Ibex are found as symbols on flags most often, but they are around in flesh and blood as well. There are only a few thousand of them in Switzerland, but the Bernese Oberland has its share of those numbers.
Winter is not the time to find them; in fact, I am not sure that any time of the year is a good time to see them. That make the chamois seem outgoing and gregarious.
I thought the party animals might turn up today for what has been the last Saturday of the main season. In fact, it wasn’t that busy. After an early start, I thought I was ahead of the crowd, but it turned out that there wasn’t a crowd at all.
Many of the hotels close their doors in the morning. The season will tick over for a while longer, but frankly the Ibex, the Chamois and other local recluses such as the badgers could throw a party by the cable car and no one would notice.
Tomorrow is the last day of the season on Mannlichen. It’s also a travel day and to cap it all, the clocks change tonight. To borrow a phrase from Zebedee, time for bed.
A day spent keeping ahead of everyone else brought 12,181 vertical metres in 28 lift rides and 62 kilometres travelled.
Idle thoughts from a mountain 