The prior day, we had a challenging hike up to the hut. Today was a different challenge, which started after a great breakfast (simple and very filling at the hut).

I had mentioned the hut was in a valley on the side of the mountain. Which means we had to hike up a steep trail to get out of that valley. No problem, right? Once we got to the top that we could see from the hut, it should be easygoing as we went down.

I need to learn to look closely at topo maps before I start a hike. Once we got up out of the valley, as you can see on the map in the red section, we had a long way to go. Our route included, of course, a lot of continuous (but not steep) up before we went down.

Another hot day on the trail. Our trail took us around the opposite side of the Matterhorn than we had been when on the Glacier trail (i.e. we hiked on 3 of the 4 sides of this mountain). Great views, many more wildflowers, and just overall great - again.

As the trail started turning back towards Zermatt, it went down - very steeply. Very glad the trail was dry. We still slipped a lot but no crashes. Can’t imagine what it would have been if wet! By the time we got to the valley floor below the Matterhorn, the glacier-fed stream was more than inviting. Time to get very wet!

Our lunch was scheduled to be in the hamlet of Zmutt. As you can see on the map, that was a long way from breakfast. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking about that and caught myself experiencing a sugar crash. I always carry gel packs and energy bars for such an occasion, so I took a short break to bring my body back to ‘normal’. [Note to self: planning ahead to bring bars is great - as long as you remember to eat them now and then.] Once refueled, I caught up with the guys as we kept heading towards lunch.

I do think that we drove our guide a bit nuts with the name of the town (Zmutt, for tired and childish Americans, sounds like the word ‘smut’). For some reason, we kept saying the town’s name but with an obvious inference (good to act like children now and then, right?).

The town itself is very cool. Several wood buildings with narrow lanes between them. We found the restaurant (outdoor seating only). Small and nice. Unfortunately, they were super busy and we were super hungry. We got some lemonade and iced tea right away, but the pasta took quite a while to arrive. But it was so worth the wait! And so quickly gone once the pasta arrived.

After lunch, we headed the rest of the way back into Zermatt, which wasn’t too far. The hike down from Zmutt was different, being on a wide and very nice trail with some cool houses and yards along the way. Once in town, we caught the bus back to the hotel. Even I know when to give my feet a break!

That night, it was one more dinner together, so the remaining three of us went back to the Restaurant Avena, where we had eaten before, and met our favorite fun Cuban waitress. Our guide brought along his stuffed sheep (a birthday present we gave him in honor of how much he had bonded with the sheep earlier in the week). So even though we were down one, we set his sheep up in its own chair to fill out the table. Our waitress didn’t blink an eye!