Schilthorn

I'll have two week's worth of Servas visits to talk about at some point (Liechtenstein tomorrow!) but I've spent the past two days in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, at the suggestion of Eden ("The Alps," July). Today was my no-travel day, and I spent most of it hiking up the Schilthorn. For someone of my mountanieering experience, I'm rather proud to have made it to the top. 5,200 ft ascent in about five miles.

I was fortunate to meet a seasoned hiker at the hostel in the village who sherpa-ed my water bottle up for his second day of the same climb. Yesterday, his party took the gondola for the last stretch, but we climbed it all. It was a good idea until we got to the north face (no sun) of the top ridge and it had fresh snow. The only reason we kept going forward was because backwards was not an option. But very gratifying to make it to the top. We rode the gondola down.

view of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau(I took this picture, which I mention only because it looks fake)