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To Zermatt!

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After all the jaw-dropping scenery that we saw along the Haute Route, the final part of the journey to Zermatt is a little anti-climatic. Leaving Sankt Niklaus, the valley route essentially follows a river and train track all the way to Zermatt. Notice anything different about Greg? In preparation for our trip’s end, he shaved off his hiking beard.  As our hiking path got closer to Zermatt, we all got really excited to finally see the Matterhorn, the iconic mountain that Zermatt is famous for. We finally came around a bend, and the Matterhorn and Zermatt were before us - we had finished the Walker’s Haute Route! We were so excited to finally reach Zermatt which was bustling with people.  A first stop we made was to the hotel where our “lost luggage” was sent. It was fun to dig out something new to wear as both Greg and I had really been operating with minimal clothing.  We’ve had fun exploring, doing a little shopping, as well as enjoying some great food!  Throughout our adventure, we
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A Special Evening in Sankt Niklaus

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One of our fondest memories from our trip eight years ago is when we happened upon the B & B Matterhorn Resort owned by Maurizio and Alaina in the small village of Randa (about 400 people). We will never forget the amazing meal that Chef Maurizio made us that night.  So fast forward eight years later - we had so much fun getting reacquainted with Maurizio and Alaina and catching up on what had happened in the last eight years including the pandemic.  Once again, the meal he made us was so good!  When we parted ways the next morning, Maurizio and Alaina had created another set of special memories for us with a wonderful dinner and their special brand of hospitality. 
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Gruben to Sankt Niklaus

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At this point in our trip, the members of our hiking group each had an individual plan for getting from Gruben to Sankt Niklaus. Since this was another challenging stage with a big ascent and descent and the weather forecast was for lots of rain, a couple people (myself included) opted for a different kind of traveling adventure. Greg set out early for another solo journey followed by Kevin and Kris about 30 minutes later.  Meanwhile, the remaining members of our group used the Swiss traveling app to figure out how to get to Sankt Niklaus via a bus to a cable car, and finally to two trains. While we didn’t get as many “steps” as the hiking group, we had our own adventure.  Just like in the movies, all of us eventually showed up in Sankt Niklaus!  We met for beer and later for dinner in one of the only two restaurants in town. Over dinner, we spent quite a bit of time talking about what we “wouldn’t bring next time” - we still are trying to figure out how to lighten our loads. It’s rea
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Zinal to Gruben

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Today was a day where we split forces - each member of our group got to decide what their body was up for today. Our journey was from Zinal to Gruben - but there are a couple ways to get there. Greg decided to solo today and he took the “red route” which starts with an almost 4000 ft ascent. Others, myself included, opted to take the “purple route” which included cutting off 2000 ft off the 4000 ft by taking the funicular up from St Luc and then hiking from there. Here we are after the funicular dropped us off, ready to start our hike to Gruben. The remaining hike still proved challenging as after we got to the top of Col Meidpass (9151 ft), we then had a descent of close to 4000 ft to get to Gruben.  The trail up to the col (which you can see in the background) was a good path with minimal boulders.  We started seeing a different breed of cows along the way. We made it up to the col by lunchtime and then put on warm clothes to eat our lunch as the wind was cold.  Meanwhile, Greg reach
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Rest Day in Zinal

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Today was our last rest day and we enjoyed every minute of it in the picturesque town of Zinal. This pretty ski town had some classic older Swiss buildings which we had fun photographing as we walked around on a beautiful day.  There were all kinds of paragliders who were landing on a grassy area not far from our hotel.  We enjoyed some more “French cuisine” before we cross over tomorrow to the “German section” of the Haute Route. Later in the afternoon we shopped for a few more things for our lunches at the Pâtisserie and got ourselves organized for an early morning departure (at 7:15 am) for our hike to Gruben. Tomorrow we begin our final four days of hiking. 
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