So many things to see
Today is our last full day in Switzerland, as we all board fights early tomorrow morning to head back to the States. We are all sad as we pack up our stuff at our rented house in the mountains and head back to Zurich. None of us is particularly looking forward to getting back to classes, email, etc., but we are all more than ready to see our kids and family.
I find words inadequate at the moment to describe my feelings on this trip. I need time to mull it all over before I can write it down, but it short it was amazing. I hope my journals have been able to show that and I thank all of you for coming along on this journey with me. This will be my last entry from the field and I will be sure to report back once I am home, settled, and some what over my jet lag.
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Along our hikes I came across so many interesting things that I just can’t quite work into the narrative of some of my journals. But some are so cool that I really want to show them to all of you. So my solution was to dedicate an entire journal entry to all the little extras we came across in the field. Enjoy!
Little Extras
First up are some more photographs of all the livestock we come across. It is so interesting to me that these hiking trails go right through many pastures. You really have to watch where you walk in these areas because they are covered in giant patties.
I have had a couple interesting interactions with some of these animals. Like the sheep that tried to steal my hiking pole from me so that it could eat the handle, and the cows that found me while I taking a bathroom break.
An example of some of the livestock I encountered on my hikes. This sheep tried to steal my hiking pole from me.
While hiking up to the Lang Glacier, we passed this guy carrying a rather strange shaped backpack up the trail. Turns out it was a giant alpenhorn that he decided to take out and play to the delight of those of us on the trail.
A fellow hiker plays the alpenhorn on the way up to the Lang Glacier. Photo via Neal Iverson
We also came across many of these munitions scattered around the trails and glacial forefields. I have no idea how old they are or where they came from but they were really cool to look at.
Just some of the munitions we found along the trails and on the forefields.
These jawbone fragments were discovered at the Tsanflueron glacial forefield. We think they might be from a sheep.
A jawbone I found at Tsanfleuron Glacier.
Several of the forefields were made up of limestone bedrock. Limestone is a sedimentary rock that is formed in an ancient marine environments and often contains fossils. We spotted many small fossil fragments, but the following picture shows the best-preserved fossil we found, a fossil clam shell.
A well preserved clam fossil found in the limestone bedrock at Tsanfleuron Glacier.
On our hike to Trient that got rained out, I fell in love with the zen garden set up right outside the hut. They even had a dedicated space to do yoga.
The Zen garden outside the hut at Trient Glacier.
The yoga area at the hut at Trient Glacier.
I already talked about many of the features you can find in the limestone forefields, but much of them were also covered with another feature I haven’t discussed yet. Since limestone is easily dissolved by water, in spots where water frequently runs over the rock, these dissolution channels form.
Dissolution channels in the limestone at Wildhorn Glacier.
I have continued to look for alpine quartz on my hikes. I found these beautiful and very tiny (they were about the size of a needle) crystals on the hike to the Lang Glacier. I’m just sad they were attached to a giant rock so that I couldn’t take them home with me.
Tiny quartz crystals found in a rock at Lang Glacier.
I have already shared many pictures of the beautiful wildflowers I have come across, but just in the last couple of hikes, I have also been spotting these perfect little succulent plants. The colors and shapes of these plants are just amazing.
Adorable succulent plants at Lang Glacier.
More succulent plants at Lang Glacier.
Seems like every trail we go on, someone has made a rock pile out of the surrounding rocks. Oftentimes these Cairns indicate something, like pointing out the trail, etc., but here I think they are just put together by tourists.
Just one of the many rock stacks found along the various hiking paths.
While I was huffing and puffing up one trail and keeping my eyes on my footing, I suddenly noticed that the both sides of the trail were covered in lowbush blueberries. I was too afraid to try one without being able to ask Google if it was safe first, but I did stop to snap a few pictures.
Wild blueberries found along the hiking path.
PolarTREC Poppy
PolarTREC Poppy making a snack of the wild blueberries on the trail. I did not try them, although I wish I had.
**Update- After consulting Dr. Google and determining that they were safe to eat, I did taste them on our hike to Aletsch Glacier. They were delicious!
PolarTREC Poppy takes a break to snack on some of the wild blueberries we found along the hiking path.
Daily Haiku
Many miles hiked
World of wonder at my feet
Moments saved for all
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