Adventure in the Alps 2016 Part 5: Ridges, Rocks, and Rowdy Sheep
After an incredible night's rest at the spectacular Dom hotel in Saas Fee, we awoke to blue skies for miles and a perfect day for climbing. My blisters had become less painful and I wasn't walking with as much of a limp. We hopped on the lift up to the trail head as soon as it started running and set off for the day's adventure.
The trail began as a relatively unchallenging walk with beautiful views of the surrounding scenery. Sheep grazed all around as streams trickled down rocky sections from the melting snow on the high peaks above. Eventually the trail turned up and the climb began.
The city of Saas Fee shrank below us as we got higher and higher on the trail, eventually making our way to 10,958 ft and Mischabel Hut, the third highest hut in all of Switzerland.
The incredible Mischabel Hut hangs on tightly to a cliff just below the 14, 088 foot Lenzspitze. It's the starting point for many of the epic climbs in the region. We arrived with time to spare and spent our afternoon marveling at the incredible views from the deck, exploring the hut, and playing checkers.
The sun set slowly, allowing us to full appreciate the views. In the mountains, you never know when the clouds will roll in and totally obscure the beauty.
We awoke to another beautiful, clear sky morning. The rising sun painted the mountains golden pink as it cut through the haze lying low over the valley.
After an incredible sunrise, we set back down the trail. I was a little intimidated about the down climb, but it moved quickly and easily.
When the trail turned from climbing into walking, we were met with quite an interesting roadblock. A herd of sheep where covering the trail, leaving us no choice but to walk directly through them. The noisily protested and stepped to the side as we came through.
After breaking through the flock of sheep, we uneventfully made our way down to Saas Fee where we gorged on giant cheese burgers before hopping on the bus to take us towards Italy!