Magic Mountain_4

10_DESCEND
We knew it would be long and tough and we would end up dead tired. I began to feel pain in my legs, since I had slipped and hurt my knees on my way to Obersteinberg, when I ventured off-path a little (big lesson taught). We hiked down the plateau of Oberhoresee back to Schaflager, where we took a last glimpse at the retreating glaciers. From there we took a different path to descend the mountain. We headed east and made a steep descend of 300m to Im Tal. We hiked very slowly and I had to stop and rest pretty often. After all the pain and sweat we reached the level of the rapids (a). At around 17:30 first clouds of the day appeared (b). At Lager we hiked further northeast in attempt to get closer to the Holdri and Talbach Falls. We passed through woodlands and some really muddy paths (c). Then came the mighty glacier falls rumbled down from heaven (d). After the falls, we had nothing in mind but to go downhill as quickly as we could, despite we were both pretty worn-out. After several more river crossings we crawled towards Trachsellauenen (e). By around 19:00, we finally got to Trachsellauenen, the last stop before reaching the village of Stechelberg.

11_STECHELBERG
This was our first chance to truly appreciate the mountains in different time of the day (a). As we walked out the valley, we watched the peaks of Jungfrau turned gold in colour (b). About 30 minutes after Trachsellauenen, more timber houses and pastures appeared along the way. At some occasions, we had to stop and wait for local shepherds to rush their cattle through as they usually blocked off the paths with ropes. 30 minutes before reaching Stechelberg, we had a last look back to the Jungfrau (c). Inch by inch I dragged myself out of the mountains. Seeing the lights and houses of Stechelberg somewhere 100m below us was quite encouraging. At last we made it to Stechelberg at around 20:30. I am convinced that we had taken far longer than any other hikers to finish the trail. Given this was our first time, plus the luck of having perfect weather the entire day, we were both proud and happy as we entered the village. We ended up having a big dinner of sausage soup, fondu and steak at Stechelberg before heading back to Gimmelwald by bus and cable-car. Outside the restaurant while waiting for the last bus of the night, we finished the day with some star-watching.