Zermatt, Valais, Switzerland.
Hiking Trail : Riffelalp to Gornergrat (no., 23 and 21)
I spend most part of the evening after work editing the photos captured during the last weekend and preparing for the next weekend trip - rather let me call it hike, as i almost hike every weekend being captivated by the nature around here in Switzerland. One fine day when i was searching for pics in flickr by filtering the groups / sets (yes ! i am paid user of flickr even after its awful redesign) by Switzerland, recognized there was a pattern. Every one in five photo contained this gigantic pyramidical mountain - 'Matterhorn'. As it is claimed in zermatt.ch, this of-course is the most photographed mountain in the world - a symbol of Switzerland.
It was in my long wish list to witness this. Having got the swiss day pass on concession, decided to explore the Zermatt to Gornergrat hiking trail last saturday (14 Sep 2013). Zermatt is 3 hours from Zurich and the hiking trail is for almost 4 hours hence there was a need for me to catch the first train from Zurich. From Zurich reached Visp via Bern and then reached Zermatt in Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn. Decided to start the hiking trail from Riffelalp and onboarded the Gornergrat Bahn which connects Zermatt (at 1690m) and Gornergrat (at 3089m). Both Zermatt and Gornergrat at tourist attractions and the journey between the two places is absolutely scenic. 5 mins just after Zermatt, Matterhorn was visible. A clear sky helped witness the beautiful peak in its true sense.
After 20 minutes, i got down at Riffelalp and started my hike towards Gornergrat. There are a lot of options for the hike, i selected the Swiss top walk and decided to deviate towards Riffelsee. Best part of this hike is the view of Matterhorn all the way. It will be like you just keep moving as close as possible towards the mountain. The path is quite easy and not much challenging. With ease, reached Riffelberg in an hour an then continued towards Riffelsee. After an hour, reached an unnamed lake and couldn't resist but to admire the reflection of the peak in the crystal clear lake. Heard some fellow hiker in a group whisper - 'Welcome to Africa', as he finished explaining the geology of this giant pyramidical Matterhorn. Matterhorn was formed several million years ago when Africa moved closer to Europe causing folding of rocks and land forcing their way upwards thus resulting in the birth of Matterhorn.
For High Resolution, please visit PrK |photography
As the description in zermatt.ch claims - there may be no better-known mountain in the world whose natural shape comes so close to a pyramid as the Matterhorn. Located on the border between Switzerland and Italy, it towers 4478m, one of the famous mountains in the world. It got its pyramidal structure by snow glaciation and formation of cirque resulting in constant erosion of rocks over centuries of years. The four steep faces (North, South, East, West), culminate in two distinct summits - Swiss and Italian summit. The north and east faces overlook Zermatt in Swiss. The mountain is referred as Monte Servino in Italian and Mont Cervin in French. German name Matterhorn means Matte - Meadow, horn - Peak.
Uniquely associated with this peak is the 'banner cloud' formation. When the air flows above and around the summit with sufficient speed, the wind speed increases accompanied by the fall in pressure. The low pressure causes the air flow in the lee side of the peak. When the air is humid, clouds are formed. When clouds come close to the air stream that blows over the top it gets swept away by the wind speed thus forming the strips of banner cloud.
When it comes to Matterhorn there are lot of write-ups on how climbers achieved climbing to the peak. This was one of the last peaks to be climbed in the alps. It posed enormous challenge and consumed a lot of lives. The links provided in the reference have descriptive references on how this monster was conquered.
After admiring the reflection of Matterhorn, i continued my hike towards Riffelsee - another alpine lake just 20 mins from the first lake. The view of Matterhorn and Riffelhorn with its reflection on Riffelsee was even more captivating. From here i continued my hike to explore the view of 5 glaciers that merge along the sides of Gornergrat.
How To Reach
Via Train -
From Zurich HB > Bern > Visp (train towards Brig)
From Visp > Zermatt (Matterhorn - Gotthard Bahn)
From Zermatt > Riffelalp (Gornergrat Bahn)
References
This blog refers the below links -
