​Mike and I headed out to Garden of the Gods to go snowshoeing. We attempted to snowshoe near Spruce Mountain Open Space the day before, but the wind was so strong that we had to bail on that adventure. The weather was perfect, and the sun was shining which made for a more pleasant experience. We took the outer trail loop from the Kissing Camels parking lot and did a short 2.5-mile loop. We had intended on going longer but the elevation change was pretty difficult on the narrow trail with snowshoes on. Eventually Mike took off his snowshoes since most of the trail was pretty packed, which was shocking as it snowed a ton during the previous blizzard. One thing is for sure, people love to get on the trail even during blizzardy weather. 

​Mike and I were able to sneak away for a quick weekend to San Diego so that he could attend a work conference. I took advantage of the downtime and the warmer weather and went on a long run around Mission Bay, relaxed by the pool and got a massage and a facial. It was so nice to trade in the dry elevation for the moist sea level air. We spent the last morning running to the ocean and walking along the beach. When we got back we got dressed up and had brunch overlooking the water. We stopped and took a tour of the USS Midway before heading back to the airport. Sometimes all it takes to get through the horrible winters of Colorado is to get away for just a day or two and be somewhere else a little bit warmer. This trip did that for me and it did that for Mike!

​I love running with the Striders in the winter months because it gives me a reason to keep running when it is cold outside. We did several standard winter runs this month including hill repeats and tempo runs at Bear Creek Park, intervals on the CC track, tempo runs and mile repeats on the Santa Fe trail, and some fartlek’s around Prospect Lake. I even managed to sneak in a longer run on the Santa Fe trail from Woodmen with the Kokopelli run club while Emma did her long run with her clubmates. While I ran mostly outside with maybe one run on the treadmill, I managed to keep up with my 45-day weight lifting program and biking on the Peloton. Mike and I managed to sneak way up to Denver to bike during a warmer day on the Bear Creek Trail loop, which is a 30-mile loop.  

​We started the New Year with a 24-mile ride down the Cottonwood and Santa Fe trail. It was a relatively warmer day for the winter and so we put on our layers and headed out. The good weather didn’t stick around for very long. Most of my runs this month were on snow covered trails or really cold mornings. We did hill repeats at Bear Creek Park, hill repeats and tempo runs along the Santa Fe trail, a hill endurance run up Rampart Range Road, and a tempo loop at Bear Creek Park. I was extremely proud of myself for staying on task with the 45-day weight program that Mike and I started last month. I was consistent and started to see real results by the end of this month.

​It was no surprise that we slept in again and then headed to the fitness center one more time to lift weights. After getting ready and eating breakfast at the Peacock Alley again, we headed to the Air and Space Museum by Uber as it was snowing. We loved seeing some of the new updates to this museum and understood why we needed reserved tickets. Over half of the museum was still under renovation. After we were done exploring we walked over to the National Art Gallery and saw some of our favorite paintings and then ate lunch at the Garden Café. The food was surprisingly good! As we walked back to the hotel it was still snowing a little bit. We finished packing our bags and relaxed for a little bit longer since my flight was delayed due to the snow. It ended up being a long trek back home as my flight got delayed even more at the airport. Although that was not ideal, I wouldn’t have traded this weekend for anything.

