We are off to Grindelwald and the Eiger this morning. Cloudy and a little cooler, we head for the train station, pick up a Brie sandwich for breakfast, and board the train for Interlacken. A few miles out of Lucerne, we start to head uphill.

We also went by a glacially fed lake.

Going around a curve.

Closer to Interlacken we pass by the beautiful Brietzen See and Saner See.

At Interlacken we change trains and it’s an experience we remember from 2001 at the same station. The Interlacken Shuffle. First, it’s important  to know what track your next train will be on and what time it leaves before you get to the station. Then you make a mad dash off the train dragging your suitcase down a wide ramp and dodging other people through tunnels under the tracks until you find the right ramp to pull that monster suitcase up while a bunch of other passengers are careening down, and then you’ve made it. Your train is waiting and likely departs in a few minutes.  No dawdling. But no time wasted either. Then it’s on to Grindelwald. Our trip from Lucerne was 2 1/2 hours. And our hotel is conveniently located by the train station.

We check in, change into hiking boots, and go to the nearby bus station for what we learn is a nearly 45-minute ride to the Männlichen station. But that’s because the cable car out of Grindelwald is being rerouted and is currently out of commission.  The last time we were here we came up to Männlichen by cog rail from Wengen. Either way gets you to a couple of trailheads that are within sight of the Eiger. Ross was not happy about the prospect of a long bus ride but we eventually concluded the trip was maybe 10 to 12 miles. It was all up, through hairpin turns on a single track road, and on a full-size bus. That’s why it took so long. And it was a trip!

We occasionally stopped to let other traffic go by and the bus horn sounded every time we went towards a blind corner.

So it ended up a fun ride with great views of the Swiss countryside.

We arrived at Männlichen station and were off the bus and on our own. 

From here, on a clear day, you can see the massive wall consisting of the Eiger, the Mönch, and the Jungfrau. 

But we’re in clouds again – and what we remembered – the wide expanse of green valley with the Eiger, the Mönch, and the Jungfrau looming just beyond – was all but invisible. 

We headed out on the trail to Kleine Scheidegg, a pass below the Eiger, and the railway station at the summit of the pass. We started at about 7,400 feet and the pass is at 6,700 feet.  We hiked the same route in 2001 – which was listed as an hour and a half walk.

It was four miles and took us two hours with stops along the way.  There were several places with benches to stop and enjoy the view and if we had one, it would have taken us even longer. We did meet a few other people on the path but not many people were out here today.

It was a surreal experience knowing this huge world exists in the clouds but we were closed in on this narrow trail.

Close to the end we reached Zimmer Restaurant, one of these Swiss restaurants in the middle of nowhere with no access by car, only by foot.

We had lunch on the balcony here in June of 2001.

It was sunny then and we took photos of the Eiger from here. Back then we took the trail to Alpiglen for several additional miles and then caught the train back into Grindelwald. Today we went into Kleine Scheidegg to catch the train. Swiss hiking trails are usually well-marked and include the approximate time to hike.

The main building there is a combination restaurant and train station with trains going to Grindelwald as well as to Lauterbrunnen. It is also the lower terminus of the Jungfrau railway which climbs through tunnels in the Eiger and the Mönch to Jungfraujoch, the highest point reachable by rail in Europe. That’s an adventure for another day. Momentarily, the top of the Eiger came out of the clouds just above the train station.

There is also a hotel there that was featured in the movie The Eiger Sanction if you’re old enough to remember that. This photo was taken a day or two later when the sun was out.

From here we take the train – which runs every 1/2 hour – into Grindelwald. It’s a 30-minute ride. And lower down, back near the hotel, we are back in sunshine.

We bought a map to see where we were today and get our bearings.

Dinner was at an family-operated Italian restaurant, Pizzeria Da Salvi, attached to the Steinbock Hotel. We had great pizza and the desserts looked great too but we did not partake. Back at the hotel, we do laundry and get ready for another day.