Waterfalls everywhere and the alpine hike of death

(S) Most of you will say "how the hell did you end up in a tiny little town called Gimmelwald on the top of a mountain?" Well, actually, we ended up in Lauterbrunnen at a nice little campground (which would have been a nice place to camp had we not been in the middle of the Swiss Alps 30 year rain storm - anyone notice a pattern with us and the rain???- so it ended up being a nice little pension with bathroom down the hall). The story goes something like this - I am in South Dakota for 2 weeks last summer on a work trip. I pop into the Barnes and Noble in Sioux Falls one evening before heading to the best restaurant in town, Granite City (seriously, if you're ever in Sioux Falls - go) and buy Rick Steve's Back Door book (yes, we had already started initial discussions about the Great Escape). Ya, back door. Anyway, I read this book over the next few days in my hotel rooms at night and read about this little place up in the mountains called Gimmelwald. It's been on my list of places to go ever since.

A nice fixeruper in Gimmelwald

After a close encounter of the huge travel argument kind, we ended up in the town below Gimmelwald in the middle of a rain storm. The valley itself was gorgeous, with 72 waterfalls pouring down the mountain to the valley floor. The one above our campground was running brown with mud and rocks and the old-timers were sitting out front talking of armageddon.

After the rain comes the sun

The next day we took the tram up the mountain, walked around the quiet village I read about so many months ago in lonely hotel rooms in Huron and Sioux Falls and hiked down the mountain. Kinda made the great escape come full circle.

****These mountain entries and pictures are dedicated, on this Father's Day (cuz that's when I'm writing it), to my dad, who taught me all I know about the outdoors and the mountains and who showed me how to love and respect them.

Sara out

Bottled at the source

Dyke hike - Gimmelwald

Finally...at the bottom

House of flowers - Gimmelwald

I shouldn't have had that stream water.

I think I lost her

I wonder if I can coax her under one those falls

If you take this bell off, I'll pay you in cream

Making a break for it into the waterfalls.

Mountain pony of the cablecar

One of the 72 falls...

Please tell me you packed toilet paper

Road to Lauterbrunnen

Sara at Stechelberg

Sara of the Jungfrau waterfalls

Selfie in front of the Jungfrau

Strike a pose

The last leg - FINALLY.

The petting of the moss

The trail of death down the hill

This place is TERRIBLE, and ugly.

Waterfall of mud after the deluge

Weird, this water tastes like poop.

Wonder if I could fit one of those bells on Chad