Switzerland: Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg, and Jungfraujoch

The weather improved each day and we were blessed with fewer clouds and more amazing views (and, mercifully, less rain). We started our 4.5 mile hike out of Wengen up to the pass of Kleine Scheidegg (along the same ridge as Männlichen which we visited via cable car the day before) and would climb 2,500 feet during the day along the famous Lauberhorn World Cup ski track. Our trail followed the track of the railway up to Kleine Scheidegg but allowed us to wander through pastures of cows (so many cows) and absolutely stunning views of Jungfrau.

The following day, we traveled via train up to Jungfraujoch. The railway is inside a tunnel built between 1898 and 1912 from Eigergletscher up to the saddle ridge between Mönch peak and Jungfrau peak. Jungfraujoch contains a set of touristy things like an observation deck perched high up on a rocky promontory called “The Sphinx”, an ice cave through the Aletsch glacier, a zipline, a tubing hill, and a trail that allows you to hike out to the Mönchsjoch Hut. We viewed the amazing Aletsch glacier, which is the largest glacier in the alps and is about 14 miles long and 2,969 ft thick, explored the glacier a bit (hiking on the carefully marked trail that did not expose us to any crevasses, and hiked through the amazing ice cave within the glacier itself.