​After sleeping in, which we never do, we got on our workout clothes and headed to the hotel fitness center to lift our weights for the day. The gym was pretty nice but there were several people on the cardio machines, so it felt pretty stuffy inside. After finishing our workout and getting ready for the day we ate breakfast at the Peacock Alley inside the grand atrium area. I had the most amazing mini waffles and Mike had a stack of pancakes. It was delicious and filled our bellies for a full day of roaming around the mall area of DC. We headed first to the Natural History museum and loved seeing all of the new upgrades since the last time we there almost a decade ago. We just kept saying how much we wished Madeline could be there because we knew how much she would love this museum. Then we headed toward the Air and Space museum but realized upon arriving that you needed reservation tickets. Since there were no more for this day we got tickets for Monday. We made our way towards the Capitol building and needed to burn some time before our reservations at the Capital and Library of Congress, so we ate lunch at a cute little French inspired café not too far from the Library of Congress. It must have been a popular place since it was packed inside. After eating lunch, we walked over to the outside of the Supreme Court building which I had never seen and snapped a few photos before our reservation to go inside the Library of Congress. I was so impressed by the inside of the Library of Congress. It was beautiful and I enjoyed Thomas Jefferson’s library as well as the many amazing quotes in the main area of the building. Next we headed to the Capital building for our tour. We have done this tour once before with the older kids but it was nice to do it again without little children in tow. Our favorite statue, by far, was one of the Colorado statues. It truly is one of the coolest looking statues at the Capital. As we made our way back to our hotel after a lot of walking, we felt a little like we were in a different country with people from the middle east lining the sidewalks going to and coming from the protest. I must admit it felt strange to have the feeling of being a minority in your own country. Luckily the protest was dying down and people were going home. I’m glad we avoided that throughout the day. We decided to dine in for dinner and canceled our other plans to go out to dinner. We ate at the Peacock Alley again and got to witness firsthand the attitudes of those that deem themselves high and mighty. It was quite comical to watch different groups of people as they dressed in fancy clothes and drank their liquor. It made me grateful that Mike and I are very much down to earth kind of people.

​While Mike was doing his reserve duty in Washington DC, I decided to head out there for the long weekend for a quick little couples’ getaway. When I arrived at the airport, he had food from one of my favorite sandwich shops just in case I was hungry. He also looked so handsome in his suit which he wore just for fun. We headed from the Reagan airport to the Waldorf Astoria which is where we would be staying for the next few days. When we made it up to the room, I was floored by how nice the room was and how sweet it was that Mike put heart chocolates all over the bed. He even had a nice little chocolate cake with ice-cream sitting in a bucket of ice. There is one thing that is for sure, Mike is such a romantic. We relaxed for a bit before heading out to dinner at the Hamilton. We walked by the White House on our way to the restaurant. In preparation for the Palestinian protest the next day there were already people set up with their own protest signs. Without saying too much about that I will just say that’s what you get when you live in America where everyone thinks they can say whatever they want. Luckily people were pleasant so that was good. After getting to the restaurant, we were seated early which was nice. There weren’t too many people there at the beginning which was nice. I had crab cakes, and they were amazing. After dinner we decided to head straight back to the hotel instead of wandering around more. It was getting colder, and it started to sprinkle a bit. We got back to our hotel just in time before the weather started to turn. As we walked through the grand atrium in one of the most impressive lobbies ever, I felt so lucky that we were staying in such a fancy hotel.

This month started out with some last preparatory runs before R2R2R followed by a taper week, our big adventure in the Grand Canyon (see post HERE), and finally some recovery time. One of our last big runs was running some downhill trail miles on Rampart Range Road. Dionne and I had her brother drive us 6 miles up so we could run down to simulate the first part of R2R2R. I was also able to do some hill repeats with the Striders at Red Rocks. By the time I hit my taper week I was so relieved! After we got back from the Grand Canyon we took some time off and then got back out there slowly by riding bikes with Madeline. We took her to ride both on the Santa Fe gravel trail and the paved section up by Costco. She had more fun on the paved section and enjoyed playing at the park at MVP. After 10 days of resting and riding bikes or the peloton, I decided to jump back into the Striders run. I did some intervals at the CC track and felt surprisingly good. 

​Running Rim to Rim to Rim at the Grand Canyon was so incredible. It was my first ultra, and Mike's first time running anything over a half marathon. This was one of the most exciting adventures ever! There were so many good moments. The atmosphere, views, and people were awesome. Dionne, who is our good friend, was our ultimate guide as this was her 7th time running this. She knew the tricks to ultra-running, and she gladly shared them with us. Those things were truly lifesaving. Here is a breakdown of our adventure:

Total Distance: 43.68 miles
Total Running Time: 6:14:52
Total Hiking Time: 7:23:07 
Total Ascent: 11,405
Total Descent: 11,429
 
