FollowWe’re up very early this morning, as we want to catch the first train up to the Jungfraujoch. Today we’re not interested in the touristy stuff at the ‘joch, we have something a bit different in mind.
We’re up at over 11,000 feet here, but with a bit of a hike along the glacier we can get even higher. It’s hard going in places.
Signs implore us to stay on the marked path.
And this is the reason. Huge cracks in the ice called crevasses. I have no idea how deep this one is, but I couldn’t see the bottom. The ice though, is 900 metres thick.
We pause for breath every so often as there’s not much oxygen up here.
The glacier gets steeper.
Eventually we catch sight of our destination. A mountain hut perched above the glacier.
This is the Mönchjoch hut. It was originally built in 1979, and rebuilt in 2003. It is owned by the Swiss Alpine Club, and it’s the highest alpine hut in Switzerland. The hut is used by climbers who need to get an early start for an ascent of one of the many neighbouring mountains. Breakfast is served from 2am until 7am.
The last few steps up to the hut are exhausting. We’re now at 12,000 feet.
Inside, the hut is really nice. We had coffee, cake, soup and sausages. There’s nothing like a hike for giving you an appetite.
The views from here are stunning, and the size of the glaciers is awesome. For scale, there are 2 people hiking up the glacier at the bottom of this picture.
The walk back to the Jungfraujoch was a lot easier as it’s all downhill. We popped into the chocolate shop and stocked up with goodies, and caught the train home.