Justin's Journey

After breakfast, I went for a hike in Gimmelwald. Gimmelwald is not a busy place compared to Interlaken. It’s quiet, less tourists, and beautiful. The trail starts from Gimmelwald, and goes down to the valley, and up to the other side of the valley to Busenbrand. It is followed by a pretty challenging climb all the way to Tanzboden (1978 meters or 6489 feet high) with an amazing view, and a flat space up in the mountain. The guy at the pension told me they call it Russian dance floor. Then the trail takes a narrow route to Obersteinberg. I took the path to Tschingelhorn hotel to see if they have the dinner that I like. They didn’t (see below) so I hiked down to Stechelberg and had my dinner at the Stechelberg hotel. I hiked with a Swiss couple at the beginning of the trail. I ran into another Swiss couple at Tanzboden, and hiked with them all the way to Obersteinberg. We had a nice conversation during the lunch break at the Obersteinberg hotel, where I had a piece of plum pie with a bottle of coke for lunch. They are fun couple. The husband Bruno got me to take a picture on a rock at the edge of the Tanzboden. Boy, it’s really high up in the mountain. Some parts of the trail are really exciting. At times, I felt I was hiking at the edge of the mountain. Other times, I felt there is no way for me to go up further, or come down safely. There were not many people hiking today. Although the hike was challenge, taking me 6-7 hours to finish, the view was wonderful. I was lucky that today is another beautiful sunny day. That means, I got more sunburn today… Oh, well. I also ran into an older hiker, who went for the hike to seek for the landscape painted by an Austrian painter Joseph Anton Koch. He showed me a photocopy of a painting from 1794, with the water fall in the background. The actual water fall was right in front of us over the valley. I thought it was very interesting. It was very nice of him showing it to me.

Today is the beginning of the 2 weeks hunting season for Chamois. I heard lots of gun shots today during the hike. Bruno suggested me to find a restaurant to try it. I found it at the Stechelberg hotel! Obersteinberg hotel doesn’t have any electricity. It also relies on mules to bring supplies up and down the mountain. The mule just walks on its own freely in the mountain, and knows where to go. I think the cook i drank was carried up by the mule. It’s neat. By the way, all the hotels here are more or less chalets. Really nice with Swiss style. I got some Chamois stew with dumping/noodle. It’s very good. I really need a big meal after the hike today. I am getting ready for the train ride to Italy. It will be my last week of the around-the-trip…