Blumenthal...

So, after a few days of just sitting around in the valley and waiting for the weather (and the food poisoning!) to clear we finally decided that come hell or high water, we were going to stay in a mountain hut even it if meant we had to hike through the clouds to get there. So, after a quick stop at the tourist office to make a reservation at our inn, a quick bus ride to the lift station and a lift ride up the cliff, we made it to the first of two stops for us that day - Gimmelwald.

Now, all the books and articles I read talked about Gimmelwald and how quaint and sleepy it was and they were totally right! Even with all the clouds moving thru it was cute and quaint and just an awesome place to walk thru. It's a working alp so there were farmers tending to their farms, cows, chickens, sheep, and the like on either side of the "street" (which wasnt really wide enough for anything but a tractor or golf cart. Now, it's built into the hill side so anywhere you walk you had quite the hike but it was so worth it. The pic above is of the hostel just off the lift - the Mountain hostel which is apparently a very popular place for young backpackers to stay as they hike their way around the valley.

Our destination for the day was up a bit higher outside of Gimmelwald in Blumental. It's definitley quite the hike up the hill but the pain was lessened by the scenery around us. The cows were cordial and the clouds that were running thru made for an ever changing set of scenery.

The above pic is looking down on Murren from our path up to Blumental

Lessons Learned:
1. Clouds don't always mean a runined day
2. Taking the trams up were totally worth it!