Thursday, August 7, 2014

DIE BERGLUFT ALS MEDIZIN (Mountain Air as Medicine)



WEATHER WAS GOOD -- a perfect day to enjoy people out in the healthy mountain air. Starting at the top of the Furi gondola, we found a mountain restaurant in full swing, with hiking families, bicyclists, and folks dining and relaxing in the mid-day sun.

 

Following the sound of a chain saw, we ambled around to the side of the building, where a woodcarver was finishing off an eagle for display in a mountain garden.  

Walking out into the valley, we passed mountain farms with well tended vegetable gardens



and quintessential Swiss window boxes hanging from the balcony.



Climbing higher, we caught a view of Zermatt down in the valley, with stalks of  purple fireweed in the foreground.


Next we passed through a shady forest carpeted with a beautiful weed -- would love some help identifying it!


Our destination was the hamlet of Zmutt, which is perched on a cliff overhanging a deep cleft created by centuries of snowmelt (the Zmuttbach or stream) flowing down from above.




Farmers were out in the fields above, making a second cutting of hay. If you look carefully, you can find hikers along an upper trail and see a few brown specks that are cows in the fields beyond the trail. In the mountains, you hear the belled cows long before you see them.





The flower-filled meadows frustrate our attempts to capture them, and the walk home takes us past barns and sheds, in endless Alpine pastures. 






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