Exploring the Trümmelbach Falls, a waterfall inside a Swiss mountain, and a walk along the Lauterbrunnen Valley

8 July 2015

After a thrilling morning of soaring above the Lauterbrunnen Valley, we went to the Trümmelbach Falls. This was a chance to see a giant waterfall inside a mountain!

Trümmelbach Falls is about midway between the Stechelberg gondola station and Lauterbrunnen. The Airtime Paragliding staff were supposed to send us back to Lauterbrunnen but we requested that they let us off at the entrance to the Falls, which they happily obliged.

There is a gift shop and restaurant near the entrance which served lunch. After lunch, we followed a path that led to a tunnel lift. This is a lift, that is inside the mountain, and it brought us up to level 7. We were to walk the rest of the way to the highest viewing point at level 10 and then make our way back down to level 1.

Trümmelbach Falls are a series of ten different tiered waterfalls that descend a total of 459 feet or about 140 meters. The unique feature about this attraction is that the falls are contained within the rock of the mountain itself and the water are drainage water from the glaciers of the Monch, the Jungfrau, and the Eiger mountains. The water has over time found its way into the mountain instead of forcing its way over cliff. The volume of water that roars through the well worn rock surfaces is about 20,000 liters per second. 

I have never experience anything like this before.  No wonder. This is the only glacier waterfall inside a mountain that is still accessible. Definitely a must-see when we were in the vicinity.

Stairs leading to the top of the falls.

Rainbow formed by the direct sun on the spray  from the falls.

Getting up close and wet!

There were places where we could get up close to the cascading waters.

Inside the mountain and amazed by the sound and power of the water rushing though the rocks.

For thousands of years, water has been gushing through the rock cavities, cutting it wider and wider. I think the flows must have alter their paths many times. Some of the tunnels we were walking through were naturally cut by the water many years ago but were now dry as the water found another path through the mountain.

It was not all dark and wet.  Some parts of the trail, especially the part leading to cascade Number 1 offered good views of the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

 See how small the humans were compared to the falls.

As we depart from the Falls, we spotted more para-gliders floating down from Mürren to Stechelberg. These were the afternoon’s sortie.

After visiting the Trümmelbach Falls, we walked the 2.8 km trail to Lauterbrunnen Village. This was an easy and enjoyable walk along the valley.

At some points, the trail ran parallel to the fast flowing river, fed from the many waterfalls that cascade down from the cliff above. This was supposed to be the valley of 72 waterfalls but I did not count that many.

Staubbach Falls.

With a height of nearly 300 meters, Staubbach Falls is the second highest waterfall in Switzerland. The highest is Murrenbach Falls, which we saw earlier in the day.

Winds swirl the waterfalls spray around in all directions. These droplets of water spray gave the brook and the waterfall its name. (Staub = dust)

Looking at the fast flowing river from one of the bridges along the trail. The river water was a brownish grey colour, signs of the rock sediments and particles carried by the fast flowing glacier meltwater.

A couple of Swiss cows near residential areas as we approached Lauterbrunnen.

Staubbach Falls in Lauterbrunnen.

We ended the walk at Lauterbrunnen. After tea break at a cafe, we went to stock up on groceries before heading back up to our apartment in Wengen. The best place to buy groceries was at the Coop store. The store at Lauterbrunnen seems to be slightly bigger than the one in Wengen. The stores were quite well stock but both close relatively early.

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After-dinner walk around Wengen

8 July 2015

In summer, we get to enjoy more daylight hours. At 7.00 PM, the sky was still bright enough for a short walk around Wengen. Not everyone in the family was keen for a after-dinner walk, so it was just two of us – father and daughter. We took a simple trail that led from our apartment, running parallel to the cliff overlooking Lauterbrunnen valley. It was about 8 PM when we started out and there was still ample light as the sun sets at about 9 PM.

We met a couple of very friendly and adorable Swiss cats early in the trail.

Taking photos of the cat, with Wengen in the background.

View of Staubbach Falls and Lauterbrunnen Valley from the trail near Wengen.

View from the balcony of our apartment in Wengen.

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Day trip to Grindelwald First, with a hike to Balchapsee and Trotti-bike down the mountain

9 July 2015

We started out early from Wengen as we have planned a full day trip to First via Grindelwald. There are a couple of ways to get from Wengen to Grindelwald. We chose the cheapest option which is to take the train to Lauterbrunnen and then on to Zweilütschinen and then change for a train to Grindelwald. The journey was about 1 hour and was slightly faster than going to Grindelwald via Kleine Scheidegg or taking the gondola via Mannlichen.

