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| A brief glimpse of the Matterhorn |
Ready
to write the day off in town on Monday morning, I awoke to see the
Matterhorn had made a brief appearance. The sight of this iconic
mountain perked me up, and blue sky had me making my way down to Tasch
to take a taxi up to Taschalp for my first planned walk.
Thankfully,
I popped into the information centre in Tasch to order my taxi, and the
assistant asked me which route I was doing. "I'll be walking back to
Sunegga along the Europweg" I said, but she quickly informed me that the
route was closed all year because of rockfalls and avalanches. The
morning was disappearing and I had to come up with an alternative!
A
quick coffee at the station, I returned to Zermatt and with the weather
still in my favour, jumped on the train up to Gornegrat.
Today,
Gornegrat, at 3135m, was cold, and most of the 4000 metre peaks were
shrouded in cloud. A storm was forming behind the Matterhorn. Oh well,
better start my walk; a descent to Zermatt.
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| Schwarzxegletscher, Breithorngleitcher, Triftjigletscher |
Pretty
soon, I was being buffeted by the wind and it even began to hail, but I
was moving and keeping warm, so I wasn't too concerned. My route took
me part way along by the railway track, before diverting off down to
Riffelsee, a lake sat at the foot of a large lump of rock that is the
Riffelhorn.
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| Riffelhorn |
Visibility
below the peaks was good, although walking in the presence of the
mighty Matterhorn, an appearance would have been welcomed. Instead, I
kept a wary eye on the activities in the valley to its right, where the
odd glimpse of lightning and the ensuing rumble enamated.
The hail was short lived, and the sun even managed to warm my back, but this was occasional and very brief.
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| Gornergrat |
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| Wildflowers |
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| Riffelsee |
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| Riffelsee |
It appeared I was following the Riffelseeweg, and I took a left turn down towards Gagenhaupt.
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| Left turn to Riffelberg |
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| Riffelberg area |
Here,
I noticed everyone else was carrying straight on to Riffelberg, instead
of taking the longer route, and so for this section I was alone. This
is a lovely diversion, following a mountain stream, but soon it veered
right, and at a fork I took the right hand path towards Riffelberg. Over
a brow, the station and impressive mountain hotel stood before me.
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| Path towards Gagenhaupt |
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| Path across Riffelberg |
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| Riffelberg |
I
moved quickly through Riffelberg, mindful of the storm approaching, and
picked my way down an "airy" path that, for the initial section, hugged
the preciptious drop to my left. Controlling my anxiety admirably, the
path soon widened and the drops were more a gentle slope.
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| Airy descent to Riffelalp |
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| Wildflower |
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| Wildflower |
Riffelalp
left me with some choices. I had planned to take the pine forest route
via Station Riffelalp, down to Findelbach and into Winkelmatten, but
with rain soon to hit, I opted for a quicker descent via Blatten.
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| Riffelalp |
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| Ritty Zermatt |
At
first, the descent through the forest, via a small mountain restaurant
called Ritty, was a delight. The scent of pine was heavy in the air, and
it would have been nice to have lingered on this section. However, the
claps of thunder were all around me, and when I had reached the road
called Zermatt Strasse, the rain began to fall and lightning was
strobing above.
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| Ritty |
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| Reached Strasse Zermatt |
I
stepped up my pace, descending under, to my concern, an electricity
pylon, and then cable car, to a wooden bridge that crossed the Gornera. I
had no time to take a photo and admire the gorge that this river had
cut and raged through, the rain was now torrential. I hurriedly climbed a
rocky path away from the gorge and was relieved to see a restaurant
before me; I had reached Blatten.
I
took a seat under the awning outside, ordered a coffee, and waited for
the rain to ease. Now I was left with a simple walk back into Zermatt,
largely following the Gornera into the town.
It
had been an enjoyable walk, despite the lack of the Matterhorn as a
back drop. I think I have been spoilt on my previous visits so it was
inevitable I'd be unlucky at some point. The weather played its part in
making this a different experience and not one, in hindsight, I would
change.
And the route:
