Familiar paths

We walked another familiar path today, taking the Eiger trail from Eigerletscher to Alpiglen. It is a route we have taken often over the years, but it is steeped in history and worth every step. The path is below the dramatic North face of the Eiger, a climb which is  a forbidding sight still as the centenary of the first assent becomes ever closer.  The trail ends in a mountain meadow where climbers camped before the first attempts on the vertical face of the mountain in the 1930s.  

From Alpiglen, we headed back up the hill to the Arven lift station, where a path branches out across the mountain to Mannlichen. In the trees near the ridge which divides Scheidegg from Mannlichen alpine flowers were in their late summer glory and walkers were pausing to pick the wild blueberries.

It was sunny today, but in the shade it seemed cold and the occasional wind was cutting. As ever, concerns as to the weather dominate. The forecast for the next few days promises a mix of sun and cloud, with autumnal temperatures.