Gornergrat

Gornergrat in the distance

I get the impression that majority of people who go to Gornergrat travel by the Glacier Express, the mountain railway that chugs its way slowly up the mountainside from Zermatt via the intermediate stations of Riffelalp with its delightful hotel and platform a throwback to an earlier era and the smaller stop of Rotenboden. All paths in the immediate vicinity of these three stops were hooching with tourists 

The Glacier Express

Rotenboden station was quite busy. Sadly.

I had climbed the whole way up from Zermatt and had pretty much had the trail to myself until Rotenboden when all of a sudden the terrain levels out and there is a small church perched high up out on its on the plateau. Just along from the church there was a grassy area where paragliders launch themselves off the mountain side soaring on the air currents until eventually landing in a field near the campsite at Zermatt. There were a lot of people here and the number increased the closer I got to Gonnergrat, an imposing futuristic looking structure with 4 metal turrets, perched on a hilltop like some sort of fortification. It wouldn’t look out of place in a James Bond film.

A little church perched on the mountainside

Paragliders

Gornergrat

Admittedly most people had made a beeline for the two lakes on the mountain with folk all desperate for that famous Matterhorn reflected in the lake photos. You know the one i mean, the one with wildflowers in the foreground. I mean who would do something as cheesy as that....?

The second lake had the less famous, less pointy but bigger Monte Rosa reflected in it. It also had a large number fish in it which I could see in the clear shallow water as well as large dragon flies darting about the reeds at the waters edge. This was not what I expected to see at almost 3000m altitude.

Monte Rosa reflected in the lake

Fish!

Unfortunately everyone else wanted that photo too.

I decided I would try to move to a more people-free area of the mountainside which to be honest only involved walking about 200m and from where I could get a much better view of the snow topped 4000m peaks of Breithorn, its ridge, Castor, Pollux and Dufourspitze, the highest point on Monte Rosa lying across the glacier, the Gornergletscher, from where I stood. For some reason I always expect glaciers to be pristine white but in reality they are usually dirty, grey and strewn with boulders and glacial debris and with the deep dark voids of the fractures and crevasses puncturing them. Across the glacier curling its way round the mountain it was possible to see the tiny metal mountaineers hut glinting like a small gem in the sunshine from where mountaineers make their summit attempt on Monte Rosa. This glacier, in all its murky grey glory, snakes down from the flank of Monte Rosa in a huge sweeping curve and disappears down towards Gletschergarten, above Zermatt.

Reluctantly I dragged myself away from my clifftop perch and rejoined the throng of people making its way up and down the track round Gonergrat. It was actually quite chilly in the shade by the time I got to Gonergrat although I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised as it is at 3000m so I put on a few layers and hid inside to have some food. Gonergrat is also a hotel so that has been swiftly added to my list of places that I want to stay.

The centre piece in the entrance hall at Gonergrat

I decided I would go on to the cable car station at Hohtalli (only open during ski season) so this involved a ridge walk for a short distance followed by a sharp uphill pull before reaching the terrace of the cable car station and the viewing platform. The lack of operational cable car probably explains the lack of people there. The cable car station appeared to have been built on a heap of boulders and large bulldozed tracks criss-crossed the area beneath it, ugly in summer time but presumably picturesque ski pistes in winter. I decided to go “off piste” What’s the worst that could happen? Instead of following the signposted path I decided to follow one of the ski pistes. It wasn’t too steep so presumably it wasn’t a black run. 

The ski piste under Hohtalli

The ridge between Gornergrat and Hohtalli

Hohtalli on its mountain top location at 3286m

After quite a while and after more than a few moments of doubt the ski run crossed another path which I joined and this led down to Ze Seewjinen. Further down the mountain the path weaved through the tiny hamlet of Findeln and its selection of gorgeous looking restaurants with terraces bathed in the sunshine. I made a mental note that this would be one of the places at the top of my list to visit when I return. 

Findeln

 After leaving the village the path went past some meadow surrounded by fences with the fence posts looking for all the world like trek poles. If they were trek poles (I didn’t dare move one to find out) then that has got to be one pretty expensive fence! Next the path descended past a reservoir, a small glacial lake complete with inviting looking sandy beach. In the warm sunshine the grey blue milkiness of the glacial water was so tempting, however the warming signs were all warning strictly against bathing, as far as I could work out you would run the risk of being sucked into the machinery of the hydroelectric plant so, on balance, probably something best avoided.

Looks inviting doesn't it?

Trek pole fence post!

Soon enough the path weaves through the forest and pops out just under the Glacial express railway bridge on the outskirts of Zermatt with the waterfall tumbling down the mountainside high above.