2003 SWISS HIGH ADVENTURE TREK
Trip Diary

Tuesday July 15 - Wednesday July 16

Departure from St. Agnes went smoothly Tuesday evening, and check-in at Dulles was quick, so we had a couple of hours to wait out at the mid-field terminal. After take-off, British Airways (BA) served dinner and most of us drifted off for a few hours’ sleep.

BA followed up with breakfast before arrival at Heathrow, and recovering checked bags and clearing customs went smoothly. The bus JoyG had reserved was waiting, a full-size Mercedes on which we poked through London’s cross-city traffic (getting a tour of sorts of major sights), arriving at the Docklands close to noon. We checked in to the Amory (docked in the shadow of Canary Wharf, a lock-controlled wharfage off the Thames now the site of a major office and retail development), dropped bags in the assigned cabins, and headed for the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) and London tube. We didn’t have time for lunch, but went straight to the London Eye for the 3pm ride. it was overcast and drizzling, so the crowds were light. We boarded a capsule for the 30 minute circuit, getting great (albeit drizzly) views of London.

After the ride, we walked across London Bridge and viewed Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, etc. After some searching, we found an Italian restaurant near Leicester Square that served us tasty pasta dinners before we departed for the Jack the Ripper walking tour with guide Andew Hallett. Andrew delivered just the right level of grisly gore for the scouts, and the walk gave us a feel for London’s narrow and twisting streets and alleys. After the tour, it was back to the Amory for some much-needed sleep.

Thursday July 17

Full English breakfast on the Amory meant sausage, potatoes, and mushrooms along with toast and cereal. Since we couldn’t use the tube tickets until 9:30, we walked south through Mudchute Farm (a working farm/park) to a pedestrian tunnel under the Thames leading to Greenwich. Down a long spiral staircase to the tunnel, and up again on the south shore-so we hit the highest (London Eye) and lowest (Thames tunnel) places in London! It was cool and cloudy, but not much rain.

The Cutty Sark, last of the India clippers, was moored next to the tunnel exit. After looking her over, we climbed the hill to the Royal Observatory, built by Sir Christopher Wren. Pictures taken standing astride the Prime Meridian (with one foot in each hemisphere) were followed by a tour of the Observatory, which had an interesting exhibit on the development of reliable shipboard clocks needed to permit sailors to fix their position accurately. After the tour we released the scouts in groups of four minimum for independent sightseeing. Most of the scouts grabbed a Burger King lunch and headed for Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, etc. Dr. Bob, Rick and Ted had fish and chips then toured the Naval Museum in Greenwich followed by a very short stop at the Imperial War Museum in central London, both well worthwhile.

All hands met back at the Amory at 4pm. Our pub dinner fell through when the Wetherspoons at which we had arranged to eat had a kitchen failure, so we headed for central London and found a Garfunkels for dinner. After dinner Rick led us through crowded downtown streets to the Dominion Theatre for We Will Rock You, the musical based on Queen music. It was a sold-out show with a wildly enthusiastic audience, and was quite an experience. After the show it was back to the Amory for the night. We tried to send email from the Amory, but found that we could not hook up Eric’s laptop with their system

Friday July 18

English breakfasts evidently do not vary, as we got the same sausage, potatoes, mushrooms, etc. The weather had improved and it promised to be a sunny and warm day. We stalled until 9:30, then all went to the Tower of London. We caught the Beefeaters’ tours and an exhibition on fencing (learning moves that some of the scouts practiced for the rest of the trip), and of course viewed the ravens and crown jewels. Again we gave the scouts their release to sightsee on their own for the afternoon. Rick, Dr. Bob, and a few scouts went back to the Imperial War museum to see more while Ted headed to Apsley House, Wellington’s home at Hyde Park Corner (many pictures), followed by a long walk through Hyde Park to Marble Arch and Speakers’ Corner, then back downtown.

We met back at the Amory for a chicken curry dinner on picnic tables at dockside, enjoying clear skies and pleasant temperatures. Some of the scouts had heard about a BA work stoppage at Heathrow Friday afternoon that forced some flight cancellations, our first tip that Saturday would not be a smooth day. We handed out postcards to all scouts so they could write home, which the scouts took with varying degrees of good humor. Due to a double booking, Dr. Bob Rick and Ted had to move to make room for an arriving British scout troop, and we prepared for departure Saturday morning. The Amory was a lot of fun and a good base of operations in London.

Saturday July 19

The bus was waiting at 6am as Joy had arranged, and we had a smooth transfer to Heathrow. We had listened for news of the BA check-in agents’ job action, and BA was optimistically saying that flights after 9am would go out. We arrived to a scene of considerable confusion at Heathrow, but went to the group desk and had a smooth check-in. After clearing security, we sacked out for a while waiting for a gate assignment, then headed down to board when our gate was posted. While waiting at the gate, however, the union met and walked off the 7am-3pm shift. The stoppage evidently was triggered by BA asking employees to swipe their employee cards when taking breaks from their counter duties-the employees did not want to give up the lax system that allowed for longer-than-approved work breaks. Ah well, such are the breaks!

The walkout set us back considerably. Baggage (literally thousands of pieces) was returned, and it took hours to find all 46 of our checked bags (having the 23 backpacks in the white bags was a big help!). Ted booked backup seats on SwissAir for Monday, then spent hours waiting for the 3pm BA shift to appear; when they did, it took a couple more hours to get rebooked for Sunday departure-18 of us on a 7am flight, the remaining five (Mark, PatrickW, Chris, Eric, and Rick) on a 10am flight, but also on standby for the 7am flight. We arranged to return to the Amory, but could not work out a way to get back again to the airport early in the morning, so we gave up and spent the night at Heathrow (or, as the scouts called it, Heathsuck).

By now the airport was bedlam, with most passengers refusing the urging of BA and airport authorities to leave-but we found a relatively quiet carpeted corner in which we bedded down. Throughout, the toll-free number that BA urged people to call was constantly busy-we made dozens of tries, but never got through. We were much better off than most, however, having been rebooked for another flight-thousands of travelers spent the night waiting in a long, snaking line in the main terminal area trying to get to BA ticket counters to get reticketed (and the counters closed under police guard around 9pm).

Sunday July 20

BA said agents would start work at 5:15, so we were at the group counter at 5am. The airport now was packed to the rafters as more travelers arrived early on Sunday. The agents finally emerged around 5:45, and we repeated the check-in for the 18 with seats on the 7am flight. Meanwhile, Rick took the five scouts and adults booked on the 10am flight to the standby desk, all the way on the other side of the terminal. By this time, the entire terminal was in gridlock, and there was no effort by airport officials to organize the mob. But fortune smiled on us, as the BA standby desk put our last five scouts and adults on the 7am flight (many passengers holding seats had cancelled to avoid coming to the airport). Still, there was the challenge of fighting through the crowd to get to the oversize luggage station, where they had to drop off their luggage. It took nearly an hour to get across the terminal!

But all worked out, we cleared security again as a group, and again waited for a gate assignment. While we were waiting, the union met again, keeping us on tenterhooks-but this time they stayed on the job. We departed late-but all on the same flight-and at last left chaotic England for organized Switzerland! The work stoppage meant that we lost our day of sightseeing in Geneva, but we were able to get to KISC on schedule.

On arrival in Geneva, we were relieved to find all 46 checked bags! We cleared customs, picked up the Swiss Rail tickets we had reserved, and immediately boarded a double-decker train headed east. If you haven’t ridden Swiss trains, you can’t appreciate how smooth and reliable they are-nothing like Amtrak!

There was no time to get lunch, so we bought what we could off the train snack wagon, getting a little food for a lot of money. We changed trains in Spiez, and rolled on to Kandersteg. The day was hot and sunny, and we detrained at Kandersteg around 3pm. A phone call to KISC brought Pinkee Bryce (all KISC staff are called "Pinkees", as they wear pink t-shirts) with a vehicle to pick up our duffels and daypacks, and the scouts walked up to KISC with their backpacks. The Scout center is about 1.5 miles south of the rail station and village, a walk that we repeated many times over the next two weeks. We checked in to the campground and set up tents and tarps under bright sun. Ted headed over to the program office to check in and confirm the activity schedule. Ted became intimately familiar with the program office over the next two weeks, as he was there almost daily changing or making new arrangements as we adjusted to weather problems or requests for changes in activity selections.

The campground is at the narrow southern end of the Kander valley, with tall sheer rock faces looming on three sides. The rail line to the Lotschsberg tunnel runs through the KISC property, so we all got used to the frequent passing of trains! We had a good campsite, though, located on the outer perimeter of the campground, near the entrance, and close to a bathhouse. What’s more, the site to one side was closed for revegetation, so we really only had one neighbor. When we arrived it was a coed German group.

After getting camp partly set up, we headed over for our first KISC dinner, a special meal for the first night-fondue. Some of the scouts didn’t care for the flavor however (it was well-seasoned with wine), and then they were told that if they dropped their bread in the fondue they would have to kiss a girl. The only girls available were Pinkies (KISC staff); TomC was the first to have to find a willing girl, then Eric, etc. Next the scouts were trying to knock each other’s bread off the forks-well, you can see where this was going! While the adults scarfed up every drop of fondue, the scouts wound up mostly eating the bread....

After dinner we met with Mustard (Great Britain), one of our guides for the 2-day snow and ice combo scheduled Monday and Tuesday, then headed back to camp to finish setup and get some needed sleep.

Monday July 21

Sunday’s great weather gave way to considerable gloom on Monday. We had breakfast, which at KISC meant choice of two cereals, yogurt, toast, butter, jam, fruit, bread with cheese and salami, and juice better described as flavored water. Enough choice and plenty filling, however-no one went hungry. We also packed two bag lunches for the next two days, then loaded up crampons and ice axes with our packs and headed off with Mustard and Paul (from Colorado) to the Frundenhutte, high above Lake Oeschinen (east of Kandersteg). Unfortunately, as we started up the trail from the lake, we were hit by heavy thunderstorms that forced cancellation of the outing.

