June 6:Lauterbrunnen to Grindelwald

We arose at about 5:30 AM and had breakfast with one of the most fabulous views we know about. The sight of the morning sun hitting the snowclad peaks at the end of the valley is indescribable. The valley stays in shadow until about 8 AM and we watch the sun move down the west wall of the canyon, causing a rainbow in the Staubbach Falls.

After breakfast we drove into Interlaken and got the brakes adjusted - the mechanic spoke not a word of English. I noticed a bubble in the sidewall of one of our remold tyres - so it looks like tire trouble soon. The brakes were in good shape though.

Brenda and Dr. Guzder enjoyed shopping around in Interlaken. It is a fabulous place to shop but the prices seem high compared with some of the smaller outlying places. We had some excellent pastries - some fancy cakes and some almond pastries. We saw the famous view of Jungfrau from Interlaken - but it is not as impressive as the view from our campsite. We saw the famous flower clock in the Kursaal.

Deciding against going up the Schynge Platte because of the price (12.80 per), we drove to Grindlewald. We had previously decided not to go up the Jungfrau because of the price - 64 swiss francs per person! Grindelwald was very nice - maybe as nice as Lauterbrunnen if you had time to explore it. It is definitely more of a tourist trap than Lauterbrunnen but it is harder to get out of town to get real mountain views. The public access roads end right in the village, and there are not so many public footpaths. To be just, however, the Mt and the glacier that reaches down from it into the valley are very impressive.

We went to the Glacier Gorge and walked down into it. It is a deep gorge which has been gouged out of the mountainside by glacial action. It is probably several hundred feet deep in places. It is not at all colorful - and is impressive mainly because of its scope. The glacial ice at the end has receded back quite a bit since the trail was built, so the view of the ice at the end is rather disappointing. It is interesting to see the origin of a stream - the rushing stream gushes right out from under the age-old ice.

We drove back to Lauterbrunnen and took the mountain railway up to Wengen, a little village sitting on the east wall fo the canyon. It is obviously a resort village. The view of the valley is excellent and you get the full panorama of mountains from the Jungfrau around to the Breithorn and beyond. The valley was in shadow when we went up, but the peaks were glistening in the sun.