Tuesday August 11, 2015
Tour de Monte Rosa
Thun to Macugnaga
Next
Wednesday August 12, 2015
Tour de Monte Rosa
Macugnaga to Stein am Rhein
I woke up early, stored much of my stuff in a locker at the Thun train
station, caught the 7:30 train from Thun to Visp, and caught the
crowded 8:30 bus from Visp to Mattmark.
By 9:30 I was hiking.
09:23
Starting a gorgeous hike with a busload of Swiss hikers.
10:04
After half an hour of somewhat boring hiking on pavement along the
lake, it was time to start hiking up the pass
Monte Moro is center
Seerojinen glacier is top right
10:07
(Nothing on this sign mentions the disaster...)
10:08
10:15
10:36
I was about halfway between Mattmark dam and Monte Moro pass, and the
trail started to get steep.
I hoped to be up in another 90 minutes or so.
10:36
Seerojinen glacier
10:47
10:48
Tallibodu, 2491m, looking southeast up Talli
Taliboden Glacier and Joderhorn 3036m (left) are in the background
10:49
The trail goes up from the lower right to the upper left
10:59
11:02
The stairs were so wide I had no fear of the dropoff
11:02
11:12
The Mischabel group
Strahlhorn 4190m is on the left
Rimpfischorn 4199m is left center
Allalinhorn 4027m is center
Alphubel 4206m, Taschorn 4491m, and Dom 4545m are the three snowcapped
summits toward the center right
Dom is the highest point solely in Switzerland; Monte Rosa is higher
but it is on the Swiss/Italian border
Nadelhorn 4327m is the lone snowcapped peak just past Dom
The view from directly in front of the Madonna statue was unbelievable.
I'm not sure I've ever seen a more beautiful place. I lingered
for quite a while before heading down to the lift.
Monte Moro pass is 2868m
The snowcapped peaks of the Monte Rosa on the left are Signalkuppe
(Swiss name) / Punta Gnifetti (Italian name) 4554m, Zumsteinspitze
4563m, Dufourspitze 4634m, and Nordend 4609m
Dufourspitze 4634m is the highest point in Switzerland (Mont Blanc
4810m is the highest point in Italy)
Margherita Hut, where we originally intended to spend a night, is on
top of Signalkuppe
Belvedere 1904m is 7000' below the peaks above and appears directly
above the top of Monte Moro ski lift building 2810m
Monte Moro 2985m is the close peak above the lake in left center
The snowcapped peaks of the Mischabel group on the right are
Rimpfischorn 4199m, Allalinhorn 4027m, Alphubel 4206m, Taschorn 4491m,
Dom 4545m, and Nadelhorn 4327m
(Strahlhorn 4190m seen earlier is hidden behind Monte Moro)
11:44
11:53
11:54
11:53
11:54
Joderhorn 3036m is right center
Notice the ski lift in left center.
This entire area looked very treacherous for skiiing.
Lots of people walked up the steep snow to the top of the lift.
11:55
12:15
Rifugio Ocerto-Maroli
12:16
12:23
I was able to purchase a round trip gondola ticket and use the return
trip the next day.
Notice the 6"+ step between the gondola and the station floor at the
bottom of the picture.
I can only assume that the gondola is in very poor repair, and I fear
for the long term survival of the gondola and its riders if this is the
way they maintain the gondola.
12:25
12:27
The gondola bounced noticably after one of the towers, which to me was
another sign of extreme mechanical neglect.
12:28
12:28
Macugnaga and Staffa are below.
Ristorante Flizzi used to have the words "Hotel" on the side of the
building as well - you could see the wood was less faded where the word
"Hotel" had been.
Since there were lots of people eating lunch there, I asked if they had
rooms and was told it was no longer a hotel.
I then inquired at the nearby Hotel Flora since I had read a trip
report
indicating that it was another preferred option.
Hotel Flora was full and directed me to the only other hotel, the
infamous Hotel Zumstein, which I had
read was a stale and dirty place online.
