In 1911, a nineteen year old by the name of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien traveled in a party of twelve companions to the scenic mountains of Switzerland. One of his favorite spots? Lauterbrunnen Valley.
If that journey sounds oddly familiar, congratulations, you’re a geek.
Over a hundred years later, when I found myself traveling to Zürich, I couldn’t resist the chance to follow the footsteps of the author who is credited (rightfully in my opinion) with shaping modern fantasy as we know it. So I learned just enough German to get me out of trouble, figured out how to navigate European trains for the first time in my life, and researched the hell out of Tolkien’s long-ago journey.
“I am… delighted that you have made the acquaintance of Switzerland, and of the very part that I once knew best and which had the deepest effect on me. The hobbit’s journey from Rivendell to the other side of the Misty Mountains, including the glissade down the slithering stones into the pine woods, is based on my adventures in 1911… Our wanderings mainly on foot in a party of 12 are not now clear in sequence, but leave many vivid pictures as clear as yesterday.”
-JRR Tolkien
Rounding that first bend… You’re still on the train but your eyes must suddenly take in more world than can reasonable fit through the sockets. And the train keeps going and the world just gets bigger.
I’m not exactly certain how long I stood by the tracks gaping up at the mountains standing sentinel on either side of the valley, but it was long enough that I left an empty platform behind.
At first I was a bit sad at how many tourists there were. Every other building in this tiny town is a gasthaus or fancy rent-a-chalet. Plus there was the literal field of glamping RVs. Don’t get me wrong, I want more people to travel and have these experiences. Just not so packed you can’t see the scenery they’re standing on. I suspect that going to practically unknown parts of New Zealand in the off-season spoiled me.
But then I went hiking.
Now, I consider myself a relatively fit person. I’m healthy and regularly survive a very intense workout class. Within the first 30 minutes of my hike, I understood those pictures near the “Level: Difficulty” hikes in the Grand Canyon in a whole new light. Those posters that show a very muscled young person carrying all the right equipment and has the caption: “The type of people we regularly have to helicopter out of this trail.”
Unfortunately, I was already past the point of no return by the time the thought occurred to me that when they say difficult, they mean “trust us, you want to take the motorized funicular instead.”
It took me about two hours to hike 9.5km (6 miles). “But Kaitlin,” some of you are thinking, “you regularly do six miles for your daily commute, why was this so hard?” Because this was 9.5km up an ascent of 2275 vertical feet (694 vertical meters). For those of you who don’t climb, in order to move forward 6 inches, your foot must lift halfway to your knee every step. Now add a backpack. No inclined treadmill can compare.
And that was only the first two hours of an eight hour hike!
But now that I have you all cringing in your shoes at the thought, believe me when I say it was worth it. It was so unbelievably worth it. The first break of the trees at the top of the mountain, and even with a cloudy sky and storm clouds rolling in, the only thought I had was, “I get it.”
It felt like Tolkien was smugly tapping me on the shoulder, and I get it. There’s no way you could see this view (especially if you’ve been in 1910’s grey industrialized Birmingham, England) with clear blue skies and no trains or tourists, and not think this place a setting for a whole new world.
Fortunately the rest of the hike was easy by comparison. That’s including the 45 minutes the sky opened up and I was hiking in puddles. I didn’t have to pay attention to my feet, and could bask in the glory that is Lauterbrunnen Valley.
I may have been a half-drowned cat, but I was the happiest half-drowned cat on the mountain. The rain and steep hikes allowed a golden opportunity: a near zero chance of ‘the masses’ hiking anywhere near me. It was almost completely wonderfully deserted, just the mountains, trees, and me.
After spending the night above a pub and beneath a waterfall (who needs an expensive rent-a-chalet?!) I followed those literary footsteps up and over the other half of the valley. Up to Wegen and then further up to Kleine Schiedegg.
Most readers have a unique vision in their head when they read. To be able to lay your naked eyes on the vision the author had in their when they put pen to paper… I departed with regret, but also with a story in my heart.
“I left the view of Jungfrau with deep regret: eternal snow, etched as it seemed against eternal sunshine, and the Silberhorn sharp against dark blue: the Silvertine (Celebdil) of my dreams.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien
In the area and a Tolkien fan? Don’t forget to visit nearby Meiringen!
Kaitlin’s Adventure in Switzerland was from June 28-July 12, 2018