It was disappointing, but it was the right safety call by the guides. All of the guides at KISC were top-notch and put safety first. We returned to KISC, alternately in sun then again in storm. We couldn’t reschedule all of us for later in the week, but did get one group of 12 rescheduled for Tuesday-Wednesday. We took a show of hands and signed up the 12 scouts who most wanted to do the workshops (Todd, Neil, Luke, MattG, Tom, Ray, Drew, MattC, Charlie, JJ, Brad, and Mark).

Then we ate our first bag lunch, regrouped, and took a hike along the Kander river up to the Gasterntal, a hanging valley above the Kander valley. The hike parallels and sometimes follows a one-lane road up a steep track-traffic (such as it is) is allowed to ascend only 20 minutes of each hour, and to descend another 20 minutes of each hour. The river tumbles and crashes down a rocky course and is spectacular. At the top, the trail levels out in a secluded valley with steep rock walls around and, as usual, spectacular waterfalls. Trails from the valley lead over the Kanderfirn glacier (a route the older scouts would take Thursday) and to the Lotschenpass (a trail the younger scouts would take Friday). The weather eased off a bit and the hike was pleasant.

We returned to clean up for dinner-this time the regular KISC fare, simple but good and plenty of it. Dinner usually consisted of soup, a hot main course, bread, fruit, and a small salad bar-and again the "flavored water" juice. After dinner Mustard and Paul did a presentation for the troop on glaciers and avalanches, and the 12 scouts going to the rescheduled snow and ice workshops Tuesday met with Paul to prep for the next day.

Then we joined the Monday evening International Night festivities, a get-together for units to meet, greet, show off native customs, and trade neckerchiefs and patches. We hadn’t planned to be there, of course, but Dr. Bob borrowed a guitar, Eric commandeered the center’s piano, and we held forth. As the photos show, there were many interesting costumes. The scouts were shy at first, but eventually got into trading, thanks to the supply of trek patches Regina Cassidy and Ted supplied, plus many surplus Troop patches from other events. A worthwhile event to end our first day at KISC.

Tuesday July 22

The weather was better, and Todd, Neil, Luke, MattG, Tom, Ray, Drew, MattC, Charlie, JJ, Brad, and Mark set off with Dr. Bob in tow for the Frundenhutte. The hike went smoothly, but it is a steep ascent to the hut, which is located just below the Frunden glacier. After having lunch, guides Colorado Paul and Steinthor (Iceland) took the scouts out on the glacier to work on glacier skills, including roping, ice axe arrests, etc. A good afternoon followed by dinner at the hut and evening time in the hut common room.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew took a cable car to Allmenalp, in the opposite direction (west of Kandersteg). Chris and Eric split off for a longer loop hike to summit First, the highest peak along the ridge between the Kandersteg and Adelboden valleys. Rick, Ted, David, PatrickP, Carl, PatrickW, Dale, and Burton visited a farm cheesery to see how cheese is made by hand. A lot of milk and hard work results in two 10-kilo rounds of cheese each day. After the tour and listening to the cheesemaker play his Alpenhorn, we took a leisurely loop hike along the ridge (and ate lunch on some benches with spectacular views across the valley to Oeschininsee) then circled back down into Kandersteg, following a pretty stream that flows into the Kander river near town.

We met up with Chris and Eric for dinner, followed by KISC challenge night, a series of Projectoree-type games and tests. It rained again, though, and developed into a bleak evening. Fortunately the tents kept most gear dry.

Wednesday July 23

The Frundenhutte guys had breakfast, which in huts is usually a mix of bread, butter, jam, cheese, hot milk (for Ovalmatine), and tea. The weather was poor so, in another safety call by the guides, the ice climbing workshop on the glacier was cancelled. Instead, the scouts did some climbing near the hut, then took the steep walk back down to Oeschinensee. They stopped for a swim in the lake (liquid ice), then hit the rodelbahn, a great hillside sled run near the top of the Oeschinen chair lift, for several runs.

Meanwhile, Rick, Eric, Chris, Dale, PatrickW, and Burton headed off on an early train to Boltigen to go whitewater rafting on the Simme river. They ran about 12 kilometers of the river, then went to Spiez to look around the town, a pretty spot along lake Thun. We originally had rock climbing and swimming on the plan for Wednesday-but we cancelled the rock climbing as it appeared it would not be challenging enough, and cancelled the swim in the town pool, as the weather did not look promising for that event.

The remaining folks, Ted along with PatrickP, Carl, and David, joined a Texas scout troop on a bus outing to Broc and Gruyeres-the "chocolate and cheese" outing. The Texas scoutmaster had worked a summer at KISC many years earlier, and has brought scouts back every few years since. We drove nearly two hours west into French-speaking (and French-looking) Switzerland to Broc where we toured the Cailler chocolate factory (now owned by Nestle, of course). The tour was moderately interesting, but the guys really went for the free samples at the end! We loaded up on factory discount chocolate bars, then boarded the bus for Gruyeres, where we visited the castle (eating lunch with a great view of the surrounding countryside) and town (good souvenir place) then toured a modern cheese factory, again finishing with free samples, this time of Gruyeres cheese.

