MATTERHORN NIGHT, MORNING, AND MORE

THE SUN GOES DOWN as we settle in, and soon, from our balcony, we can watch the moon rise  over the ridge next to the Matterhorn. There are two blue lights on the ridge: one at Trockener Steg station on the left and another at Schwarzsee on the right.  To our (sleepless) amazement they suddenly changed at 2:45 AM to flashing red and green for a few minutes.  When we asked why, we learned that anyone with a charge card can phone a certain number and, for a fee, change the lights to any one of seven colors.  Of the $50 charge, a small amount goes to a charity for families of fallen Zermatt mountain guides. 

Next morning, I woke early to see what the new day had brought to The Mountain.  Automatic camera settings made it hard to photograph, with shadows in the valley and daylight blazing above the ridge. What a contrast with the night photo! With the Matterhorn presiding over all, the valley ends in a broad swath of hiking/skiing trails. In summer, you need months to explore them all; in winter you can cover more terrain and traverse most of them in just a couple of exhausting weeks.

But the weather never stays the same for long in the mountains.  As the day wears on, the clouds gather, and by the end of the afternoon, the vast view is socked in. Hard to believe it's the same valley. No more Matternhorn.

In the streets of town pedestrians run for cover, while rain pelts down on the upper reaches of the Vispa river. 

FINDING ZERMATT, 2012

THE MATTERHORN EXPRESS climbs briskly,  and follows the river Vispa up the valley to Zermatt. 

Sleepily, we drag the camera from its bag and aim it upwards to the peaks far ahead. The train roars over bottomless chasms spanned by temporary wooden bridges.

Drawing closer, we can see the peaks and river in a single view -- though it's frustrating to shoot from the fast-moving train window.

Soon we pass the 1991 rockslide at Randa, where Nature is slowly restoring the damage. We notice there may have been a new, smaller slide near the top of the slope. 

Near the top, the valley broadens out. At home in New England, we brag about our 4000-foot hills; Zermatt has 38  that rise more than 4000 meters.  The camera strains to capture peaks and valleys in the same shot. 

One last glimpse of  snow fields ahead...  

as we enter the final tunnels that take us into the Zermatt bahnhof.