Day 3

6.5 miles

Marmotte sightings:  2 wooden marmotte sculptures

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We needed a pseudo-rest day today so we took the famous Sunnegga funicular for the first leg up the mountain, had a pricelessly scenic coffee, and then set off.

We followed a spectacular contour path, with the Blauherd and Rothorn above left of us, and several lovely sculptures along the way including of course some marmottes!

We arrived at the Stellisee – we had seen numerous photos of the Matterhorn reflected in an idyllic lake but not realised where it was, but looked back and suddenly realised we were in the iconic spot.

After a pit stop in the Fluhalp overlooking the lake, we dropped down heading towards some other lakes, and found ourselves on an incredible arête that somehow still existed running along the middle of the main valley.  It was exhilarating, aiming straight at the Matterhorn, and then a little hairy as the path had collapsed, so we dropped a little off the ridge so we didn’t become victims of the next land slip.

Next stop on safer ground was the Grünsee, and we couldn’t resist a literally breathtaking dip.

Dried off with mountain air and a flannel which we’d had the foresight to bring (!) we dropped down through the woods to Findeln and the “Gourmetweg” we’d spotted yesterday.  We gravitated to the superchic vibe of Chez Vrony and settled in for a lengthy lunch, the reward for 2.5 days of trails.  It was a sensational spot, perfect view of the mountains, sun terrace, amazing menu and some Swiss rosé on ice.  It would be hard to beat on a global scale!

Fortunately, we’d opted for a return ticket on the Sunnegga, so we hauled ourselves up to the station and happily rode down on the train!   “Rest” days are definitely an important part of this holiday too!