South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch:
This 7-mile section was done mostly in the dark as we started at 4:20am. We ran the entire downhill section, and it was way more technical than even Barr trail that I trained on for the Ascent. I was so happy to follow Dionne on this section.
Phantom Ranch to Manzanita:
This 9-mile section was amazing. We ran 90% of the canyon floor as it was a flowy trail with a gradual ascent of almost 2000ft. We stopped plenty of times for photos and once to apply moleskin to my toe.
Manzanita to North Rim:
Manzanita was a zoo. There were so many people who were coming from the North Rim and South Rim since this was the last weekend before they turn off the water at the North Rim. This 5-mile ascent was relatively easy, and we hiked the entire thing except for a few flatter sections that we ran. We even got to see the solar eclipse. The only tough part was the last 2 miles. When we got to the top we were floored to see Mike wander up there only 15 min after us. We thought he was going to turn around at Manzanita! He’s a beast and even did a few pushups at the top to prove it!
North Rim to Cottonwood:
We thoroughly enjoyed running down this section and spent some time admiring the amazing rock formations and cliff views. We blew past Manzanita and filled our water at Cottonwood. Then it was time for the hot box.
Cottonwood to Phantom Ranch:
I had been warned about the hot box (Canyon floor in the afternoon) on the way back. Most people do not realize but the canyon floor is 15-20 degrees hotter than it is at the rim. We were extremely blessed with magical wind and shadier sections when we got to the canyon walls. After a few miles I knew we weren’t going to make it in time for the lemonade before it closed at 4pm. Dionne encouraged me to keep going and since I had legs left I booked it for 5 miles down the canyon floor. I flew and it was fun. I got to the lemonade stand at 3:58pm and then saw it was open until 8pm. They had changed the time. Oof. Either way, we got our lemonade. We waited around for an hour but didn’t see Mike, so we made our way out of the canyon.
Phantom Ranch to South Kaibab:
First 2.5 miles were spectacular with great views. We even saw Mike making his way up and he was fast. He is such a good hiker. As the sun was setting we put our headlamps back on. We eventually waited for Mike at Ooh Ahh point and made the most horrible 4 miles out of the canyon in the dark together. Those were truly grueling miles that tested everything I had. I didn’t think I was going to make it. It truly was one of the hardest things I’ve done in terms of endurance. I’m so glad we all finished this amazing adventure together!

I found myself doing a good mix of biking and running this month. This month started out with a quick two loops around the Black Forest Section 16 loop, a fun ride with Madeline on her new bike, and a family bike ride up to Denver. The rest of the month was focused mostly on running and preparing for and recovering from the Ascent. Mike and I headed to the top of Pikes Peak to do the 3,2,1 run which was absolutely brutal. I ended up only doing the 3,2 which is 3 miles down, 3 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up. Mike ended up doing 4 down, 4 up and broke a rib along the way when he fell. Another fun workout was cruise intervals on the track in Manitou with the Striders. This was intended to be a race tune up for the Ascent. After I recovered from the Ascent I jumped back in with Striders and did short fartleks at Prospect Lake and the Cheyenne Canyon climb where I got a PR (43:29). The run down on the Cheyenne Canyon climb was the most beautiful I had ever seen the canyon. The fall colors were still out and I kept wanting to turn around just to see the beautiful colors against the backdrop of the mountains. 

​Our last breakfast in Europe! Nooooo!. Mike had four or five croissants and cried as he finished the last one. How will he survive without fresh butter, jam, and delicious, delicious bread? After breakfast, we headed to the train station. We caught the train to Zurich where we changed trains and headed to the airport or flughaffen (one of Mike’s favorite German words along with gemüse and genau). We checked our bags, thought about taking the 4,000 dollars and staying another night since they oversold the flight, but then decided family trumps money. We then headed back down into the flughaffen train station, where we stocked up on Luxembergli, treats at the Migros and Orange / Peach Capri Sun! We drank our Capri Sun on the way to security, breezed through that, Passport control, the Duty-Free shops where we picked up some last-minute gifts, then took the train to the E gates. We waited for our Delta flight knowing that we were leaving croissants, fresh jam, cheese, butter, alpine meadows, and tasty fresh water behind us until the next time we are lucky enough to come back to a land where we can’t understand what people are saying so we are free to enjoy the beautiful world all around us.

