We, she, Andreas, Jochen and Miriam took the bus to Beatenberg, a long village high on a hill overlooking the Thunersee (Lake Thun). Interlaken and Mary Joy's ancestral town of Unterseen are across from each other along the part of the river Aare that connects the Brienzersee with the Thunersee. Both lakes are big, lovely, surrounded by mountains and navigated by ferries that pass from village to village around each lake.
At Beatenberg, we took the cable car up to the Niederhorn, about 6500 feet above sea level (Interlaken is around 1800 feet) and there we started our hike even farther up, to the Gemmenalphorn (about 6700 feet), then came back down by another route. All in all, it took about five hours, with plenty of ups and downs and, needless to say, plenty of rest stops, especially on behalf of the two senior citizens (Mary Joy and I, at 56 and 61, were the oldest). With the help of our new hiking poles and a pair borrowed from Eva, we survived and even flourished. The scenery, as always in this part of the world, was spectacular, the company was great and we came across wildlife (steinbock, or mountain goats, very close up) and not so wild life (cows, as always).
When we arrived back at the Niederhorn, we stopped for refreshments at the restaurant. The weather was looking ominous at that point. We went back down on the cable car to Beatenberg, where, since we had about an hour to wait for the bus, and it was starting to rain, we went to another restaurant for coffee and a cheese, ham and veggie tray.
There and on the bus there was a somewhat raucous discussion of what Eva and Andreas should do when they finally visit the United States, focussing on renting a large car with cruise control (unknown in Europe) and Johnny Cash or Bruce Springsteen tapes.
Finally, we got back to Unterseen and said goodbye to our hiking companions.
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