Climb Every Mountain!

(To the tune of Climb Every Mountain)
Climb every mountain,
    Ford every stream,
Make your wife climb passes,
    'Til she starts to scream!
And so she did.  I mean climbed the passes.
We were lucky enough recently to be included in a group of eight friends that spent two and a half weeks in the Swiss/French/Italian Alps, hiking parts of the Haute Route.

We climbed LOTS of passes - the Col de Lip Balm (Balme), the Col de Rigamortis (Riedmatten), the Col de Sorbet (Sorebois), the Col de Forklift (Forcletta), the August Bored Pass (Augstbordpass), and a couple of others.  

We started in Chamonix, with a thrilling parapente view of the valley, as well as Mont Blanc.  I knew my 'pilot' was OK when I asked him if folks did BASE jumping there.  He exclaimed, "Sacre bleu! Those people are crazy! That's dangerous!" and I knew I'd be OK.  Paula, Mark and Amy also flew and loved it.

The amazing thing about Switzerland was how Swiss it all looked.  We just loved what they had done with the place!  The glaciers looked like glaciers,

the valleys were achingly beautiful,

and the Matterhorn there was a lot bigger than the one at Disney World.

The glacial lakes were a color that I didn't think was found in nature,

and the al fresco dining was fabulous.  

We got to have the rich cultural experience of staying in a hiking dorm with a dozen European guys.

We ended our hiking in the valley at whose head lies Zermatt, in an achingly beautiful little village named St. Niklaus

and then cheated a bit by taking the gondola down to the valley.  It's the only way up or down unless you're a mountain goat or you own a helicopter.

We took some side trips along the way.  The next time I see a middle-schooler carrying a North Face backpack, I can recall having seen the real North Face, of the Eiger, after which the company was named.

We hiked across the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world, at over a quarter mile long, and up to 279 feet above the ground.  It's a two-hour strenuous climbing hike just to reach the bridge, and although it is said to be strong enough to hold 250 people, that hike makes sure that those people don't individually stress the thing.  

And a castle!  Of course a castle.

And chocolate!  Duh!  You're in S-w-i-t-z-e-r-l-a-n-d!  Hello!

We hit the smack-dab heart of chocolate, the Callier factory.  And yes, you get to try all you want, and yes, they take Visa.

(Once more to the tune of that song)

'Twas a trip that will haunt 

     For the rest of your life,

The abuse that you gave,

     Is why she's not now your wife!

Yeah, but the chocolate made up for it.  Now, if thy can just find our luggage...

We hope you have equally marvelous outings.  Maybe without so many passes.

Dave & Paula