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High above Wilderswil is a farming hamlet called Saxeten. To get there you get a little post bus which runs up and down the hill four times a day. Great views at the top.

The path descends through the forest, and is quite steep in places. Lots of streams to cross.

Occasionally we get a glimpse of the view down the valley. We’re overlooking the military airport (now mostly used by dog walkers) and lake Brienz.

Saxeten is unfortunately most well known for the canyoning disaster which happened in summer 1999. You can read a contemporary news report here. We pause at a memorial.

There’s a working water wheel at this old mill. The building now houses a museum.

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This morning the last of the cows came down from Wengernalp. It was snowing up there last night so I guess they were pretty happy despite the long walk.

And of course the council immediately clear up after them.

It’s a much nicer day today so we head up to Scheidegg for a walk. It’s pretty wintry, and really cold. It was snowing gently.

Spectacular views – we didn’t have this much snow last Christmas. 

But we’re severely under dressed to be walking up here, so we get the train back down to Wengernalp and retrace the route that the cows took this morning. Views to Mürren. 

By the time we got down to Allmend we had the opposite problem – it was just like summer and suddenly we were over dressed.

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It’s been cold and wet for a couple of days – not much to see. The snow line is getting closer to the village each night.

Looking across to Winteregg. 

And up towards Wengernalp. 

According to the forecast we should have nice weather again by Thursday. 

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Rain is forecast this afternoon, but we should be able to get down to Lauterbrunnen before it arrives if we’re quick.

Canadian farmer perhaps?

Here comes the rain.

But somehow it passed us by.

And here we are. The train takes us back to Wengen in time to see the Formula 1.

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Super night out yesterday in Rocks, with Uptown Lights. 

Dancing girls.

After all that excitement we had a late start today. There’s a valley museum down in Lauterbrunnen that we’ve never visited. It’s really good with lots of different rooms. Here’s a bedroom from a turn of the century house.

And a cheesery.

We also learned about wintersports history, climbing, lace making and life with the cattle up on the high alps. 

The village band got on the train at Lauterbrunnen, so we had more music on the way back up to Wengen. 

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As I mentioned yesterday, it’s a bit chilly at the moment, and for the farmers this means that it’s time to bring the cattle down from their summer pastures. This is quite an event down in Lauterbrunnen, as there are a lot of cows and only one street for them to walk along. Here they come.

The cows are dressed up for the occasion. All traffic in the village comes to a halt.

Eventually they all arrive at a meadow beneath the waterfall. From here they’ll be taken back to their farms for the winter.

At Stechelberg the outdoor company North Face are having a mountain festival. All sorts of activities are on offer, but participants have to live in tents for the weekend and it’s really a bit cold for that.

These people have climbed onto the roof of the cable car to get photos of the festival. The cable car then departed with them on top so they could get a better shot!

The Sunstar has sponsored a parapente.

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We were woken by wind and rain this morning. The storm has brought down branches and painted the higher mountains white with snow. This afternoon it all calmed down and the sky cleared, but it feels really wintry. Warming curry for dinner tonight.