We all met again for dinner at KISC, after which the scouts turned out for the much-anticipated International Disco, which was held in town at the Kongresshaus. Dr. Bob and Rick departed early and left chaperonage to Chris and Eric, and the guys all came back to camp around midnight, tired but happy.

Thursday July 24

After breakfast, another split day. This time most of the older scouts (Todd, Luke, Neil, MattG) along with Chris, Eric, Dr. Bob, and Ted went with KISC Program Director Matt Frankze on the 2-day Kanderfirn glacier hike (the Kanderfirn is the largest glacier in Switzerland). Matt is a terrific guy and from Australia, not Austria, which explains why Matt asked Fred Selzer to speak English when Fred called for information on reserving the huts! This is the toughest outing KISC offers, and Matt told us that we were one of only two groups to book it this summer! The hike originated as a Scout Rover outing from KISC in the 1930s, and KISC likes to keep it on their schedule for the tie-in with their past, but obviously most scouts today are not adventurous enough to take advantage of it. Their loss, however, as it is an excellent bit of high adventure!

The weather starting out was poor, overcast with occasional light rain. Matt said that we would hike up to the glacier and, if we could see the rock outcrop on which the Mutthornhutte sits in the center of the glacier, we could go on; if not, we would have to cancel. We took the postbus up to Selden in the hanging Gasterntal glacier to the last berghotel, passing a large contingent of Swiss army troops on a training hike-there wasn’t room for the both the bus and troops on the narrow road, and the bus driver pushed through them to keep her schedule! The Gerardens had been to Selden-which really is only the one small inn-six years earlier, and recalled a unique wooden bowling alley behind the inn. It was still there, along with a climbing rock, so the scouts took turns trying out the bowling and the climbing before we set out on the hike.

The hike was long and the weather closed in, but when we got to the toe of the glacier, there was enough visibility to start out. Matt took compass bearings, which he needed as the clouds occasionally closed in and obscured the rock formation ahead. It was a long, tiring slog (the warm weather in Europe has softened the snow on the glaciers), but we pulled into the Mutthornhutte around 5pm for a welcome dinner and rest. We shared a dorm room with a Swiss family of four who were doing some glacier hiking on their own. The boy (about age ten) opened the windows during the night for fresh air-for the rest of us, it felt like sleeping in a refrigerator!

Meanwhile, Rick took Burton, Tom, MattC, Drew, Ray, David, Brad, PatrickP, Dale, Carl, Charlie, JJ, Mark, and PatrickW on the KISC bus excursion to the Trummelbach Falls. This is a wet event, particularly suited to a wet day-catwalks and trails take you along a series of spectacular tumbling falls literally inside a mountain. After that it was off to Interlaken. Unfortunately it rained most of the day, but Interlaken offered plenty of shopping and inside places to check out. The scouts returned to KISC for the international BBQ and a soggy evening.

Friday July 25

The "glacier group" (as the older scouts became known) awoke to cold but clear weather, with great views off the glacier to the valley below. We hiked across the glacier another 1000 feet up to the Petersgrat, a glacier-covered ridge that divides the Bernese Oberland from the Valois (Italian-speaking Switzerland to the south). The views were spectacular! Italy, Mount Rosa, Matterhorn, Mount Blanc, France-all laid before us! Reluctantly we hiked off the glacier, with one scary moment when guide Matt broke through a snow bridge-he quickly rolled out onto firmer snow fortunately, and we found another route over the crevasse. The trail off the glacier was steep and slick, and tricky when we crossed some steep snow fields (the skiers tried skiing down on their boots, which worked ok except for MattG, who fell and slid 20 meters or so, scooping snow up his shorts!). It was a long hike down to the valley, and we stopped for lunch in a pretty field near the inevitable rushing stream. Finally reaching the valley, we took a postbus to Goppenstein to take the train back through the Lotschberg tunnel.

Meanwhile, the group with Rick (Burton, Tom, MattC, Drew, Ray, David, Brad, PatrickP, Dale, Carl, Charlie, JJ, Mark, and PatrickW ) did the one-day Lotschenpass hike, starting early by taking the postbus up to Selden in the Gasterntal valley to the same place the glacier group had started the day before. With Colorado Paul as their guide they took a different trail past a couple of mountain huts and crossed the Lotschenpass glacier. They too had spectacular views from their pass (several miles west of the Petersgrat), then descended steeply to the valley to the south, grabbed the postbus, and we all wound up on the same train going back to KISC!

After dinner, most of the scouts went to the KISC campfire, which was a bit different from US scout campfires. More emphasis on yells and singing (OGGI, OGGI, OGGI, OY, OY, OY!) by the whole troop rather than skits. We did "Ghost Rider" for the Europeans, which they seemed to enjoy. Our guys in turn enjoyed the wild antics of the rest of the scouts!

