Hike and cable car/gondola from Trummelbach to Mannlichen via Lauterbrunnen. More unusual encounters on a short hike to Lauterbrunnen. And a ride up on the train to Wengen, followed by a cable car ride to the ski fields of Mannlichen before leaving via a gondola to Grindelwald Grund.

Background

With about 40 minutes until the next bus at the falls, I took a walk to the next bus stop of Heliport. This gave me an opportunity to look at one of the big waterfalls along the road. But I was also quite lucky to bump into a cliff jumper, coming down via parachute and almost landing onto the road. He landed on a field, about a hundred metres from the cliff face, giving a big yell and an enthusiastic wave. As I waved back to him, I wondered how exciting it was for him, since I thought he would even land on top of me.

I walked along the narrow road towards the next bus stop, this time being a bit more wary of my surroundings. It was just as well, since two more jumpers had parachuted down, about half a kilometre away from me. This, however, did not distract me from admiring the beauty of Lauterbrunnen Valley, with its many waterfalls and breathtaking mountain views of the Jungfrau region and Schilthorn.

After just making the bus back to Lauterbrunnen, I got off a couple of stops earlier from the railway station, so I can walk through the rest of the town. Smaller than Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen makes this up with the surrounding waterfalls. On the edge of Lauterbrunnen the church, Bei der Kirche, sits in front of the magnificent Staubbach Waterfall, its water gushing down from the mountainside and flowing into the nearby stream.

Since I was too tired to do more hiking, and tourist information was closed until 2pm, I decided to take the train and the cable car up to Mannlichen, passing Wengen along the way, then heading by the gondola to Grindelwald Grund. Wengen has probably the most clearest views of the Lauterbrunnen valley and the town below, other than that, it is more of a resort town with its ski hire shops and hotels being commonplace. About 15 minutes via cable car is Mannlichen, where the ski fields and all-round views of the mountains, including Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau can be seen. I trudged around in the ski fields, again admiring the mountains of the Bernese alps.

The gondola back to Grindelwald Grund had all-round views of the mountains, but was quite slow. There were the usual views of Eiger and Monch, but the view of Grindelwald and Wetterhorn emerging over the mountain slope was the real highlight. After a moment of confusion in Holenstein, where the gondolas slow down to let more passengers through and let some off, my gondola was on its way back to my haunt in Grindelwald Grund

Technical

Canon EOS 300V 28-90 mm USM lense. Kodak Portra NC 400 film. Flash used for the flowers.

Links

Mannlichen gondola information