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Switzerland: Moto Trip Switzerland: Day 4 - 5 Lakes Walk

Yearly vacation started and with Nada we decided to have a motorbike trip, exploring Switzerland. Our 4th day was reserved for hiking, so our motorbikes and asses could rest. We decided to take the train to Zermatt and do the 5 Lakes walk. Off course, we spiced up things a bit, since we didn't want to use the cable car and for the tip of the iceberg I also conquered Unterrothorn, 3104 m.

Previous days of our motorbike trip to Switzerland: Day3, Day 2 and Day 1.

Zermatt is car-free, therefore it makes the most sense to travel there by train.

 

Zermatt lies at the upper end of Mattertal at an elevation of 1620 m. To prevent air pollution that could obscure the town's view of the Matterhorn, the entire town is a combustion-engine car-free zone.

Here we go. Magnificent Matterhorn and the Zermatt.

  

Why pay for the cable car, if you can enjoy hiking in the nature

Nada with the east and north faces of the Matterhorn

 

The first ascent of the Matterhorn was in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper. It ended when four of its seven members fell to their deaths on the descent. This disaster marked the golden age of alpinism, a decade in mountaineering between Alfred Wills's ascent of the Wetterhorn in 1854 and Edward Whymper's ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865, during which many major peaks in the Alps saw their first ascents.

After the accident of the first ascenders, Queen Victoria considered banning climbing to all British citizens but decided, after consultation, not to forbid mountaineering.

Great place for skiing in winter and hiking in summer

 

The north face was not climbed until 1931 and is among the three biggest north faces of the Alps. The west face, which is the highest of the Matterhorn's four faces, was completely climbed only in 1962.

After the ascending hike, we started our 5 lake tour. First lake was Leisee.

 

The lake of the Leisee (2,232 m) is Zermatt’s beach and a popular outing.

 

The Moosjisee (2,140 m) lies on the Five Lakes Walk and is a classic storage reservoir. Its milky colour shows that it is fed by glaciers. The water is used to generate electricity and for snowmaking along the pistes.

 

Among the lake's sources is water from the Findel Glacier, and as a result the Moosjisee has the typical milky hue of sediment-rich glacial meltwater, known as "glacial milk".

Punk's Not Dead

View to Rimpfishorn, 4199 m, Strahlhorn, 4190 m and Adlerhorn, 3988 m that rise above the Findel Glacier

We arrived to Grünsee, that offered great views to the Matterhorn, 4478m, Dent Blanche, 4357 m, Unter Gabelhorn, 3392 m, Ober Gabelhorn, 4063 m and Wellenkuppe, 3903 m.

Time for a swim at 2300 meters

The water of the Grünsee (green lake) is indeed green, but rather cold as it is fed by the surrounding mountain springs.

Few prominent peaks of The Pennine Alps also known as the Valais Alps

After the refreshing swimming we moved on, but every now and then ...

... we turned around. The view was amazing all the time.

Peaks around Gabelhorngletscher and Triftgletscher glaciers

The Matterhorn is mainly composed of gneisses (originally fragments of the African Plate before the Alpine orogeny) from the Dent Blanche nappe, lying over ophiolites and sedimentary rocks of the Penninic nappes.

 

The Italian name for the mountain is Cervino, while French is Cervin.

The Grindjisee lies on an altitude of 2,324 m

The lake serves as a good mirror

 

The Matterhorn is one of the deadliest mountains in the world. By the late 1980s, it was estimated that over 500 people have died whilst attempting its summit since the 1865 ascent, with an average of about 12 deaths each year.

 

Small waterfalls on the way to the last lake

 

Creek Grindjibach flows into the Grindjisee

Today, all ridges and faces of the Matterhorn have been ascended in all seasons. The usual pattern of ascent is to take the Schwarzsee cable car up from Zermatt, hike up to the Hörnli Hut elev. 3260 m, a large stone building at the base of the main ridge, and spend the night. The next day, climbers rise at 3:30 am so as to reach the summit and descend before the regular afternoon clouds and storms come in.

Swiss Mountaineer Dani Arnold owns the record for the quickest ascent of the north face of the Matterhorn. The 1100 meter-high climb usually takes mountain climbers between 8 and 10 hours to complete. Arnold reached the top in just 1 hour and 46 minutes, breaking the previous Ueli Steck's record by 10 minutes. Video of his climb is on youtube.

Andreas Steindl sprinted from Kirchplatz in Zermatt (1616 m above sea level) to the summit of the Matterhorn (4478 m above sea level) and back to Zermatt in four hours. The total time for 2862 metres of ascent and 22.8 kilometres was 3:59:52. The route he took was Kirchplatz in Zermatt - Schwarzsee (2578 m) - Hörnlihütte (3260 m) - Matterhorn and then the same route back.

The Stellisee (2537 m) is among the most famous of Zermatt's lakes. The sight of the Matterhorn reflected on its mirror-like surface is breathtakingly beautiful, and is made for magnificent photographs.

Matterhorn, Nada and Tuši

Next time I'll bring the fishing rod

We found a geocache near the lake

Nada and me splitted at Blauherd cable car station. Nada went back to the valley, while I decided to extend my trip to Unterrothorn, 3104 m.

View from the 3104 m high summit

View to Roccia Nera, 4075m, Breithorn, 4164 m and Klein Matterhorn, 3883 m, the highest place in Europe that can be reached by aerial tramway or gondola lift, as well as by any other means of transport.

The Rothorn paradise is one of the main ski areas located around Zermatt.

 

On my way down the snow said hi

Mountains around Matterhorn and Weisshorn, 4506 m

Mountain with many names: Matterhorn, Mons Silvius, Augstalberg, Cervin, Cervino, Gran Bècca, Horu, ...

 

Last photos before I descended back to Zermatt

 

Nada picked up some mushrooms on her way back to the valley

 

Oh yeah. That one was well deserved.

Gromko / Thunder took us back to our camping site

Horsie was patiently waiting for us the whole day

Extended 5 Lakes Walk - Garmin Connect

GeoCaches found (all received a visit by trackable items "Siebasiach's Figure Eight Geocoin", TB735HE, "Gallotia Mystery", TB7372G and "Kljuc do casa in prostora / A key to time and space", TB2RCC3):
- Z - Findeln, GC1WAPH
- Sonne Mond und Sterne 8# Grünsee, GC608YR
- Stellisee, GC300QK
- Z - Arve_Rekord, GC6TVZJ
- Ritzengrat, GC6RR0V