Saturday July 26

With promising weather, Luke, Tom, MattC, Drew, Ray, David, Todd, MattG, Brad, Dr. Bob, Charlie, Neil, JJ, Mark, Chris, Eric, and Rick went off mountain biking after breakfast. We got maps of the trails around Kandersteg, and the scouts spent a while going up and down the trails around Hoh (the hilly area northwest of the village), then took the bike route from Kandersteg to Spiez (about 20 miles, mostly coasting, with great local scenery). After spending some time in Spiez, the guys put the bikes in the baggage car of the train and rode back to Kandersteg.

Meanwhile, Ted, PatrickP, Burton, Dale, Carl and PatrickW took the train to Thun and toured Schloss Thun. Unfortunately, the great medieval weapons previously on display had been removed, but they still got to climb into each of the four towers overlooking Thun. Ted released the scouts to explore town on their own, and Ted headed to the lakefront to have lunch. The scouts met up right on time and we returned to Kandersteg on the same train with the scouts who biked to Spiez!

After cleanup and prepping our packs for the five-day hike, we got into Class A uniforms and went to Mass at the local Catholic church in town, where the priest said part of the Mass in English and complimented us on attending, evidently a rare event for scouts visiting KISC. Next was a dinner at the Hotel Adler in the village, where we arranged a traditional rosti meal for the scouts. It was delicious, and we drew several compliments on how well-behaved our guys were (not the first or the last such compliments, either!). After dinner, the scouts went to the Hotel Blumlisalp game room to play video, hockey, pool, etc., then returned to get some sleep before starting out on the long hike. We had new campground neighbors, a British troop from Surrey just arrived and in high spirits, which made getting to sleep a challenge (or as Rick said, soccer hooligans in training). It also made us nostalgic for our earlier neighbors, a well-organized and delightful German troop.

Sunday July 27

A very early start, as we needed to catch the 6:32am train from Kandersteg. It took three rides (to Spiez, change to Interlaken, change to Meiringen) to get to Meiringen at 9am. The weather was warm and sunny, and there was a playground opposite the train station. Carl and Ted went off to find a bakery while the scouts played around; we found one nearby and brought back lots of croissants, rolls, and bread. It was not enough, of course, and shortly thereafter Todd and Ted had to return for a second load. Thus fortified, we started on the uphill wanderweg to Grosse Scheidegg, the first night’s goal. As we walked through Meiringen we came into view of the famous Reichenbach Falls.

This is a good spot to mention the fabulous system of walking routes in Switzerland, all well-labeled with frequent signs and blazes. There are wanderwegs, lower elevation paths marked in yellow; bergwegs, higher elevation and rougher trails marked in white and red; alpine routes, difficult routes across mountains and glaciers marked in blue and white; and bike routes marked in red. Signs give directions and estimated walking times (based on the average Swiss family of four hiker-bots, we often couldn’t match the estimated times!). One hardly needs a map if you know the name of your next stop!

The trail up from Meiringen took us close to the Reichenbach Falls, where Sherlock Holmes supposedly fell to his death at the hands of Dr. Moriarty (until Conan Doyle had to revive the series due to popular demand). We dropped packs and took a side hike to view the falls, which were even more impressive close up than from the distance. The trail continued up with sections paved in cobblestone and, further up, in corduroy (wood). Halfway up we came in view of the Wetterhorn, then had lunch near the Hotel Rosenlaui. Ted, Dr. Bob, Luke, Todd, MattG and Neil split off to view the Gletscherschulte, a series of waterfalls through a steep and narrow ravine similar to the Trummelbach Falls the younger scouts had seen Thursday. Although they didn’t leave much before the older guys, it took the rest of the day for the older scouts to catch up with the younger scouts!

The weather deteriorated, however, becoming cloudy with occasional rain. Then about 20 minutes from the pass a gale-force storm suddenly blew through from the west with heavy rain squalls. Fortunately no lightning, but everyone was quickly drenched and had to struggle against the high wind and rain to reach the berghotel. Everyone stumbled in safely, and the landlady offered to dry all our wet clothes! A lifesaver! We later learned that this storm had also hit KISC earlier in the day, flattening a number of tents and tarps-fortunately our tents were fine, and some Danish scouts we had met dropped our tarps for us to prevent damage.

We got out of the wet stuff and into dry, sorted out the mess of wet packs and raingear, then had a fabulous schnitzel dinner-two pieces of schnitzel each, plus soup, pasta, bread, dessert-what a meal! Despite the remote location, they were technologically savvy-our waiter took the order on a Palm that transmitted the order to the kitchen-by the time he finished taking our beverage order, it was waiting for him to pick up. And we were the only guests for the night! We were housed in two dorm rooms on the third floor, and had the luxury of a hot shower. It was a fairly early bedtime for everyone.

