Just Humans Being...

It's very easy to end up on a mountain pass in the Valais region of Switzerland... You think that you're just off exploring a nearby village, when all of a sudden you realise that you're actually climbing a steep, petrifying road & the village is in fact the scary looking collection of houses you saw earlier. All precariously balanced on the edge of the highest peak possible or so it seems... And like most passes in the area... There's no going back! The Valais is an incredible sight, such a long valley filled with villages, towns & cities. If you look carefully, you might be able to see another zig-zagging pass on the left hand mountain... Mountain village... It's actually a ski resort... I wouldn't like to come up that pass in the snow though! Near the top was a lay-by with these poor girls next to it. Their udders were full & they all had huge bells around their necks... Beautiful girl! The cows & th...

The end of the Lotschental Pass... It was such a hot day, so we sensibly waited until late afternoon to get out walking. We had gone as far as we could in the car & we really wanted to see if we reach the snow. The last sign of civilization, so we thought... These troughs are dotted all around the mountains - the water tastes really good & is ice cold! Sime likes the yellow signs... White rapids! Looking back towards the opposite end of the pass. There was a choice of paths - we chose to get into the woodland for some shade. Out the other side of the woods... We found out later that it had been over 30 degrees again, no wonder we were feeling hot... So much so that we abandoned the idea of trying to reach the snow. Instead we dipped our feet into this freezing lake & enjoyed the view... And spotted this building, which we discovered is  Anenhuette  - an ugly, but eco-friendly hostel. ...

Just above Goppenstein Station the Lotschental mountain pass continues...  The scenery is just stunning & we felt that we'd chosen the perfect time to visit - it was very quiet & yet the weather was amazing! We decided to have our picnic in this beautiful meadow & the butterfly joined us... We were so happy that we accidentally discovered Lotschental & decided to continue on foot... More tomorrow! Kay & Sime xx

On the day we discovered Goppenstein Station, we had actually been heading to Zermatt, but on spotting an intriguing tunnel symbol with the word "Open" next to it... We just knew we had to investigate! It's a Smith family thing - we just love tunnels! We still get as excited now as we did when the kidlets were young & we just whooped it up... And another one! Yay! On the way, we kept seeing the symbol with 2 cars on an open truck & on arriving at Goppenstein - we discovered what it was all about... Car on a train in a tunnel... Now there's an exciting thought! Kay & Sime xx

From the picnic area near Crans-Montana, we saw this statue at the top of a mountain opposite & we felt compelled to investigate. The village below the statue is called Lens, we drove through & parked along a track, which we thought seemed close to the statue... It was surprisingly an hour's walk, but a lovely one through woodland & mountain tracks with splendid views... As we climbed it became obvious that the mountain was a place of worship... With a well maintained altar along the way... And at the top we discovered... Le Valais Au Christ-Roi! The view was amazing... We were able to take shelter in the chapel... We thought it was around 25 degrees, but eventually discovered it had been over 30! So we took the opportunity to picnic in the shade... And top up our water bottle with fresh mountain water. We couldn't get enough of the 360 degrees view... We decided to take the steep path down through the woodl...