What better way to spend a day than walking besides a massive lump of ice.
WARNING: this post contains an indecent amount of glacial photographs….You have been warned.
| Come late September, Dora is up for sale.
If you or anyone you know is looking for a reasonably priced motorhome then please check out the following link; https://www.2wanderers.com/dora-for-sale/ or if you have any questions email us at; Thanks |
We get up early, we have a long day ahead of us. If we went by the guide it would be impractically long. Adding up the different walks we have selected from the guide is nine to ten hours, the refuge host also says the same sort of time, we have at the back of our minds about seven.
We are really hoping for a clear-ish day, it would be nice to get some good views of the glacier and looking out the refuge window it all looks promising. Eggishorn is clear one moment and with wispy cloud the next.
Surely the early morning sun will start to burn off some of that mist and fog. We cannot wait to get outside and start the work, see the glacier in the early morning light, but before that we have more important things to consider;
Breakfast.
This is really hard to say, in fact I thought it was impossible in this country, but our nights stay in the refuge has been pretty good value. For 70 SFR each (about €65) we had half board and the food has been pretty good. This morning we have had proper Swiss mueslis and a really nice continental breakfast, and for Susana, copious amounts of coffee…She is raring to go.
We say our goodbyes to our host and the French family and we start our walk.
Just loved the reflectivity of this pool, beautifully clear.
Yes it is all very well, nice hills and all that.
And beyond them the early morning sun on the adjacent mountains is also pretty.
You might also say that we are mightily impressed by such a jagged snow drenched ridge.
But what we have come for, is currently nestled just below our eye line. Can you see it? That small sloping patch of white, just below the mist.
The rest of it makes a really fabulous backdrop, but definitely the main event is… the glacier.
Ok we saw it last night and when we climbed the Eggishorn, each time, under very different conditions. Now, in the early morning sun, this geological beast is incredible.
So we just need to wander a little closer to get that Imax all surrounding experience.
Getting closer… the clouds, ever shifting, create a shroud, lingering just above her.
The mist momentarily washes in. Is she shy this morning.
Of course not, suddenly she reveals herself in all her glory. That is what we were looking for.
The textures of the ice are revealed by the low sun angle, showing off all the deep crevasses.
It is sad to even contemplate that human activity will probably eventually reduce this to a pool of glacial water. Generations to come might not be able to experience this spectacle except in photographs like these. You may be a climate change denier, if you are wake up and educate yourself to the science.
For me it brings back all that geography I learned as a teenager; how these things move, building up snow, year after year, gravity pushing it downwards like an oversized river, picking up all the rocks, scouring the hillsides and valleys, creating moraines, terminal and medial, those black stripes down the centre caused by two glaciers merging further up the valley.
Here you can really get to see and appreciate that endless slide down the valley.
That is actually quite a steep slope.
And all this is fed by those magnificent mountains in the background; In view Monch (4107m) and The Eiger (3970m), to the left Jungfrau 4158m) and to the right Fiescherhorner (4049m) These generators of snow, help to feed Grosser Aletschgletscher making her the longest Alpine glacier at 22km, for the time being.
The complexity of that surface, almost impossible to cross when riddled with so many crevasses.
We feel utterly privileged to experience such a natural wonder, but are also so glad to take the time to really appreciate it. We have seen so many tourists rush in, take the photo and rush off, such a sight really needs time to sink in. Will they be able to do that as they stare at their smartphone back home?
The idea of walking for seven hours along a glacier might sound boring and tiring. It is not. It is the only way to comprehend the magnitude, scale and the dynamics of such a wonder of nature. A photo from a view point will only means a fraction of what this piece of natural architecture really represents. SM
There are some pretty impressive peaks around here.
And with an every changing landscape caused by the shifting clouds, one minute we are under clear blue sky,
The next trekking through mist.
The sunlight is fighting, trying to break through, reveal itself over the mountain crest.
Suddenly, clarity.
We continue to follow downstream, walking towards the head of the glacier, the terminal moraine and the river formed by the glacial melt water.
Today we hope to walk down almost two thirds of the glacier, the rest is really only accessible by mountaineers.
And so far we are doing pretty well, it is eleven thirty and we are almost half way. But after that we still have to walk further, along the river, climbing and then dropping back to Dora.It is going to be a long but satisfying day.
So for the next hour we walk in silence, just enjoying the subtlety changing view.
Eventually we drop into a pine forest. Six deer hear us and scuttle away, not many people seem to venture to this part of the park.
As we lose altitude the trees become thicker and we can no longer see the glacier, would that be the last that we see of her?
Maybe just the odd glimpse through the branches.
It is quite sad to leave her behind.
But even at a distance she looks absolutely majestic.
We are losing altitude quite rapidly now, as we pass through different folds in the hillside, one revealing this tranquil pond.
and we can start to hear the crashing glacial waters close by.
This was our next objective;
A 124m suspension bride.
The Swiss sure know how to tunnel and build bridges!
We wait for others to pass.
And Susana takes to it first
Although high and long, it is quite disappointing. It is so tight there is no sway at all.
And you can just get to see the mayhem that is the head of the glacier.
Their attempts to make this a scary bridge are futile, this is a safe as houses!
Look at the size of that cable!
The river cuts a perfect gorge down to us.
Before heading off to a dam, where lies our adventure for tomorrow, another via ferrata circumnavigating the banks of the reservoir.
Very nice, we leave others to enjoy the bridge.
We are nearing the end of our walk, or perhaps we think we are, but it seems we have a steep climb first.
Which soon puts the bridge far below us.
Earlier we passed a young woman, advising us there had been a rock fall earlier in the day. We thought we had heard thunder, maybe that was it. It had closed a pass as they attempted to clear it from the path. We wondered where it was, maybe it was around here.
We come to a junction, we can either go up to Belalp and get the cable car down, one and a half hours, or go direct to Blatten, 3 hours. We have made good time and we are still enjoying the walk so decide to continue, denying the Swiss of extra revenue by avoiding the cable car, serves them right.
These fellows seem a little out of place with their thick warm fur.
We cross alpine meadows.
And then start to climb again, high above the reservoir we will visit tomorrow.
We are high enough now to once again see the glacier we thought was far behind us.
But even from here is still captivating, mesmerising.
We are alone on this path, the one up to Belalp looked more frequented, more touristy. We think we choose well, this one is quite a challenge, quite steep.
Eventually, after climbing rapidly through trees, we turn a corner and once again drop back down through meadows. We are back amongst the general population, we hear voices surrounding us. We drop further, down through small villages with typical alpine timber framed buildings; Egga and then Blatten.
But not before taking our last glances back at the Grosser Aletschgletscher.
Dora is still three kilometres further down the road. Is there a bus. No we have just missed it, the woman in the tourist Information office tells us, the next one is fifty minutes. Ok we will walk then. We find a pretty path, which continuously crossed the road down. After ten minutes a bus passes us! 
Oh well, if we would have taken it we would have missed this.
We pick up Dora, driving her back up to Blatten and the reservoir, where we find a peaceful layby for the night, and a Spanish camper. It looks like we may have company for the via ferrata tomorrow.
Total distance 21.1 km
21.1 kms
5 hrs
GDR
Wonderful. Glacier overload, I love it.