Gimmelwald's charm

Prior to arriving in Gimmelwald, we had heard nothing but praise for it. After a day here, we are in love with the place too. The beauty here is absolutely indescribable, and I have no doubt that the pictures will not do it justice. We are pitched high on the top of a cliffs, staring across at a cliff of about 10,000 feet--literally the largest cliff I will ever see or could even imagine. We are literally surrounded by cliffs and mountains, the steep green pastures filling in all of the other areas.

I will again try to do my best job at describing this, but as I said prior-- it is indescribable. At the bottom of the valley, a beautiful Alp fed river runs from one end to the other. The valley stretches probably a total of 10 miles and ranges from 1,000-3,000 ft above sea level. The valley is as green as you could imagine, with cows and pastures abounding. From the valley, cliffs jut straight up on both sides, going up another 2,000 ft to 10,000 ft more. Where the cliffs end, incredibly steep pastures continue going up. As they rise, either more cliffs begin going skyward or rugged mountains begin. The surrounding mountains are filled with glaciers, and dozens of waterfalls line the mountains and cliffs all the way through the valley. These falls are cascade downward thousands of feet, tumbling over the rocks and often just turning to mist because of the free fall to the valley floor.

Gimmelwald is absolutely undeveloped, and tremendously serene (due to locals bogusly having it declared an avalanche zone). Because of its cliff side location, we are encircled by cliffs and mountains stretching up to the sky. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about it is the incredibly close proximity to both the rugged cliffs and snowy mountain tops, as well as the glowing green valley floor filled with wild flowers.

As mentioned, the only ways to get around are by taking cable cars up or down thousands of feet, by scaling cliffs, or to hike many miles around the end of the cliffs. As you sit in Gimmelwald, you can constantly hear the thundering waterfalls in the distance. The smells are a mixture of pine, wildflowers, farm elements, and pure mountain air.

We had a magnificent day, starting by taking a cable car to the valley floor, and hiking the length of the valley. The path followed the rushing river through the unbelievably green pastures, along with the the cliffs and waterfalls on each side. Along the way, we took a fascinating tour inside of a mountain viewing caves and thundering falls. An elevator whisked us up into the mountain, where we eventually became soaked as we wander through caves exploring the falls. When we finished hiking the valley floor, we took a clog wheel train up the side of one of the cliffs to a town called Wengen. Here we picnicked while having a remarkable view of the entire area. After a train down and cable car ride up, we then hike the entire length back to Gimmelwald, but this time on the edge of the cliff. The hikes have to be some of the most picture perfect things I have ever done in my life(much like Cinque Terre). The weather held together enough for us to get some great views, and eventually the sun came out. This place is just story book beautiful to go along with the untouched natural aspects.

One of our favorite things about being in Switzerland right now is that we are completely between seasons. This means most places are empty with no tourists, and we effectively have it to ourselves.

I will add a few pictures from today, but they really don't do it justice. This is a place you really need to see to believe!

We miss friends and family back home a ton!!! Thanks for reading.