Monday July 28

Cloudy weather Monday, and an early start. The berghotel served us breakfast early and we got underway at 7pm with a goal of making the Kleine Scheidegg pass by 2pm so we could catch the 3pm train to the Jungfraujoch. We dropped steadily down to the scenic town of Grindelwald (big ski resort area), then began toiling back up to the next pass. The big disappointment was that clouds obscured the north face of the Eiger the entire day-we never saw it looming above us! Our route was roughly parallel to a cog railway from Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg, and we periodically got to pose and waive for (mostly) camera-happy Asian tourists on their way up to the top by rail. We lunched in mist and cloud near the Hotel Alpiglen, and continued up and up, reaching the Kleine Scheidegg right on schedule. We checked into the Bahnhof Restaurant, dropped our packs, and headed out for the 3pm train to the Jungfraujoch.

The clouds continued to obscure the views, but when we reached the station on the Jungfrau (highest rail station in Europe at 11,700 feet, with most of the route in a tunnel carved out of the rock of the mountain), some clouds parted to give a partial view down the glacier and up to the peak of the Monch. We went outside and had a snowball fight, looked through the exhibits, and walked through the Ice Palace with its corridors and ice sculptures carved out of the glacier about 10 feet below the surface-neat stuff!

Back down to the Bahnhof, where the scouts had a dorm room for 19 all to themselves, with Dr. Bob, Ted, Rick, and Chris in small rooms nearby. We had another good dinner, followed by showers for all, as the huts the next two nights would not have showers available. Again a fairly early bedtime for tired guys.

Tuesday July 29

Two treats greeted us in the morning-clear weather with good views of the peaks and, at breakfast, the Bahnhof put out croissants and hard farm cheese, a nice change from the usual brown bread and packaged soft cheese. The "glacier group" scouts (Neil, Todd, Luke, MattG with Chris and Eric) split off for a day of faster hiking, and the rest of us went out to get pictures in front of the Monch and Jungfrau peaks. While doing so, we saw a big avalanche in the distance coming off the Jungfrau!

The hike down was an uneventful but long drop first to Wengen (perched atop the eastern wall of the Lauterbrunnen valley), then down to Lauterbrunnen itself where we caught the funicular up to Grutsalp, saving ourselves a few thousand feet of climbing. We had lunch overlooking Lauterbrunnen, then walked to Murren, seeing (and hearing) no fewer than three more avalanches coming off the Jungfrau in the distance! Although the weather was sunny and hot where we were, the top of the Schilthorn (Piz Gloria) was shrouded in clouds all day long, so we canned the plan to take the cable car up there and hike down to the Rotstockhutte. Instead, we gave the scouts some time off in Murren (car-free tourist town atop the western wall of the valley, also the setting for the town scenes in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). After that we hiked up to the hut, including a brutally steep stretch to cross over a promontory.

We were eventually rewarded with the Rotstockhutte, the most primitive of our night’s stays-a smaller hut on a working farm. The glacier group had taken a higher trail around Murren but still beat us to the hut. Bruno, our host, was charming, and the hut was full. We had a large open dorm room upstairs for 21, but guests in the next two rooms had to come through the end of the dorm-little privacy in Swiss huts! Rick and Dr. Bob wound up in a first floor room. Another hearty meal followed by another early bedtime, as day four loomed over us. Speaking of looming over us, the evening skies cleared and we had great views from the porch of the hut up to the Schilthorn perched high above us.

Wednesday July 30

Crunch day on the hike, with two major climbs ahead. A 7am start after breakfast, and we made the Sefinenfurke pass by 9am. Clear weather again, and gorgeous views from the pass. Looking back behind us, we saw a group of six chamois (mountain antelope) crossing a snowfield-one of the few sightings of wildlife in the Alps, as most of the range is taken by cows, sheep, goats, or pigs. We could even see the Blumlisalphutte in the distance, looking enticingly close-hah! After studying the signs and maps, we decided to take the "glacier" route to the Blumlisalphutte to avoid dropping all the way down to the village of Griesalp and climbing back up again. The glacier route, however, still entailed a long drop down, was rugged, and required use of cables and ladders in the steeper parts. It was a marked bergweg trail across the glacier, although it proved slippery to cross. It made for a challenging hike, and a trail unlike any Troop 111 has tackled before.

We lunched just before crossing the glacier, completed the crossing, climbed up a swinging rope-and-timber ladder, then began the steady uphill climb to the hut. It was a long, straight, and very steep trail that took every bit of our energy (well, at least every bit of the adults’ energy) to finish. At the top, there were steep steps with ropes and cables, but finally we reached the Hohturli pass and, after another 200 feet up, the hut.

The Blumlisalphutte is large (sleeps 138), popular, and the highest point on our hike at 9300 feet. The elevation is not stupendous compared to the Wind River hike (where we reached 11,600 feet along the trail), but is high for the Alps. We had great weather still, and fabulous views of the adjacent glacier, the Kandersteg valley, the Griesalp valley, and the Sefininfurke pass from which we had come. Many mommy shots taken here.

