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It’s even hotter today, so up we go to Männlichen where it’ll be a few degrees cooler. We walk the Romantikweg towards Alpiglen.

Lunch on a log.

Helicopter hard at work transporting building materials.

And here’s what they’re building. Pylons for the new Eiger Express lift from Grindelwald, which will get passengers to Eigergletscher in just 20 minutes.

The helicopter works all day without returning to its base at Lauterbrunnen, so it needs a refuelling station.

Eventually we reach the little station at Alpiglen, where we enjoy the views back up to Männlichen where we began.

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Ali’s birthday was the worst kept secret in Wengen yesterday. Emily delivers the cake.

A little later in the Tanne bar.

This morning we’re off to Mürren to walk the North Face Trail. It’s really warm, so we need to stay high.

Colin likes cows.

Eagle spotting at Schiltalp.

And a paddle at Spielbodenalp. The mountain in the background is the Schilthorn, where we sometimes ski in winter.

Stupendous views, whichever way you look.

Almost back in Mürren now. Great day out.

We finished off with a few beers at the Eiger opposite the station.

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It’s warm today, so we head up to Wengernalp on the train. From here we walk down to Wixi, and then through the forest to a clearing called Biglenalp. Glaciers and waterfalls.

We pause for lunch.

This butterfly decided to join us.

From Biglenalp it’s a couple of hours back to Wengen.

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Last summer we built a wall in the garden to give a bit more privacy – the tourists always seem fascinated by our barbecues. We’re going to extend it right across the lawn. Tough work.

We can’t possibly get enough rocks to carry the wall right across, so we build some pillars and fill the gaps with balcony dividers.

All done. We deserve a few beers.

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We had a good night out yesterday, with stops at Rocks, Tanne and finally the Hasenstall. Emily’s sister Vic is here for a few days.

Today we have the Eiger Ultra Trail race passing through the village. There are various distances to choose from, but the main event is a 101 kilometre route around the area. Ali got a nice shot of Arwyn coming through Wengen.

And again at Männlichen.

The winners of the 101km will take about 12 hours to complete the course.

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Today we’re off to a place called Trachsellauenen. It’s the very last hamlet before the mountains that form the continental divide. There’s no public transport, so we walk up from Stechelberg. We have coffee and cake at the little hotel before tackling the steep path up the valley.

Lots of streams to cross.

Staggering glacial scenery.

We stopped alongside the stream and ate our sandwiches.

It’s really rugged terrain, and we only come up here in very settled weather. The white stuff behind Val is snow. It’s easily 3 metres deep.

A good walk of about 13 kilometres.

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Another nice evening on the Caprice terrace last night with Uptown Lights. This morning I’m due a run, so we head down to the valley. We ended up at the Schilthornbahn.

We treated ourselves to a schnitzel sandwich from the snack van and headed back along the river towards Lauterbrunnen.

A nice bit of exercise on a beautiful day.