After a night of unmet expectations in Interlaken (mostly due to the weather) we ended up taking off in the morning to a city called Gimmawald. A couple girls we met in Florence, Lizzy and Chrysanthemum, were staying there and we figured anything would be better than another night in Interlaken. To get there we took a train until it was too steep for trains, a bus until it was too steep for busses and finally gandola up the side of a practically sheer mountain side. We stepped off the gandola and there it was, the Mountain Hostel.
This was no ordinary hostel. It was a quaint log cabin style tavern with beds. It is also the local bar. It sits on the edge of a deep valley and looks out on the Jungfrau, the Eigr and of course behind it was the Schilthorn (where a James Bond movie was filmed). The weather cleared up somewhat and something inside of us told us that this was the place where we could finally resolve whatever it was we came to Europe to resolve.
We happened to arrive on Swiss National Day, so it was better than any normal day. In the evening, Petra, the hostel´s owner, lit a bunch of swiss flag lanterns and all 50 or so of the residents marched the streets of the little city of Gimmawald laughing and cheering to the locals who came out to see us wearing their traditional Swiss garb.
National Day ended with a bunch of fireworks, so close to us that hot ashes would fall into our eyes (it was a good thing -- nobody was injured). After the fireworks an old Swiss guy and a younger guy (that I´m not convinced was Swiss) started playing traditional Swiss music with two accordians. Everyone -- no matter where they were from-- joined in for the yodeling parts. It was an absolute blast.
The next day Tom, Walter from Holland, Scott from Tucson and I took advantage of a somewhat sunny daz and climbed to the very top of a huge mountain. The name of the peak is the Schilterhorn. We left at about 10 and didn´t get back until about 9 pm. It was a long day, but absolutely amazing. The peak is at 9700 ft. When we got to the top, we ate soup and bread at the revolving restrant. It was pretty amazing.
Something happend to our spirits in Gimmawald as well. It was as if our trip had been accomplished. We finally felt a connection to something beyond ourselves. Maybe there is something to climbing a mountain. It did wonders for Moses. It did something to me that I´m still trying to understand.
I've had that feeling before, though not in quite as exotic a place. Climbing on the border between Montana and Canada with the mountain goats and glaciers. There really is something to mountains.
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