Camping Rutti was a family run campsite in Stechelberg, which was just up the road from Lauterbrunnen (also known as the valley of 72 waterfalls) and is literally the end of the road before you get to the mountains themselves. The campsite was nice enough but that’s not what captured our eyes when we first turned up- as I said in the last blog- it was the scenery.
Despite the rain, it was still breathtaking. We were surrounded by huge mountains, the tops of which we could not see due to the low clouds but you could see the many waterfalls and hear them roar. And the air! The air was so fresh you felt as though your nose had been cleansed of all dirt and dust and you could actually breathe properly for the first time. It was magical and we couldn’t wait to start exploring in the morning but for now we would just keep cosy in the van and hope for sunshine tomorrow.
We did some research about our current location and the many mountains it contained wondering which one we could try and tackle and it seemed there was more than just mountains- there was paragliding, canyoning, hikes galore, BASE jumping etc- it was definitely a popular place but we’d never heard of it before. It also seemed like the weather would be better the the day after tomorrow so we decided to spend 4 nights here in total. We knew that wouldn’t be enough for us but there was only so much you could do with little ones. We clearly weren’t going to be BASE jumping any time soon that’s for sure.
Sure enough the following day (Sun 8th) it rained. However, we didn’t let that put us off exploring so we geared up and set off. There was a bus that runs along the road so we went to the last stop and waited for it to turn up but unfortunately it was cash only and we still hadn’t got any cash out as of yet so we had to abandon that plan and walk down said road instead. It wasn’t bad going to be fair with little man on my back and the other two slowly strolling behind.
We didn’t really have a plan but I think we were going to try and find the cable car station which happened to be just up the road and enquire about prices to the top of Scilthorn (a mountain) and also to Trummelbach falls and whether we could do it with our 1 year old in his carrier; we had read online that you couldn’t do the latter with under 4s but we thought we might as well enquire seeing as he would be on one of our backs and not in a pushchair. However, we didn’t make it there because we saw a sign pointing us in the direction of the above places and decided to follow that instead of staying on the road, only the sign didn’t go to the cable car station but instead went back towards the rear of our campsite and then over a bridge. We then saw a footpath through the trees and some people headed off in that direction which also happened to be where you could hear one of the many waterfalls so we followed it too. We’re not a fan of turning back and very rarely do so.
The footpath did go past a waterfall but it also kept on going upwards and so we carried on not knowing how far it went nor where it ended but we had come this far already so we, well myself and my little girl weren’t ready to turn back just yet. The walk started to get higher and higher though with so many steps that you could literally feel every muscle in your legs and buttocks contract with every step. It was hard going and we stopped to consider our journey as my husband still wasn’t feeling well, our little girl was still only ‘a little girl’ and I wanted to carry on but first we all needed to decide what to do.
My husband clearly didn’t want to as he thought that climbing a mountain was too difficult for our little girl and also he didn’t quite feel up to it yet because of how he was feeling and felt like his heart was about to burst from his chest from all the climbing already. Our little girl on the other hand was like me and was rather keen on carrying on so I gave my husband 3 choices; 1) We all go back and get the cable car even though myself and our little girl really didn’t want to. 2) He go back and get the cable car and we’ll meet him at the top. 3) He go back to the campsite because I didn’t want him doing something that could potentially make him feel worse if he was already feeling rough BUT we would carry on because we wanted to. He chose neither; 1) he didn’t want us to do something we didn’t want to do. 2) he wanted us to do everything together. 3) he didn’t want to leave me alone with two kids up a mountain in case something went wrong. Well we went over and over the same conversation many times before I gave up and carried on, telling him that if he got worse then it was his own fault as I have given him a choice to go back and he didn’t take it. Some people might think I was being harsh but it was our time too (myself and the children) and we didn’t want to just be stuck in the van all the time. And besides I gave him a choice!
Anyway, the hike was tough going but we made it fun along the way pointing out different things we could see and singing songs and of course there were waterfalls and beautiful scenery to look at too. The end of the hike took us to a place called Gimmelwald.
Gimmelwald, we later found out, was the first town that the cable car went to on its way up to Scilthorn. It had a cool place called ‘the honesty shop’ which contained many different things from memorabilia of the Bernese Oberland and Switzerland, to a fridge full of drinks and the idea was, as the shop is rightly named, to be honest and put the correct amount of money in an envelope and post it in the little post box with a list of the things you had taken. It was amazing! You would never find this in the U.K.- it wouldn’t last a day! Thirsty from our hike up (it took us 4 hours as opposed to the two it’s roughly meant to take) we took a bottle of something each and paid well over the amount because all we had was euros still. Again, our little lady did amazing!! Her 4 year old little legs hiked it all the way up for 4 whole hours with only the smallest amount of rests on the way and I mean they were about a minute long at a time whilst we caught our breath. She never ceases to amaze us this little lady of ours- our perfect travel companion. She definitely shares our passion for travelling and the outdoors and seems at one with nature.
Absolutely exhausted we caught the cable car down and made our enquiries at the station before going back to the campsite. Well, we forgot to ask about the price but we asked about trummelbach and the cashier didn’t 100% know but thought it was a no go for under 4’s. Never mind, another time, another day.
Funnily enough the hike had done my husband good and he felt so much better- clearly the exercise and the clean air had cleared out his lungs.
On Monday 9th we walked to the cable car station and paid to go to the top of Scilthorn- it was pricey but we thought, hey we’re here now and when are we ever going to do this again! We got off at Gimmelwald to go to Murren and then from there to Birg. Murren to Birg was a long way up and the atmosphere quickly changed- you could see the altitude change on the clock in the cable car, the air got purer and cleaner and the mountains were now covered in snow. It also started to get very cold as you could imagine. Snow in September!!! It was awesome.
