As the weather forecast had predicted, we woke up to a foggy, overcast morning. Most of our Zermatt plans involved buying expensive lift tickets that would let us see the Matterhorn (and other mountains) from various vantage points. We knew this morning that it would be a complete waste of time and money so did a quick pivot to only go partway up one of the lifts and hike back down on the Gourmetweg trail.

But first, I (Becky) demanded that we walk the few short blocks to see the daily blackthroat goat parade that goes through the middle of Zermatt twice every day in the summer – once at 9 a.m. as adolescent shepherds move the goats to a pasture on one end of town to graze and again at 4:30 p.m. when the goats return home. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Each goat has a bell around its neck and the symphony of the goat parade is something I’m not likely to forget. And then when you add in the humor of the street sweepers immediately following the parade on clean-up duty, it started the day off on a great note.

After the parade, we packed up our hiking gear and headed to the funicular that would take us to Sunnegga for the start of our hike. This funicular moved much faster than the one we took to Muottas Muragl earlier in the week and was entirely through a tunnel. We made it to the trail head very quickly and started the hike back down the mountain to Zermatt. The trail is called “Gourmetweg” because it passes a number of restaurants (one is even Michelin rated) but we were early, so most were not yet open as we passed them. As we approached one of them, I slipped a little on the gravel and rolled my ankle, which we interpreted as a sign that we should stop for coffee/hot chocolate and cake at Findlerhof. The sun started to burn off some of the cloud cover as we sat on the patio and enjoyed our treats and we caught our first glimpse of the Matterhorn. The clouds never quite completely cleared, but Chuck still got some good pictures.

Ankle rested and energy bolstered by the cake, we continued our hike downhill, wrapping gently downhill around the side of the mountain through evergreens and wildflowers. We stopped frequently to take pictures of interesting scenery and to identify various plants along the trail, which stretched the two-and-a-half hour walk into more like four enjoyable hours. I was excited to find fireweed, which we had seen on a past trip to Alaska. I was hoping to see edelweiss in the wild but still have only seen it in gardens or planters around town. Maybe tomorrow.

We stopped in Ried for lunch and enjoyed sausage salad and rhubarb cake (and a glass of local wine) before finishing our hike back to Zermatt. The trail pretty much dropped us right off on the doorstep of our rental apartment, so we stopped in to drop off our hiking gear before heading back out for a walking tour of Zermatt and a trip to the Matterhorn Museum.

The town itself is fairly small, so the walking tour was brief. Perhaps the most interesting part was the Hinterdorf Quarter, the historic portion which was almost completely devoid of the crowds of tourists that flock to the shops and restaurants along Bahnhofstrasse, the main street. The Matterhorn Museum was also more interesting than we expected, as it included some excavated artifacts and replicas from local life in Zermatt in the 19th century, as well as the very tragic and somewhat scandalous story of the first climbing party to reach the pinnacle of the Matterhorn in which four of the seven hikers fell to their death leaving three surviving hikers with some amount of disagreement regarding how the accident occurred.

We exited the museum just in time for an ensemble Alpine horn performance in the church square across the street. We couldn’t have timed it any better and it was the perfect ending for our tour. We headed back to our apartment to talk through plans for tomorrow (and for dinner) and headed back out once again to a restaurant serving authentic raclette. It was a 12-minute hike up hill and we worried that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate us because we didn’t have a reservation. Fortunately, we got their last table and enjoyed our first raclette experience, in which you order a variety of cheese and heat them on an appliance at your table before pouring the melted cheese onto various vehicles, like boiled potatoes and cornichons. Along with our raclette, we also ordered a variety of raw meat to be cooked on the same appliance that is used to melt the cheese. It was all the best parts of cooking (cooking and eating) without any of the annoying parts (prep and cleaning). Overall, a very enjoyable experience (paired with a dry white local wine).

Today’s Highlights

• Goat parade!
• Very fast funicular
• Beautiful alpine hike
• Our first glimpse of the Matterhorn
• Hinterdorf Quarter
• Scandal on the mountain
• Apline horn concert
• Melty cheese and DIY barbecue

Tomorrow’s Proposed Adventure

• Cogwheel train ride to Gornergrat Top Station and hopefully clear skies for Matterhorn pictures
• Gondola / cable car ride to Glacier Paradise
• Cable car ride from Glacier Paradise to Testa Grigia and back
• 1-2 hikes