myself in a crowded restaurant. I made my way back to my hotel and ate in their restaurant Golden Lok. I knew it wouldn’t be crowded but it’s not because of quality of food or service – both were excellent! I had spaghetti with clams. The restaurant: Golden Lok
After dinner I hit up that super popular gelato place around the corner, luckily minutes after they’d opened at 8pm, and sat outside the church and enjoyed the view of the Matterhorn. Then, some Parks & Rec on my laptop, and sleep.
