This day was an easy hike compared to some of the others - but no complaints by anyone.

We rode up to Sunnegga where we started our hike. Our trek for the most part went parallel to the valley floor far below us. It was a relatively smooth and wide trail up to Tufteren, a very small and ‘original’ Swiss hamlet. We took a break there having a hot drink on a patio overlooking the valley floor. Being Switzerland, there is never a reason not to have a restaurant in a tiny hamlet where practically no one lives 😀.

After Tufteren, the trail narrowed but was still well maintained and an easy hike. It continued quite a ways including past a major rock slide area. We came upon a man-made wall of stone which we speculated was there to help steer any rockslides or landslides (common occurrences throughout the Swiss Alps). We found a couple of small shelters carved into the stone on the side of the trail which were there to shelter in during a slide. To me, this felt like a bigger message than road signs saying ’Slide area - do not stop’. Point was well made!

The trail eventually connected with another trail heading up to the village of Täschalp which was coming up from the Tasch Train Station on the valley floor far below. We had been going down a very gradual slope much of the way until now. We followed the new trail up a moderate incline to reach Täschalp for our lunch. Just before town, the trail dropped down to cross a creek and then back up a short slope to our lunch.

In the creek water, we had a good view of some of the local wildlife splashing and washing up. OK, so it was a hiker taking a nude bath in the stream. You have to appreciate cleaning up before lunch, right?

As had become a habit, we enjoyed our very pleasant lunch out on a patio. No big view below here but still a nice place to enjoy a good meal and rest while enjoying the nature surrounding us.

After lunch, considering that the hike down would be steep in some areas and we had been out for a while, we were given the option to call for a cab up from the town below. That would not be cheap and we were actually all feeling pretty good after our nice lunch break. So off we went back down on foot.

I am really glad we did. The steeper part of the trail cut through the gorgeous forest. We came across some interesting sites on the way. One was a small mountain cabin with a sculpture near the trail. If you look closely at the picture I included, you can see that the bird’s head feathers are made from a rake. The sculpture was made up of several odds and ends - very cool.

We also came across an interesting water trough. The spring was brought up into a vertical log, then out through a pipe to fall into a trough carved out of a fallen tree.

Here is a good time to also mention all the crosses and shrines that we came across on the different trails. Switzerland is predominantly Christian, the majority being Catholic. It appears that part of this culture is the building and maintaining of small shrines and crosses along trails, often in unexpected places.

When we eventually reached the valley floor in Tasch, after a refreshing break at a water trough in town, we caught the train back to our hotel in Zermatt - easy as always.

Tonight we had our formal final dinner since one of our group would be leaving us in the morning. Another pleasant evening on top of a wonderful day on the trail.