Monday and Tuesday were quite a whirlwind. We completed a through hike across multiple glaciers from Grindelwald to Pontresina. We started our journey on the Jungfraujoch railway that snaked through the Matterhorn. All roped up in two groups, we began our hike in dense fog to the Koncordia hut.
Our journey down to the hut was filled with both education and beautiful views. Along the way, our guide stopped to explain the several of the key features of the glacier. At the start of our hike, we were above the equilibrium line that allows for mass amounts of snow to accumulate that eventually turns into glacial ice and protect the current ice underneath from the powerful UV rays of the sun. Being that we were roped up together, he also explained the best way to traverse the fresh snow that had accumulated on top. This was very important due to the steep decline of this leg of the hike.
Jeff and Betsy are judging a class micro landscape photo contest. In the middle of our hike, we stopped for some rest and to take our pictures capturing the small-scale surface features and beauty of the ice. Winners are to be determined.
Approaching the hut, we saw another powerful example of glacier retreat. Just fifty years ago people skied down the glacier on the left. The guide said that they could walk up to the hut with skis on without a problem. Now, we have to walk across a bridge and a series of stairs meters high. The guides also said that there are talks of building more stairs so that the hut is still accessible from the glacier.
Our morning started at 4:30 in the morning with breakfast at 5. We were headed down the series of stairs and on the ice at around 6. All roped up again with crampons on, we began our hike down to the town of Fisch. We traversed across the glacier for most of the morning watching the sun crest the mountains.
One of the most treacherous part of the hike was on our final leg of the journey, getting off the glacier. We had to traverse around many deep crevasses, allowing us to see more of the beauty but also the danger that comes along with glacier travel.
Once we made it to the gondola station down to Fisch, we began our six hour journey to Pontresina. We successfully managed to catch all five of our trains. There was a bit of running at times! One leg of our journey was through a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The route was filled with picturesque towns and pine forests. Around 7 pm we finally arrived to our hostel ending a very long day.