Day 8 - A Long Walk to Home (Part 2)

The rest stop, Gletscherstube is a small mountain hut near the Aletsch Glacier. Nothing fancy, yet it had provided a warm and dry shelter for the hikers who are in need, especially when the weather turns bad. 

As planned, we wanted to refuel ourselves by taking lunch at here. So, we ordered a dish of rosti, a sandwich & 2 pumpkin-apricot desserts. To my surprise, the quality of the foods are very good. That made us gobbled all of the foods very fast, and paid the bill happily too. 

Located at 2363 m in the middle of the Unesco World Heritage Site, Gletscherstube is an ideal resting place during a walk through the Aletsch region. Open from July to October, overnight accommodation in dormitories is also available at the upper floor. 

About 1 hour later, the rain had gradually stopped. It's time to move on....

The temperature dropped after the rain, so William put on extra shirt on himself  voluntary, without me nagging him. Good.

Vincent is a co-operative walker for most of the time, and it's good to see him getting very fit as time pass. 

I was still a bit worried about his knees, though he said he was feeling ok that day. Well, he can be very tough, unlike me, who can't stand any pain.

Husband said we were going to take a short cut to go to the other side of the mountain...

In the mountain range, the short cut usually refers to a tunnel. This tunnel is for pedestrian only, truly genius.

The tunnel looks dark inside there, made me feel a bit nervous. 

Since the tunnel can save the hikers many hours in walking back to their destination, naturally it becomes the no.1 choice for their way of return.

Once my eyes had adapted to the lighting inside, it's not as dark as I thought it is. But it's freezing cold inside. I guess the temperature is only 0C. Husband who didn't bring enough clothes had to walk faster to get through the tunnel, while the boys and I followed him far behind.

15 minutes later, we came out from the dark-cold tunnel. Glad to see the sun again. 

Leaving the tunnel behind us.....

The scene at this side is very different from Aletsch Glacier. I felt like we have been to 2 totally different world in a day.

Ok, we were on the way back to our "home" in Fiescheralp. Estimated walking time is around 1 hour.

Saw a giant waterfall over the distance mountain there...

Vincent was stopping for his business.

From this angle, we can get a glimpse of  Altesch Glacier. 

Compared to Aletsch's side, this side is less surreal. 

There are still many turns ahead, luckily the sky seemed clear by then. So, we walked in relaxed manner again. 

Some where along the path, there is this big house for cows.

The residents of the big house.

This cow looks pretty old to me, too bad he couldn't tell me his story. 

The cows mowed to say hello, so they mowed too.

We bid farewell to them, and continued our journey.

Saw those beautiful flowers again.

How romantic....

Purple has always been my favorite color all these years, for no specific reasons.

Judging from his gesture, I guess he started to feel tired lo...actually, me too.

We have passed through many turns which looks like this...

Finally, our finishing point was there to be seen, the end was near now.

just another 500 m away.....

William's way of expressing his total tiredness.

Yes, me too. Dead tired now....

Ok, we have made it back to Fiescheralp. 

Let me count, we have walked for nearly 5 hours to home. 

Home sweet home. 

Great exhaustion followed by great relaxation, there is nothing can beat it. So, I really think we shouldn't avoid hardship, for without hardship, we will get so immune to the coziness in life.

The rainbow had marked a beautiful full-stop to this year's summer vacation.