Another good dinner and pleasant time spent around the common room. We ate with scouts from Troop 39 from North Carolina who had come up from KISC for the night. Our scouts had a dorm room for 20 all to themselves on the first floor of the hut, while Dr. Bob, Ted, and Rick shared a room upstairs with a large and boisterous coed group of German hikers. During the night an electrical storm lit up the skies dramatically, then a snowstorm set in, leaving an inch of snow around the hut by morning.

Thursday July 31

After another hearty hut breakfast, it was down through the slick snow to the pass, where the precipitation had fallen as rain. The trail to the Oeschinensee was steep and slick from rain, and more precipitation moved in during the day. We skipped taking a swim in the lake, although we passed a large group of British Girl Guides taking their alpine swim despite the cool temperatures. At lunchtime we reached the cable car station and rodelbahn-only to find that the rodelbahn was closed due to the rain. Oh well.

After lunching at the rodelbahn, we continued down to Kandersteg and hiked back into camp, completing the 50 mile route. No doubt about it, the hardest 50 mile hike ever undertaken by Troop 111, but we all made it safely. The weather improved some in the afternoon, and the scouts did hand-wash of dirty clothes and rested up until dinner, which was followed by another wild international campfire program. The camp population had swollen to near 1500 as many British units arrived following the end of their school term the previous week. This time our guys did the "waiter setting table" skit, leaving a couple of audience volunteers on their hands and knees with the glasses of water on their backs....

Friday August 1

Swiss national day opened with bright and clear weather-and it stayed with us all day. Ted couldn’t sleep and went over to the chalet early, where he was asked to take a picture of all the staff (in blue shirts for Swiss national day instead of the usual pink shirts). Then we had breakfast for the 900+ participating scouts in the campground. The staff set up a stage and sound system and led the camp in skits, dance, and songs-a lot of enthusiasm matched by the equally enthusiastic Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian contingents (we and the Brits were pretty dull by comparison).

After breakfast, we broke out quickly to be early for the climbing wall and earthball events for which we had signed up. Todd, Neil, Luke, MattG, and Tom each got two good runs up the climbing wall, all making it out the overhang; Charlie, Dale, and Ray also climbed the wall. The rest started on earthball, a combination of rugby and hockey played with a 6-foot inflated ball painted like the earth. All of the scouts wound up in the earthball matches, playing against a couple other scout groups, and all got good and dirty. Brad and Charlie, among others, took spectacular flips over the ball.

After lunch we went up for football (soccer) and volleyball at the south end of town, but found few takers there-volleyball never took off, but we had a couple of spirited soccer games against a german crew and, after they left, continued a Troop 111 intramural game for a couple of hours. Then it was back for the festival, where we circulated around booths and games put on by other units (our guys taught hackysack). Lots of costumes, lots of fun, lots of pictures.

After a BBQ dinner in the campground, it was into Class A uniforms for a ceremony in which scouts from all 30 countries represented in camp lit candles (MattG was our rep), then an impressive parade to the village for the town bonfire and speeches. That turned pretty dull, with the speeches outlasting the bonfire, and the fireworks cancelled because of the unusually dry summer (couldn’t tell it by us, but it hadn’t rained much before we came). Finally, most of the scouts hit another disco, drifting back to camp in the wee hours....

Saturday, August 2

Again perfect weather, which definitely helped with drying all the handwash and wet items from the trek. Up early for Todd, PatrickP, MattG, and Chris, who were going canyoning-a sport not available in the US, where you climb, jump, or sluice down a steep mountain stream. Off on the 7:34 train to Boltigen to meet the outfitter. Everyone else out for breakfast at 7:30, with Luke, Neil, Eric, and Rick going hydospeeding-another run on the Simme river with individual sleds, wet suits, and flippers. All reported that both activities were a lot of fun and unique.

Meanwhile, everyone else had a free day-and most of the scouts chose to head off to Thun to explore another city. Charlie, Burton, Tom, MattC, Drew, Ray, David, Brad, Dale, and JJ took the 9:34 train and eventually were joined in Thun by the scouts that went canyoning or hydrospeeding in the morning. In Thun they found that you can jump off some of the bridges into the River Aare and float along in the river, which they enjoyed a lot. The scouts had an 8pm return time to camp, which they made punctually.

Dr. Bob stayed in Kandersteg with Mark, Carl, and PatrickW, who went back up to Oeschinensee for their alpine lake swim and to take more rodelbahn rides, then they came down to the village and spent the rest of the day in the town pool, which has slides and heated water. Very restful and cleansing, and just right for a hot sunny day. After leaving the pool, Dr. Bob, Mark, Carl, and PatrickW took down the tarps and started packing up troop items for departure.

Ted took off for Interlaken for the day to do some shopping and see the sights, including a Hooters restaurant, proving that nowhere is safe from American culture! Vigil Mass was on everyone’s own schedule depending on where they were. Instead of a group dinner, we gave the scouts money to eat on their own, so Dr. Bob, Ted, and Rick settled into the patio of the Hotel Victoria Ritter for a leisurely evening meal. After everyone returned to camp, it was final packup time for Sunday’s departure.