​Our last day in the mountains. Breakfast was grand and our Alpine Cosplay friends sat at the table next to ours. After breakfast, we packed up our stuff and caught the train to Spiez, then on to Bern where we switched to our train to Lucerne. Sara was bent on getting Madeline a cute dress from the French kid’s store and Mike just wanted to amble around. Both got their wish, and we even ran into the missionaries along the lakeshore. We ambled, shopped, and ambled. Now part of the mass of tourists trying to milk Lucerne for all its worth. None of them knew that we were not just regular tourists, but bad ass hikers that had conquered the king’s trail! None of them would have cared much anyway as they were all busy trying to buy fancy watches, kitschy knives, and take the perfect selfie. Our goal was to eat treats as we ambled and so we ate chocolate, Luxembergli (The champagne ones are gross btw), breads, and anything that looked tasty. We also were on the hunt for that Orange/Peach Capri sun as we hadn’t found it at any Coop or Migros since the first day.  We tried on clothes, looked in fun stores at unnecessary stuff and just enjoyed a really hot afternoon in Lucerne. After some rest at the hotel watching Big on the British channels, we went out and got Pizza at La Bestia (it was really good) and wandered around town a little more to work off all that pizza. We walked past a concert by the lake, and then the unthinkable happened. Sara got stung by a bee on her toe! This emergency called for ice cream, and we got some tasty Gelato to help calm the nerves. This only helped a little, so we headed back to the hotel and watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 and 2. In all, that’s a perfect way to end the day for us. Lying in bed, watching a good movie as we iced Sara’s poor toe.
 

Griesap to Kandersteg via the Hohturli pass

​The monster day. Yesterday was a beast. Today was the beast’s ugly brother from out of town. Fortunately, it started with breakfast where we had the most wonderful Muesli ever created. It was divine. We packed up our stuff and picked up lunch from the hotel and headed up the path. And up it was from the start. Through beautiful forest, by the river, by waterfalls we hiked past endless spruce trees until we emerged onto the side of the mountain. The sun was high in the sky, and it was hot. With over 4,700 feet of climbing to the highest pass on the Via Alpina, we had a long day ahead of us. We headed up until we came to the first farm and restaurant of the ascent toward Hohtürli / Blümlisalphütte. When we arrived at Oberi Bundalp, we ate some chocolate, used the restrooms, listened to the swine make horrible noises, and then headed on pretty quickly so we could gain the summit by lunch. The hike from the restaurant got real steep, real fast. Fortunately, there were benches along the way which we took advantage of as our legs were tired from the prior day. The last part of the hike was up steep, steep steps, the Swiss incline! Sara decided to strut her stuff and basically ran up the last 250 meters to the summit. Mike just did his best not to fall off the mountain, but still managed to pass people on his way to the summit. After a brutal ascent, the reward was amazing views of the mountain’s glaciers and a cool mountain hut where we had lunch. They had a restaurant there and people were eating sausage, hashbrowns, and drinking beer. I don’t know how the Swiss hike so fast while eating such heavy food. They are a remarkable people in both engineering but also functioning highly while eating food that is clearly not on any diet plan.
 
After taking in the amazing views, we started out on the long (and I mean really long) steep descent from the pass to lake Oeschinesse. The descent was long, steep, and rocky with crazy steep grades. So naturally, there was some lunatic mountain biking down it. He had mad skills, because we could barely walk down it. 
 
By the time we got to the lake, we were pretty exhausted. None the less, Mike stripped down and jumped in the water and Sara soaked her feet. It was a nice moment to regroup for the long descent to Kandersteg. The lake was beautiful and the cliffs staggering. However, our favorite part was the ice cream. Without it, we would not have made it down the final steep descent to town.  We skipped the gondola to show how bad ass we were and wandered into Kandersteg exhausted but thrilled we made it. We never did see that other American family. For all we know, they are still trying to find Griesalp. 
 
