Grindelwald is just very bucketlist tourism, and has the same vibe as getting your picture next to the Statue of Liberty of in front of the Eiffel Tower. Sure, you can ascend it to say You've Done It, and yes it's very pretty, but we're both happy to move on. Slowly move on.
Both of us have aching feet--this part of Switzerland feels like one big ski resort, with dozens of chairs and gondolas going every which way--and since we've avoided uphills by taking the cable ways up the mountains then hiking down, our walking's been decidedly one sided. Very one sided, with a few hundred meters elevation up then some 700 to 1000m down, like yesterday. It's not on soft happy trails, but hard packed gravel and often pavement, and it really pounds the bottoms of our feet.
So we've decided today to reverse that a bit--walk uphill, then take a train down to Wengen when we feel like it. There are about 5 different ways to get from Grindelwald to Wengen, including taking the cable tramway all the way there over the mountains, but that feels a little bit cheaty. We'll opt for the Via Alpina way, and we do have to get a stamp at the pass so gotta stop there.
So we walked out of Grindelwald, making a left down the hill just after the train station, and suddenly we were away from the tourists on a quiet street as we made our way down to the Ground station. Then it was a pretty brutal uphill on paved paths, with lots of "DON'T TRUST YOUR GPS" signs along the way. And it started drizzling, ugh, and it was warm, maybe 16C, so after we put on rain gear we immediately felt like we were hiking in a sweaty sauna. I just said "hm doesn't the next place have a spa and a jacuzzi?" and yep, we got on the train 500m later and took it to the top. We should've taken the train halfway up (on the first ledge above the deep valley floor) but hey how should we have know that (other than reading the shitty guidebook which has generally been much more confusing than informative). We stared at the very obvious and very ugly Eiger Express infrastructure with its seven towers and sinister black gondolas, exfiltrating the tourists and their francs/dollars/euro/yen from Grindewald. What an scar on the natural landscape.
Up at the pass, we watched the human trafficking of the tourists heading for the Jungfrauhoch Experience, then ducked down a side road and walked some. Figured we needed to get some walking in! Hopped on at the next station and rode the train down to Wengen, checked in around noon into a "small room with a view" and yes room 402 is great. No one above, and a glacial view over to the southwest.
Roamed around town a bit--it's a car-free town--then some spa time and jacuzzi and nap. Chris bought some wool leggings for the pass and a spiffy Mammut summer shirt for Palm Springs winters.
Tomorrow: a bit of trepidation around going up and over Sefinafurgga (2611m) but figure it can't be that much worse than going over Sonora Pass (2933m) in early June. Plus I much prefer the little snow squalls at -3C than the soggy little drizzly rain at +3C. Don't end up nearly as soaked.
And unlike today, we'll take a bus down to Lauterbrunnen and up to Murren. Gotta avoid the tedious steep stretches in the low valleys.