Arriving at Grindelwald.

Beautifully decorated train at the Grindelwald Station.

Grindelwald is a lovely town. From the train station, we walked through the town along a street lined with shops to the cable car station that would take us up to First. We stopped by a bakery shop along the way to buy items needed for a picnic lunch.

Gondola Station to First.

Our plan for the day was to take the gondola from Grindelwald up to First where we would hike to Balchapsee, have a picnic and then walk back to First. From First, we would take the gondola down to Bort where we can hire Trotti-bikes and ride down the mountain to Grindelwald.

There were various First Fun packages which may include the cable car ride to First, First Flyer and the Trottibike. We bought the package that includes the cable car and the Trottibikes only since none of us is keen on the First Flyer (zip-lining down from First to Schreckfeld).

 

The ride up the 3-stage cable car from Grindelwald to First was awesome!

Check out the views!

Initial part of the cable ride with Grindelwald in the background.

Higher up the ride with magnificent views of the Eiger’s North Face and surrounding mountains.

Arriving at First, almost same height as the mountains across the Grindelwald valley.

Clouds were rolling in as we arrived at First. At 2166 meters a.s.l, we could feel the sudden drop in temperature as we left the cabin of the gondola. The First Flyer zip lining was just round the corner but it was not in operation.

We started out on our walk to Balchapsee slightly after 11 AM.  The trail was a bit steep in the beginning.

Trail to Balchapsee.

After the initial uphill, the rest of the hike to the lakes were easy. With the clouds rolling in and the sun above, it was a superb conditions all the way.

“via ferrata” trail, First Cliff Walk, still under construction.

We could see that a “via ferrata” trail (First Cliff Walk) was being constructed along one of the cliff. It would take some guts to try this. (Note: it opened later in September of 2015).

The trail to Bachapsee is popular and no wonder. The views were simply stunning.

Looking back at the trail.

Onwards to Balchapsee, right below the mountains in the background.

Low clouds were rolling in and at one point, I was playing the Carpenters’ song “Top of the World” from my mobile phone while walking. 

Approaching our destination.

Many families were having picnics around Balchapsee. There were a couple of benches round the lakes.

Balchapsee is actually two lakes. The views by the lake was simply gorgeous! It was worth the effort to get to this place.

Balchapsee.

This trail would continue on to Faulhorn and Schynige Platte but it would be a long hike.

After our picnic, we made the return journey back to First. The hike back offered different viewpoints of the mountains although it was the same trail we took to get to the Balchapsee.

It was around 3 PM when we got back to First. We had a late lunch at the “Restaurant First”, sitting at the sun terrace instead of indoors. The views at 2166 meters a.s.l were too gorgeous to be sitting indoors although it would be slightly warmer to be inside.

After our lunch we took the cable car down to Bort where we collected our helmets and trotti-bikes. The trotti-bike has no pedals and works like a scooter. Stand with one leg on the platform and use the other leg to give a push on the ground to propel the bike forward. Used on a downhill slope, gravity will keep the bike rolling. The only way to control the speed is through the brakes. When going downhill fast, use the brake on the back wheel and not the front wheel to reduce risk of somersaulting.

I do not cycle often at home and it took me a few moments to get used to handling the trotti-bike. The boys took to them like ducks to water. The ladies gave up after a few tries, although they knew how to cycle on a normal bike. The thought of zipping down a mountain on a bike that they were not familiar with was too frightening.

It was good that they were able to get a refund for their bikes at Bort and bought tickets for cable cars to bring them down to Grindelwald instead. 

Once the ladies were safely on board the cable cars, we took off down the mountain on our trotti-bikes.

The cycling trail down the mountain was not too steep and were generally safe if we control our speed, especially round the bends. There were almost no other bikes encountered. The only other “danger”, besides speeding round bends, were traffic along the normal roads as we rode into Grindelwald.

There was a short stretch of normal road in Grindelwald where we rode on the sidewalks and main road before we arrived at the Grindelwald cable car station, the return point for the trotti-bikes.

It took us about 30 minutes to ride from Bort to Grindelwald. Good fun all the way.

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