We had budgeted for at least one mountain train journey
and chose the trip up on Europe’s highest rack railway to Jungfraujoch.
This mountain resort at 4158 meters towers over the Aletsch
glacier (the largest in the Alps) and sits amongst the peaks of the Eiger
(3970m) and Monch (4099m) mountains. If you ignore the nearby Finsteraarhorn
(4274m) which clearly the Swiss and Jungfraujoch Tourist boards do, then it
could arguably be called the ‘top of Europe’.
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| An early start from the campsite |
The morning was blessed with high blue skies and the
snowy peaks were clearly visible from our starting point, the bus stop outside
the camp. On the first bus of the day, leaving at 7.30, we were in time for the
8.05 Oberland electric train up to the ski town of Lauterbrunnen.
There we
changed trains to reach Kleine Scheidegg from where we boarded the bright red
Jungfraubahn, to climb by rack railway the 1393 meters over just 9.3 kilometres.
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| The train snaking its way up through the mountainside |
The entire journey would take little under 3 hours - the first part was up through high
mountain pastures to Eigergletscher from where the train entered the tunnel
taking us across the face of the Eiger and Monch and up to the Jungfrau.
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| The train at the foot of the mountain |
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| The 'rack and pin' train |
There
were viewing points at Eigerwand and Eismeer stations at which we left the
train and peered out of picture windows blasted out of the tunnelled rock and
revealing the pristine white and wide pathway of the glacier as it made its
timeless voyage down the mountainside.
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| Viewing point from Eigerwand station |
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| Viewing point from Eismeer |
At 3,454m we reached our destination, Jungfraujoch. The dark
and cold station inside the mountain dripped with moisture and we walked
quickly to find daylight at the impressive and futuristic research centre which
also serves as a resort.
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| The Aletsch Glacier |
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| Views across to the Vosges and Black Forest mountains |
Another marvel of engineering, ‘Switzerland’s fastest
lift’ whisked us up to the landmark observatory in just 27 seconds. From there
we enjoyed spectacular views of the Aletsch Glacier and the ice-white peaks of
the surrounding mountains.
Looking across we could make out the French Vosges
and even the Black Forest.
The blindingly bright light exposed everything and
everyone in such crystal clarity that people and places seemed somehow to be
superimposed.
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| The walk up to Monchjoch Hutte |
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| Perfect snow drifts |
Down on the glacier we hiked for an energetic hour up the
steep and snowy way to reach the Monchjoch Hutte, filled with families and
adventurers tucking into steamy bowls of bacon and cheesy soup. We had a picnic
prepared so enjoyed it on the viewing platform looking back down the slope to
the observatory and admiring the snow which looked like whipped Italian
ice-cream.
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| A snow plane lands on the glacier |
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| The top of Europe! |
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| Walking across the glacier to the Monchjoch Hutte |
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| The train down the mountain |
As the afternoon got hotter and busier with more people,
and curiously a lot of dogs, arriving at the summit we headed back down the
rack railway and diverted via Grindelwald for our journey home.
The views at this altitude of just 1,000 meters were of
classic Alpine villages, and pasture lands of lush green grass. We knew that
until very recently the weather had been consistently wet and it was no
surprise to see so many people out enjoying the unexpected sunshine of a Sunday
afternoon.
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| Views across the Bernese Oberland |
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| Grindelwald alpine houses |
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| A Sunday afternoon rail ramble |
Trails bristled with walkers, some strolling others
pounding along with Nordic poles. Station platforms were full of excited day
trippers (like us!) and hillside restaurants and café terraces were full of
diners and drinkers.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable descent through very pretty
scenery back to an equally bustling Interlaken.
Once delivered back to camp by the bus, we toasted a
remarkable day with a glass of cool white wine whilst wearing our
sunglasses to keep hotly bright eyes in the shade.
