Zurich, Switzerland

From Paris, we took a train to Zurich, grabbed a taxi to the airport to pick up our rental car. We stayed at an AirB&B in Zurich, which was a lovely city with unique architecture. The only pictures I managed to snap of the city were this beautiful mural on the side of a skyscraper, and a double-decker bike rack—something I had never seen before.

Swiss Countryside

Before checking into our AirB&B in Zurich, we drove directly to the Stoos Ski Resort so we wouldn’t miss the cable cars to the top. The Swiss countryside felt magical—lush green mountains dotted with tiny homesteads, quaint churches, and the most beautiful cows I’ve ever seen. Yes, cows. I had no idea they could be so picturesque!

Stoos Ski Village

At the base of the resort, we boarded the funicular railway from Schwyz to Stoos—the steepest in the world. After that, three more gondola rides carried us to the top, where we wandered around and soaked in the views when we were able, because of the clouds constantly drifting in and out.

Beautiful views below that continued to expand…Taking a cable-car to Stoos villageWalking around Stoos ski village which itself was quite the experience…so quaint and beautiful!A little friend that came to greet me!If I were a cow, this is definitely where I would want to live!Unique cabin behind usThe cloud cover made it all the more mysterious and beautiful!I loved the cows with the huge bells hanging from their necks, you could hear those bells clanking all over the mountainside (I guess that is the purpose). Roger asking this keeper of the cows where to find the cable-cars going up.A gorgeous old church perched on top of a small hill.We found the cable car station on the other side of the church and headed up once again.Finally starting to climb above the cloud cover (or so we thought).The clouds parted enough for a peek of Stoos Ridge and trail that we were hoping to hike, but due to the thick clouds that came, and never went, we decided to just get what pictures we could and head down via cable cars.On top with views of the bright yellow station (now I know why the bright color!)Everytime we became hopeful that the clouds were finally parting, they would roll on in as quickly as they left!Getting some decent pics before the eventual white-out.I was also able to get some lovely pics of the valley below and Lake Lucerne…You can't tell from the picture of Leanne, but the picture of me shows how freezing it was on top! The wind was blowing hard and chilled up to the bone (which was actually a common theme this trip).After waiting as long as we could for the clouds to depart, we gave up on our Stoos Ridge hike and headed back down via cable cars.

Shafler Ridge

After staying the night at our AirB&B in Zurich, we packed our backpacks for an overnighter, explored the small country of Litchenstien, and then drove to Wasserauen, Switzerland. There we ate a hearty lunch of local beef, cheese, and potato salad, and boarded the Ebenalp cable car for more Swiss Alps hiking.

Again, the views were absolutely breathtaking!Once on top, we hiked about an hour to Shafler Refugio, where we would hike Shafler Ridge, and other trails on top, during our over overnight stay.The hike to Shafler Refugio, again with the clouds rolling in and out, but mostly in!Walking the final steep hill up to the Refugio, with our walking sticks.A picture of the Refugio on our map, which looked pretty darn close to the original!The front of the Refugio The clouds surrounding the Refugio with only the tops of the mountains visible.Our bunk-room on the fourth floor, with no heat or electricity, and only a small blanket for warmth (sleeping bags would have been helpful here). There was one bathroom located on the second floor (not super convenient for middle of the night emergencies).The dinning area and main gathering spot. The wood-burning stove on the right provided the only heat for the entire building. This is why we stayed in this room most of the time. We were hoping to go on various hikes, including the Schafler Ridge hike, which is a stunning hike, but the clouds were locked in so thick it really wasn't worth our time since we wouldn't be able to see anything, plus it wasn't worth risking our lives since some of the hike was very steep, requiring ladders and cables for safty.Dinner of local mac n' cheese, and sausageEarly the next morning this was the view right outside of the Refugio. After breakfast and check-out, we stayed and played card games in the dining room, waiting for the clouds to recede, but they never did.

These are pictures from the internet, but to put things in perspective, this is a pic of Shafler Refugio, and trail leading up to it.This picture, also from the internet, is looking down at the Shafler Ridge Trail from the other side of the Refugio, when there are no clouds of course.A trailhead of the many hikes around Shafler Refugio, unfortunately we were unable to do any of them because of the cloud-cover and snow-storm moving in. Our only choice was to hike back down to the cable car, and head back to Wasserauen.

Saxer Lucke

Since we were not able to go on all the hikes we wanted to at Shafler, Roger proposed another hike to Saxer Lucke that same day. I was a bit hesitant because I was afraid the cloud cover would ruin our views once again, but he assured us it would be worth it. The picture above is a view of the back side of Saxer Lucke.

We took the Staubern cable car and then a nice traversing trail to the ridge. Midway through the hike there is a trail that goes down to Falensee lake, and Berggasthaus Bollenwees, where you can supposedly get the best Rosti in Switzerland, but in the interest of time we just followed the the trail to Saxer Lucke.Views of the Swiss valley below.The Fall colors were gorgeous, and below you can see the various trails and Falensee Lake. The clouds came and went like before, but luckily they parted enough for us to see all the breathtaking sites around us!Leanne taking pictures of the beautiful sites from the narrow ridge trail.Incredible 360 degree views!Getting a peek of Saxer Lucke through the clouds as one of its jagged rock peaks comes into view.The clouds made the peaks look all the more magical!Roger and Leanne heading down from the perfect viewing point.Hiking around the mountain we were on to get a different perspective of Saxer Lucke.And it did not disappoint!Brad and Roger decided to risk their lives for one more picture of Saxer Lucke by hiking up a very steep trail to the top of a smaller peak covered in grass.Another view with Roger making it almost to the top.Picture Roger took from the top of that grassy peak looking straight forward at Saxer Lucke.Picture that Brad took of the left side of the peak looking down at the valley below.Picture of Leanne and I at the bottom of the trail. I tried to hike up with the guys but Brad begged me to go back knowing that I probably would have died from my fear of heights (trying to get back down after my short attempt up was difficult enough).After the guys almost died trying to get the perfect picture (Roger twisted his ankle on the way down), we decided it was time to head back.Catching the cable car back down to the valley.

Zurich, Switzerland

Coming full circle it was now time to leave the Swiss Alps portion of our trip and embark on the Italian Dolomites!

Being silly as we wait for our train at the Zurich train station. We also just had to load up on more Swiss chocolate!Walking all the way to our train section (the trains were very long!)Leanne and Brad were seat buddies (and good sports) and Roger and I sat together, because Roger and I had to sit on the seats facing forward, due to being prone to train-sickness! In about six hours we would meet Blake and Josie in Venice for the second half of our trip!