Honeymoon - Part V

Day 14, Monday, July 14, 2008
Glacier Express Day
The Glacier Express is a special train that travels the length of Switzerland directly through the Alps. We boarded the train on a cloudy and rainy day at the base of the famous Matterhorn in Zermatt. First observation: we are BY FAR the youngest couple on this train. Our seats couldn't have been better...single window seats facing each other. We thought the views were breathtaking even though we couldn't see the tops of mountains because of the bad weather.
We arrived in St. Moritz in the early afternoon and found a completely different vibe on the eastern side of the country. Zermatt had the quaint feel of a mountain village, full of mountaineers. St. Moritz was the opposite. Clean architeture with an emphasis on designer labels and snobby tourists. One comical moment was when we sat down in our dirty chacos and climbing clothes in a snooty country club like restaurant for dinner. Uff da! Tonight we did TONS of laundry in preparation for the next phase of our trip...hiking.

Day 15, Tuesday, July 15, 2008
We woke up this morning to crystal clear skies and views of mountains that we didn't know existed. Our first train ride of the day needed to retrace the last section of the glacier express route which ended up being a huge blessing. Yesterday we didn't know what we were missing and today were able to take in the magnificent view of what felt like an un-ending stretch of jagged and snow-covered mountain.
After arriving in the small alpine village of St. Anton, we took a bus to the nearby town of St. Christophe which we thought was the jumping off point for our hike in the alps. oops. Instead, we had to walk up and over a mountain pass on a busy highway. By the time we reached our un-manned luggage cable car at 4:00pm, we were tired, frustrated, and had reached the end of our rope. In order to send our suitcases up the mountain, we needed to use a cell phone, which we didn't have, to call the hut and activate the cable car. I was secretly hoping Dave would pull the plug and get us a nice hotel but he insisted that we sit down and think of what to do next.
After much "thinking" a friendly German couple pulled their car off to the side of the road in order to take pictures. Not only did they have a cell phone that we could borrow, but they were willing to call the hut and speak to the man who runs the cable car who speaks only German. Hooray!
It was 4:30 and we were ready to go. In our excitement of loading the cable car, Dave accidentally tucked our trail map in with his luggage. A fact that becomes very important later. We weren't too worried because, "How hard can it be to follow a trail?" Unfortunately, we picked the one non-trail in the Alps. Soon we were free-for-alling across steep pastures full of deep grass hiding un-even ground. (All of this taking place in our Chaco sandals) It was a stressful time!
The highlight of the day went something like this: Dave leading Cami aimlessly over hill and valley. Cami following directly in Dave's footprints. In an instant, Cami steps into quicksand and begins to sink. Neither one of us had ever seen this real concrete like substance nor stepped in it. Luckily we survived.
Dave, the "leader" and Crabby-pants Cami arrived at the Ulmer Hütte just in time for dinner.
To top off the list of highlights, we found out that Dave didn't bring enough money to pay for the hut so we had to switch rooms and use the public showers. Not only that, but tomorrow, we have to hike all the way back down to St. Anton, where we started, to visit an ATM.

Day 16, Wednesday July 16, 2008
This morning we awoke to clear skies and moods. :) After a huge pot of coffee we were off to hike all the way back down to St. Anton. The views were spectacular. Each bend in the trail offered a new view of even more Alpine greatness. The only bummer of the daz was the lack of strength in my jello legs. After a solid 3,000 feet drop in elevation, my legs were shot.
We hit up the ATM in St. Anton and then took the gondola to the top of the mountain, quite a bit above where our hütte was located. We ate lunch in a panoramic restaurant and then took the last cable car all the way to the tippy top of the mountain, somewhere around 9,000 feet elevation. We took our time soaking in the 360 degree view before heading back down to settle in for the night.

Day 17, Thursday, July 17, 2008
Today was rainy and cloudy all day. Our bodies needed a little recovery time after yesterdays hike so we enjoyed spending a day reading, talking, and eating. It suprised us both how much we enjoyed each others company and how creative we could be in filling the time...20 questions anyone?