Kandersteg was gorgeous. The views of the mountain pristine. Our hotel was delightful and the dinner perfect on the patio. The lamb was exquisite, there were some people in old school Swiss outfits (like Cosplay for Alpine folk), and the guy sitting next to us just enjoying life. No phones, no distractions, just the perfect Alpine air, beautiful views, and delightful food. Our view from our room’s balcony was probably the best of the trip in many ways. Not as grand as the Eiger, but just perfect. The little church in the field had a light go on as the night settled into the valley. In our minds, a little Swiss lady was playing the organ as people sang hymns in that little church thanking God for this wonderful place.

Wengen to Lauterbrunnen to Murren via train and cableway
Murren to Sefinenfurgge to Griesalp via Via Alpina route 

​The big days begin. From the moment Mike planned this trip, he has been dreading today and the next day.  These were the big ones. Wengen to Lauterbrunnen to Murren to the pass and down to Griesalp was our adventure for the day. We ate breakfast, probably the most meager one of the trip, and then headed out early to catch the train down to the valley. There were no clouds in the sky.  It was a perfect day for what is commonly known as the most beautiful segment of the Via Alpina. It did not disappoint. The views of the valley from the train were spectacular. Having already done Lauterbrunnen the day before, we headed directly to the gondola, bought our tickets, and headed up the mountain. What a blessing it was to go up to Murren by gondola and train. We met a man on the train who had been hiking in Switzerland but didn’t invest in good socks. Good socks are where it’s at when you’re hiking, but especially in the Swiss Alps. From Murren we headed out into the forest and began our steep ascent up to the pass, the Sefinenfurgge. The views were absolutely amazing. The Eiger, the Monch, and Jungfrau loomed large the whole trip and were soon joined by other mountains, more glaciers, and more peaks. It was staggering in the bright sun with alpine flowers blossoming everywhere. Truly, this was a heavenly place! As we climbed, we ran into a family from America that was not prepared for this hike and clearly had no idea what they were getting into. You could tell the dad didn’t think it through very well before he planned this hike. It was as brutal as it was breathtaking, and they had a long way to go to get to the hotels in the Kiental valley. Half way up, we stopped at a little farm (after busting our way through the herd) and ate some lunch on the bench in the shade. We saw a cowgirl walking with a big stick to go beat the crap out of a cow, or maybe the Americans, but either way, she was a little intimidating. So, we ate lunch, and headed back out on the trail that was now fully exposed in the sun as we crested the peak to the pass. The views from the pass were second to none and we celebrated our summit with selfies and chocolate. From there, we started the long and grueling descent to Griesalp (actually our mountain hotel was past Griesalp, so bonus hiking for us). In all, it was a beautiful hike, but a brutal descent. In stark contrast to the American family, was an old Swiss lady we saw hiking up the mountain at a perfectly steady pace. She caught us on the descent as we were filling up water at one of the randomly placed water spickets that dot Switzerland’s mountains. She told us which way to go, and we descended into the woods toward our hotel. We did finally see some goats, one of which was desperately in need of a good milking. After a long descent, we arrived at the hotel Waldrand, a historic hotel where we got to share a bathroom with two other couples. Dinner was wonderful and we sat outside looking at the mountains and giant waterfalls in the cool summer evening. It was a wonderful meal, and the people were super nice. The menu was all in German and we asked the hostess what one of the dishes was, and she thought for a moment and said, “little moo”. Perfect, we’ll have the little moo and the pork cordon bleu. It was a great meal and a wonderful end to a long and tiring day. With memories of beautiful mountain peaks, we fell asleep listening to the Germans next to us laugh and make commentary that we could not understand at all as we snuggled under our fluffy Swiss comforters. It was bliss.
 

