aletsch glacier hike

Just a nice little Sunday in Switzerland and a hike to Europe's longest glacier which is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The trip there took about 3 hours, but after a couple trains and two gondolas, we were in Bettmerhorn and at 2,647m. The hike took us along a rocky path with great views of the mountains and the amazing glacier (first time I've ever seen a glacier) until finally we hiked down until we were close enough to touch the glacier.

 

Don't misstep or you're going down.

 

My hiking Buddy for the day  - my friend Piotr - pointing out the obvious (there is the glacier!)!

 

As I said, the path got quite rocky for awhile. This is the "staircase" we climbed down.

 

This is the view from where we sat and ate lunch.

 

Touching the glacier! It was really cold right down by the glacier, but after the hike back uphill, I was warm again!

 

This picture was taken because I was asking "what the heck" after we saw a sign that our destination was 1 hr 30 minutes away and then we hiked 30 minutes and the next sign said our destination was in 2 hours. I was not happy, but the next sign was "correct" again. 

 

The trail description had said that we would hike to the "majical lake Märjelen". When you expect "majical" and get this, it is a little underwhelming, but beautiful nonetheless.

 

The final part of the trail took us through this really long tunnel.

 

The 4 hour hike was absolutely perfect. It might be a competitor for my favorite Swiss hike.