Birg has a thrill section called ‘skywalk’ where you literally get to walk around the mountain on a walkway. You. Could. Not. See. Anything! It was so cloudy that you honestly couldn’t see what was underneath you unless the clouds dispersed a little which it only did very occasionally and then you could see the magnificent drop down. The structure was metal with steps that lead you down onto the walkway which then had ‘activity sections’ for those who are thrill seekers. One of which consisted of a wire cable that was suspended in the air with a wire mesh underneath and around the sides just in case you fall. At first it looked horrifying as I approached it but a member of staff was just passing by when I said “OMG” and he casually waved it off and said “it’s easy” and proceeded to walk across it with elegant ease as though it was nothing. Watching him made my confidence grow and I decided I was going to do it- if he can, I can. And so I did. My husband was just turning the corner when he saw what I was doing and watched in amazement before doing it himself. Our little girl walked around it instead- for one she was scared but two, she was far too small and wouldn’t even be able to reach the two cables either side to hold on to. The member of staff was coming back around and told us we couldn’t go all the way as it was too dangerous and he had to close the end section but we could walk around as far as it let us before turning back. Well, the last bit that we could get to looked absolutely insane. It was a wire mesh tunnel that was literally suspended in the air. You couldn’t get out the other side though as this is where the walkway ended safely. If I didn’t have my son on my back I probably would have entered the tunnel even if it was just for a few seconds. I like to think I would anyway!
We walked back, across the wire again where I FaceTimed my mother so she could watch me do it live. We then went up to get the next cable car but it wasn’t coming until another 30 mins so I asked if we could go back and do the walk again so my husband could film me crossing over the wire (I had filmed him doing it and I wanted to be filmed too). After all, I was probably never going to do this again and I wanted to be able to relive it by watching it again in a few years time maybe when we would reminisce over old photos and videos.
We then went back up and out the other side where we had a mini snow ball fight much to our son’s amusement and then caught the cable car to the top and walked out onto the helicopter landing area to take more pictures and stare at the amazing scenery. It was absolutely breathtaking. For miles in all directions all you could see was snow capped mountains. It was beautiful. We then walked below the landing to an outcrop on the mountain. Well, my husband stayed behind whilst he FaceTimed his parents before joining us. The walk down was slippy and slushy but we had walking boots on, held onto the barrier and took it slowly. Our little girl was ecstatic and climbed up onto a section where she could reach some icicles which were about as big as her head and then we threw snow balls at one another. Our son then made us laugh as he started to eat the snowball I had given him to hold. We had just made it to the outcrop when my husband joined us which just happened to be perfect timing as our little boy was getting too cold and was now screaming his head off so I quickly scrambled my way back up and got him inside where it was warm.
We were all tired and hungry and decided to eat in the famous Piz Gloria restaurant- we didn’t realise it was famous until we first arrived at the campsite. The reason it is famous is because it is the filming location on James Bond: Her majesty’s secret service. In fact it is still named after the place that the movie makers gave it in the film. The best bit is that the restaurant revolves 360 degrees so you can sit back and admire the stunning scenery as you dine. It was expensive but so worth it. The burgers even had 007 stamp burnt into the bun. This is definitely a day that will stay in our memory banks for years to come. Even our little girl loved it! But not so much our little boy, inside yes but outside, up high where the wind blew and the cold bites into you he didn’t. And so we made our way back down to Murren where we decided to walk back down to Gimmelwald.
It wasn’t a hard walk at all as the majority of it is paved so you could happily take a buggy if you wanted. When we got to the bottom we stopped and let the little ones play on the playground before taking the cable car down to Stechelberg where we then walked back to the campsite and turned in for the night.
The next day was to be our last day here before moving on and so we thought we would head into Lauterbrunnen and see what it had to offer. We were walking along when we saw another sign to Trummelbach so we thought we would go anyway and enquire at the entrance to find out for sure. Trummelbach falls consists of 10 glacial falls inside the mountains themselves! Sure enough though we couldn’t go inside- apparently there was an accident there some 14 years ago and they haven’t allowed under 4’s since.
We made our way to Lauterbrunnen, again making it fun along the way by incorporating imaginative games and silly songs to entertain our little girl who grew ‘tired’ if she became bored. We saw the waterfall where you could walk up near enough just behind it but we really didn’t feel like climbing any more steps today so we decided we’d do that another time too, whenever we came back, which we hoped to someday.
Our first stop of course was a playground but not before we quickly nipped to the toilets which had to be the smelliest toilets I have ever been in! Honestly I was gagging and had to hurry my daughter so I could get out of there as fast as I could. The playground was very oddly placed at the bottom of a graveyard but it was a cool playground and the little ones enjoyed it very much. I was tired today though and when I’m tired I’m grouchy and emotional so I didn’t really feel like playing but I did my best. We carried on walking along but there wasn’t really much we wanted to do and I think everyone was far too tired to take much in or do anything- my husband was grouchy, our son was grouchy but our little girl was still her smiling happy self. I want her stamina! Feeling a little wearisome and stressed because of our boy we decided to get some money out and catch the bus back and call it a day. We were sad to be leaving in the morning but my god we had had one heck of a stay and we knew that one day we would be back because we hadn’t finished with this place. If Switzerland hadn’t stolen our hearts before and it had, it has definitely stolen it now. Even our little girls who said “I want to see mountains and waterfalls and stuff” with a huge smile on her face. Switzerland definitely saved us and healed us back to life and I will never ever forget it.
K.E.E.N Explorers 