16/06/07

JPN

In the morning, I went to Coop to buy some food and water for hiking.

I went to the information centre and asked about the hiking routes and got a map.

I started walking from just before nine.

There are numerous hiking courses around Zermatt and I decided to take a eight hour route that goes through

Zermatt-Tufteren-Rothorn-Findlen-Zermatt.

While walking, I only saw few people.

Near the Tufteren resting point, there were many sheep-like animals, grazing.

I was watching them for a while, but suddenly they turned their heads and came down the hill toward me.

I realised that they all had horns and thought it could hurt if they poke me with those,

so without stimulating them any further, I retreated back slowly and steadily.

Tufteren is at 2215meters height.

But Zermatt is at 1500meter altitude, which meant I climbed just over 700 meters so far.

I was walking up this beautiful hill when I spotted a large animal, moving...

It looked like a deer plus an antelope divided by two.

I thought, I must be the luckiest person on earth and with haste took out my camera.

I used a zoom lense with my film camera.

Oh I can't wait to develop this one!

The photo below was taken with my digital camera, using digital zoom.

It was just before lunch time, when I reached Sunnega Paradise, which is at 2288m.

Without rest, I kept walking upwards, with a spectacular view of the glaciers on my right.

Gradually, the snow started to appear and soon the whole path was covered with snow.

I kind of figured that nobody has come this way yet this season,

as there was no footprints apart from mine and of this three-legged animal...

It was a bizarre experience.

As I neared the Rothorn Paradise, which is over 3000 meters high, my surroundings became so quiet.

It was a complete silence.

I shouted towards the other side of the hill,

'Hello? anobody there!!?'

I knew there was an observatory, where the cable cars stationed.

But it seemed a little far away, as I couldn't hear neither the sound of people nor the cable cars.

I recalled a scene from the Magic Mountain, a scene I read in the train on my way to Zermatt,

where Hans Castorp gets lost in the snow mountain.

It was kind of funny, but at the same time, I got scared of the irony should that really happen.

I suddenly realised that my initial motive was to do hiking, and not climbing a snow mountain.

So I decided to turn around and walk back the same path.

I ate a sandwich at Sunnega Paradise, feeling glad to be back with the presence of some other people.

Then I hiked down to Findeln.

When I was walking the areas of Findeln, the clouds drifted away, exposing the peak of Matterhorn.

Matterhorn has such a distinctive shape with its pointy peak,

that a small patch of cloud covering it could alter the image.

So I was really happy when the clouds cleared away.

I got back to Zermatt at around six.

When I got back tp my youth hostel, by coincidence I met Takanobu, whom I met in the train from Vienna to Salzburg.

Yeah, a small world as they say.


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