After a breakfast that included jams with flavors like strawberry cinnamon and plum basil, we headed downhill to Meiringen.
One of Meiringen's claims to fame is the meringue. Wikipedia says meringues were a French invention, but most of the rest of the internet says they were invented in Meiringen by a pastry chef named Gasparini ca. 1600...or possibly in 1720...or possibly in Italy. Hmm. This seems similar to the various regional origination claims to Linzertorte about which I've written previously. In any case, S and I discussed finding a meringue shop so we could gawk at the most authentically Swiss meringues possible, and then didn't bother, since we didn't expect to learn anything revelatory about egg whites and sugar.
We passed through a playground and let Carly play for a bit...
...then headed across the valley and upward yet again. The first attraction of the day was Reichenbach Falls. Arthur Conan Doyle made Reichenbach Falls the location for Sherlock Holmes' final altercation with Professor Moriarty, killing them both off in The Final Problem (1893), although he resurrected Holmes a decade later in The Adventure of the Empty House.
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| Nooooooo! Hydroelectric systems are not for swimming in. |
At this fearful place [that surely already had strong metal guardrails when this plaque was installed in 1991], Sherlock Holmes vanquished Professor Moriarty, [sic] on 4 May 1891.
As we had seen since the Surenen Pass, melting snow pours off the Alps all over the place. We saw several other falls as we continued following the Reichenbach upstream.
By now, we could see the Rosenlaui glacier on the Wetterhorn group.
We crossed the Reichenbach near the Hotel Rosenlaui, an inn that has been drawing tourists for 230 years. The rocks on the left bank were dramatically red thanks to lichens.
We paused at the hotel for Schorle and apricot Waehe...
...then headed to the nearby Gletscherschlucht, a gorge formed by the Lütschine river, with a trail dynamited through the rock in 1902 by the owner of the inn, who recognized a good way to attract tourists.
Plants were thriving on the rocks near the Schlucht.
We emerged from the gorge to the same place where everyone else clearly emerges:
From there, we walked back down to the hotel and continued another mile or so upward along the Reichenbach...
...until we reached the Schwarzwaldalp, our hut for the night.
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| Room with a view |
Ta da! 10.6 miles, 3,450' ascent, 2,450' descent.
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