Sister Stories: Switzerland trip, day 7, part 1

One of the main attractions of staying in the Interlaken area of Switzerland is the chance to go up to the top of one of the tallest mountains in Europe--Jungfraujoch. (Mt. Elbrus in France is the tallest, but Jungfrau is the tallest accessible by train.) The views are (obviously) amazing, but since it's so tall--4158 meters--clouds typically surround the summit and therefore block the views. Because it's so rare to have a completely cloud-free day, along with the difficulty in getting up to the top, most guide books recommend skipping the journey if there's even a hint of clouds. So we weren't holding out much hope that we'd get to go. Well, we woke up this morning to a perfectly bright blue sky with not a cloud in sight. We were going to get to go! We planned our strategy at breakfast: Jason and James wanted to do some hiking part of the way up, so they took off early to hopefully make it to the summit around the same time as the rest of us, who were just going to take the train. Well, since it was the first perfect day in the area in at least a week, just about everybody staying in the region decided to head up the mountain with us. Remember our experience with the Japanese tour group a few days ago? Multiply that by at least a thousand. There were people EVERYWHERE, all trying to cram onto the same train, heading for the same destination. We finally made it to the top in the early afternoon, just in time to fight more crowds and get some lunch. There was no sign of Jason or James, and Jason's phone wasn't connecting. But there were so many people up there, that even if they had been 10 feet away, we wouldn't have seen them. Because of the super-thin air, some of our group started getting a touch of altitude sickness. We decided to get out of the hot, crowded restaurant and head for some fresh air. We were wading through the seas of people, trying to get out, when all of a sudden, we ran into Jason and James. We all had been getting worried, but not saying that to each other, so seeing them perfectly fine was a welcomed sight! They were pretty worn out, but had a great time, and wanted to do some more hiking on the way down. They found another trail they wanted to try, and they wanted me to go with them. Sure, I thought, they won't invite me along if they didn't think I could handle it. (mistake numero uno) We had a quick peak out on the observation deck, then went back in to stand in the huge line to get on a train. We got separated on the train, so when we pulled into the station where we were supposed to get off to hike, I still had a sleeping Claire strapped to me and no time to hand her off. So, she came along with us. (mistake numero dos) The plan was for us to hike along the ridge of the Eiger Glacier, catch the next train coming down the mountain, and meet up with everybody at the hotel. We started off. It was still a beautiful day, and it was such a relief to be out in the open with no one else around. We even commented how all the hikers that had been out earlier in the day seemed to have disappeared. (hmmmmm......) Claire woke up and did some hiking, we took pictures, walked through a herd of cows, and had a great time. (mistake numero tres) As we were approaching the train station, we noticed a train there. And it left. No big deal, though, trains run every 30-45 min, so we'll just have plenty of time to make it the last bit of the hike. Then, Jason's cell phone rings and it's Dad. He sounds a bit worried and wants to know if we're on the train. "Nope", I tell him, "but we're just about to the station." "That was the last train that just left the station," he says. "Uh oh. What do we do???" I ask, trying to remain calm. He tells us to get to the station, that maybe his train schedule is wrong and there will be another train. So we walk to the station. It's completely closed up, and no one is around except for some people staying in a little house nearby. We contemplate asking them to drive us down the mountain, but decide against it. So, we're stuck--on the tallest mountain in Europe and it's getting darker and colder, fast. And have I mentioned yet that we had only a quart of water and a few granola bars left? AND WE HAD CLAIRE?????? We had no choice but to start walking on the road, down the mountain, in hopes of finding someone who could help us, or another train station with running trains. Our spirits were still high, but it would be a LONG time before we found humanity.....

Walking to the train station in Interlaken--that's Jungfrau in the background