Grindelwald - Eigergletscher - Jungfraujoch 

​Goodbye Belvedere, Hello trail! One more amazing breakfast and then back out into the wild, well sort of.  Because the weather was decent, we decided to go to the top of Europe (or at least the highest train station in Europe), the Jungfraujoch. We took the Eiger Express gondola from Grindelwald and then hoped on the train that goes through the mountain (literally for 20 minutes) in a tunnel dug over 100 years ago. When the Swiss get bored or have a problem, they did a tunnel. The top was cooler than I thought it would be. The views of the glaciers and the three main peaks (the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau) were staggering. We could have done without the annoying Chinese tourists (not being racist here, but Chinese tourists are the worst since they have no sense of personal space, how to wait in line, or be politely quiet). It was pretty obvious that even the Swiss were constantly annoyed. 
 
Undeterred, we enjoyed our tour of the summit, the ice caves, the freezing cold, and the grand vistas. From there, we headed back down to the mountain in the train to a different stop where we had lunch looking back up at the mountains. We then made a critical error. Instead of hiking up the mountain and taking the gondola down to Wengen (or the train for that matter), we then hiked down to Wengen. While there were some good views, this was a rather forgettable hike on a gravel road and our feet were not happy to be going down for many, many, steep, steep miles. Oh well, we made it to the hotel with sad feet.
 
Our hotel that night was quaint (a far cry from the Belvedere), but pleasant. Thomas, the inn keeper was very nice and helpful. Since it was so early in the day, we decided to take the train down to Lauterbrunnen (our second mistake of the day). Where Wengen has amazing views of the valley and is very quiet, Lauterbrunnen was overrun with more tourists. Having already had our fill of tourists at the Jungfraujoch, we weren’t impressed and didn’t stay long. We headed back up to Wengen for dinner to escape the hoards or humanity. Our third mistake was not making a dinner reservation before we left, so we got turned away from the restaurant nearest our hotel.  We then wandered deeper into Wengen and stopped at a pasta place that smelled like ass, so we went to a traditional Swiss restaurant (finally not a mistake)! The food was excellent and the couples around us chatty and fun. We sat next to an Anglican pastor and his wife of one year who were very chatty and full of commentary. He runs a church outside of London, but in the summer comes to Switzerland to run the church there. What a gig! Then there was a couple from Greece with their little kiddos. Everyone was quite jovial, so the day ended on a very positive note, especially when the ice cream and apple strudel came out. We gave our unused train tickets to the Greek family, so they didn’t have to walk down the trail to Lauterbrunnen in the dark and returned to our little hotel full, exhausted, and laughing about our conversations with our dinner friends. 

Meiringen to Grindelwald via Grosse Scheidegg Summit ​

​After such a wonderful dinner, and with a full day of hiking ahead of us, we were eager for our Swiss breakfast. It did not disappoint. There was so much wonderful food in the morning to fuel our day. The chef asked us what our plans were for the day and gave us some hiking advice, which we followed and ended up making the day awesome. He told us there was no rush since the clouds wouldn’t start clearing until nine o’clock, so we took our time then headed out into the rain to take the funicular up to Reichenbach falls. These are the famous falls where Sherlock Holmes met his end. Of course, none of that is real, but the town really markets it like it was a real thing. The funicular was awesome and saved us about 1,000 feet of steep vertical ascent, which was great because we still climbed over 4,000 feet later on. When we got to the top, we got to talk to Peter on FB messenger! What fun it was to talk with him. It always makes our day better. After using half Mike’s phone battery on that call, we headed up the steep trail away from the falls and toward the Grosse Scheidegg pass. 
 
The chef was right, and the hike was staggeringly beautiful along a soft dirt alpine trail, slowly rising toward the pass through lush forests. It was truly magical and didn’t feel like we were climbing as much as we really were. About half way up, the clouds cleared, and we got our first glimpse of the Wetterhorn and were completely blown away. It’s so big and grand that it’s hard to take in. We ate lunch at Rosli by a little hotel on a little green bench. Sara discovered the joy of Orange/Peach Capri Sun and Europe’s version of Sun Chips.
 