Sunday August 3

Yet another hot and sunny day to finish our travels. As usual, the tents were wet from heavy dew, so we left them up and went over for the last KISC breakfast and to pack one last bag lunch to eat in Bern. Then we broke down the tents and finished packing up the backpacks and duffels. Pinkee Steve (Great Britain) came by with the KISC van to take our duffels and daypacks to the train station with Dr. Bob and Ted, and the rest of the scouts walked down with their backpacks. We decided to pre-check the backpacks with Swiss rail at Kandersteg, a worthwhile service. It took about an hour to get each bag weighed, tagged, and checked-the Swiss are meticulous, and recorded names and ticket numbers for each backpack. It was nice not to have to haul them aboard the trains. When we arrived at Dulles the next night, they were waiting in a stack at baggage claim!

Off to Bern, a one hour ride from Kandersteg, for a look at the Swiss capital. After a false start, we found the main station, which had three levels of shops also. We could not check in at the youth hostel until later in the afternoon, so we piled all the duffels together in the train station and Dr. Bob took up guard duty, writing up his diary. We broke into groups and released the scouts to look around, and everyone wandered through the center of town (filled with fountains and the famous clock tower) to the bear pits on the other side of the river. The Bern Canton symbol is the bear, and the city of Bern has kept bears on public display since 1480, so it was worth taking a look at (the last bear in the wild was killed nearly 100 years ago). It was hot-near 90, very unusual for Switzerland-and the bears were pretty lethargic. So were the scouts, who ate their lunches on benches by the bear pits.

Ted checked with the tourist office at the bear pits and found that the Marzili pools was the place to go-and are even free (the words "free" and "Switzerland" don’t often occur in the same sentence!). Ted and Rick sent the scouts back to the train station to get bathing suits and towels and to head down to the pools. What a scene! Many thousands of people spread over several acres of lawns, pools, decks, cabanas, etc. Throngs (and thongs) walking up the path along the river, then jumping into the river to float back down to the Marzili pools. We found a pedestrian bridge from which you could jump into the river, which ran about 6 feet deep in most places, with the rounded stone bottom typical of glacial-fed rivers. The water was cool and clear-the silt present in most of the glacial melt waters flowing out of the mountains into Lakes Thun and Brienze had settled out in the lakes, leaving clear green water to flow in the river Aare down to Bern. It was quite a sight-hundreds of heads bobbing along in the fast-flowing current!

We met back at the train station promptly at 5pm then walked to the youth hostel, which turned out to be very close to the Marzili pools. It sits just below the Swiss Bundesstaat, the seat of government, and looking across to the river Aare-quite a neat place. The hostel set up us in bunk rooms (ironically named Interlaken, Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau!) and many scouts headed back to Marzili for some more floating down the river. There was a large courtyard with chairs and tables, and an oversized chess set-David had the rare distinction of beating Dr. Bob in a game!

We had dinner at the hostel, which also fixed up bag breakfasts for the next morning, as we had to leave long before the regular breakfast was served. A very relaxing and pleasant evening followed, with most scouts enjoying games or talk on the patio and a few wandering off into town for a last look around. It was also compulsory shower night, as we had a long day of traveling ahead for Monday.

Monday, August 4

Last day! We packed up quietly and slipped out of the youth hostel around 6am, and took a slow walk up the hill to the train station. It was warm and muggy already, and we were trying to avoid breaking a sweat. We caught our final train, a 6:46am intercity to Zurich. We wound up on the "playground" car-it was another double-decker train, and the center of the upper deck was a small play area for kids. Several scouts plopped down there, and Eric showed a movie on his laptop. An hour and a half to the Zurich airport, where we wound our way through a maze of corridors to find the BA check-in counter in the terminal. Check-in went smoothly, and we went through security to our gate. Amazingly, while we were at the gate, Tom C’s uncle, Fr. Charles Brown, passed by and spotted Tom! Fr. Brown works at the Vatican and was on his way back to Rome. Amazing!

The flight to London was uneventful, but then we hit Heathrow again. We had a long slog from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4, and our three-hour layover stretched to four as BA was running behind in getting flights out. We waited for a quite a while for a gate to be posted and, when it finally was announced, had a long walk to get there. Another wait as the plane had to be cooled down (London was also experiencing the unusual heat wave), but finally we boarded and took off. Dinner followed by movies, sleeping, reading, and a snack before arrival-the flight seemed long, but we actually made up time and came in only 20 minutes late.

Customs and luggage recovery went smoothly, and our drivers (Rob B., Mark S., Roy D., Sid C., and the G’s) were at the ready. We loaded up the vans and vehicles and rolled on to St. Agnes, arriving to an enthusiastic welcome about 8:15pm. After unloading tents, tarps and other crew gear, Ted gave out the KISC patches and pins and the trekkers headed home at last. A great trip all around!