With no other options I paid 60 euros for a room at the Hotel Zumstein
Everything including the air in the Hotel Zumstein belongs in a museum,
it is all that
old.
Do not stay there if at all possible.
13:03
My room at the Hosmell Zumstiem
13:03
View from my room at the Hosmell Zumstiem
13:45
I quickly went out to explore the town and surroundings
Without any real plan or idea where I was going, I headed up the valley.
13:45
With a little TLC the Hotel Zumstein could be nice again.
Unforunately it is clear the Hotel Zumstein hasn't had any TLC in
decades.
13:50
13:51
I was very impressed by the church.
13:51
In a stunning turnabout, the chicken says "Tastes like human!"
Not at all sure how this relates to any particular diety or set of
beliefs, but it was
cool...
13:56
Passo del Turlo was the pass we were rained out of on Sunday.
We had seen a few signs that said GTA, Grande Traversata delle Alpi
14:17
When I die, please do not place my skull in a box on an shelf.
Play soccer with it instead.
14:21
15:04
15:04
15:05
15:06
15:07
15:07
15:08
15:08
15:09
15:10
15:19
15:19
15:19
15:22
15:23
15:24
15:26
15:29
15:40
15:41
15:44
I had spent the last hour wandering up into the beautiful valley to
Pecetto.
I then noticed the ski lift and wandered over.
The lady told me it costs 17 euros, it takes 25 minutes to get to the
top, and the last lift down was at 5pm.
It was nearly 4pm.
I was worried that it might rain on me and I would have very little
time at the top, but I quickly handed her a 20 euro bill and hopped on.
16:04
This was undoubtably the oldest ski lift I had ever ridden - very slow,
very old school, but very cool.
16:14
16:19
Rifugio Saronno
16:20
16:23
Wengwald Hutte
At the top of the Alpe Burki - Belvedere lift there were plenty
of people enjoying beverages and the views.
There was also a 'magic carpet' lift uphill from there. I walked
along side the magic carpet lift and was soon greeted with spectacular
views of Monte Rosa up close, from 7000' below...
Belvedere 1904m is in the foreground
Monte Rosa is on the left, just to the left of the sun.
This would be a much better picture earlier in the day but it was still
a gorgeous spot.
iPhone panorama
Click here for a full size version
16:26
16:26
16:27
Hikers are coming back across the Belvedere moraine.
16:27
I could have spent hours here but didn't dare linger for fear of
missing the lift back down.
16:33
16:33
16:34
Top of the Monte Moro gondola as seen from Belvedere
I ordered a beer at the Wengwald Hutte and nearly chugged it, then
headed back down the lifts.
16:44
17:32
For dinner I went back to the Ristorante Flizzi and sat outside with a
nice view of Monte Rosa...
19:23
19:32
Speck with mushrooms and truffel oil and a nice house red wine
19:47
Veal with fettucini and another nice house red wine
20:19
Desert with beer
20:29
A B-52 nightcap, served flaming with a straw.
The meal was great - perhaps not a top five meal from a culinary
standpoint, but between the food and the views it was off the charts.
Meanwhile, in the Rhone Valley....
Kent texted "I'm zipping [skateboarding] thru Switzerland at Mach 10
listening to Olivia Newton John. Muthas..."
Kent spent the night in Zermatt in preparation for another climb
Meanwhile, in Colmar, France...
Paul and Jed rented bikes and biked nearly 45km.
Jed got a flat tire on the way back about 5km away from the bike rental
shop so he had to run / walk back.
While dodging a car on a busy road walking with his bike, Paul dropped
his iPhone in the middle of the street and it was run over by a car.
Paul had a fantastic iPhone case that saved the iPhone - it was totally
undamaged, but the case is now permantantly molded in place around the
iPhone.
Paul texted: "Jed has developed a habit of going for drinks and coming
back with full bottles of wine"
They had their best meal of the trip - Paul had veal osso buco and Jed
had pork fillet mignon with good white wine.
There is now a Grand Crue shortage in Colmar, France.