From the lunch spot, the trail got more and more Alpine with less trees and more staggering views. We made it to the top, exhausted, but exhilarated by the amazing climb and the views of the mountains. We were so grateful that the clouds cleared up enough for us to see the mountains in their grandeur. With it being late, we decided not to head over to First and take the gondola down, rather we took the Post Bus down to Grindelwald. This proved fun because the bus plays this wonky little horn medley when it comes around the corner, so you know the Post bus is coming. It was entertaining. 
 
We walked over to our hotel, the Belvedere, which would be our home for the next two days. We checked into our room, then headed to the hot tub and just soaked away our sore legs and feet. Both of us were sore! We weren’t used to hiking 12 miles a day, so it felt good to sit in the hot tub, listen to loud annoying Americans be loud and annoying, and then be grateful when they left. 
 
The Belvedere is a fairly swanky little establishment so for dinner we had another five-course meal.  However, there was a problem in the kitchen and the main course took a long time to come out. In all, it was like a three-hour dinner. The main course was pretty forgettable, but we were just glad to be warm, cozy, and looking at the magnificent peaks of the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau looming large over the village. It was quite a sight to behold. 

Engelberg to Meiringen via Alpina Route 1 and then took Route 40

​With the closest church being hours away, Sunday saw the start of our hiking excursion rather early. We got up, enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with our hotel mates from yesterday (the happy coupe with a baby and the grumpy couple from the Middle East). We checked out, left our bags for the delivery service (Eurotrek) and headed across the street to the Coop to get some lunch supplies. From there, we walked over to the gondola and rode up to lake Trubsee. This would cut off quite a bit of the hike in the rain, which was the right thing to do. At the lake, we found Schmuggli! It was probably the highlight of that part of the trip. We then walked around the lake in the cold rain to the chair lift that would take us up to the pass. Fortunately, the chair lifts had plastic covers, otherwise, we would have been even more cold and wet. It was a fairly mixed sky at the top and it was clearly snowing just a few hundred feet up from our location. Fortunately, we were headed down. Sara wanted to take some quick shots with her camera and promptly dropped her hiking stick in cow crap without realizing it. She then proceeded to smear the cow crap all over her jacket, hat, and hood. I turned around and she was covered in crap, it was raining, it was windy and cold. Not a great start to our long hiking adventure! Fortunately, we recovered from this moment and started hiking down the mountain. The skies would clear from time to time, but overall, it was a rainy day. By the time we reached the halfway point, the hotel at Engstlenalp, we were wet and tired. We stopped to use the restroom, ate some overpriced carrot cake, and met a young couple from the states. They were camping their way through the Alps and looked wet and stinky. She was from Vail, and he was from southern California. It’s good to be young and stinky!
 
We headed out from our latest Wes Anderson hotel and decided to change plans and follow the lower route to our destination instead of the higher route. This was probably a good decision and saved us from hiking in the snow. We also got to hike down this ravine with amazing waterfalls and followed Gandalf for a while until we found Rivendale. It was such a lush and beautiful canyon that the time passed quickly, until it didn’t. Going downhill for 12 miles gets a little rough on the feet and we were starting to get tired and needed a bathroom. There was a farm selling Alpine cheese and butter. So, we rang the doorbell and discovered that the young girl didn’t speak English, and as our kids will tell you, we don’t speak German. Fortunately, she spoke French so Mike negotiated the purchase of some Alpine butter and Sara got to use the bathroom in the barn. We then continued hiking briskly until we got to the Meiringen gondola. Oh, blessed gondola that took us down the last 1,000 feet to the town. I think we would have been found dead on the trail if we had to go down another 2 miles of steep rocky trails. In all, the first day saw us traveling 18 miles, so we didn’t feel bad taking the gondola down. We arrived at our boutique hotel and gave great thanks for the abundant hot water in Switzerland and their awesome water pressure. 
 
After returning ourselves to human form, we headed downstairs for dinner. It was quite amazing. The chef prepared a five-course meal, and we enjoyed every inch of it. From the ceviche (yes ceviche in Switzerland) to the perfectly cooked steak, it was quite the treat after our long, long cold hike in the rain. After dinner, we promptly fell into a food coma. Someone must have taken us upstairs because we woke up the next day in our room.