God’s Country
by avery1317
The weather report called for rain today but I looked outside in the middle of the night and saw lots of stars and a pretty full moon over the Jungfrau so I thought we might be in luck. Today was brilliantly sunny with no clouds, even on the mountain tops until later afternoon when the clouds arrived as they often do in the Sierra.
Marcy got up early to paint and decided today was a painting day. I took the cog rail train further up the mountain and then walked back to Wengen. I thought about going to the “Top of the World” near the top of the Jungfrau but decided to save that for another visit.
The hike down took about 2 ½ hours and was breathtaking. You get off the train and are confronted with a wall of snow covered peaks, the Wetterhorn, the Schreckhorn, the Finsteraarhorn, the Feischerhorner, the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau all between 11,800 and 13,700 feet. The trail went down through mountain meadows with shepherds’ buildings, and then wound through the forest. Every so often it would come out to a view point on the edge of the cliff from which you could see the cliff on the other side of the valley with waterfalls all around. The trail crossed a number of small creeks so I imagine those turned into waterfalls coming off the cliff I was on. I was a little surprised there were no mosquitoes since there was water everywhere. When I got back to the hotel I asked the person at the desk when the mosquitoes come and she had a blank look on her face. When she finally understood what I meant she explained that they don’t have mosquitoes here. As Marcy said, this truly must be God’s country. I also asked about deer with all the wonderful gardens and no high fencing. She also said there are no deer here. That is surprising since it is perfect deer country. Maybe they were hunted to extinction but one would think they would return since there are deer in Germany.
On final approach into Wengen there were more fields carpeted with wild flowers. The only time I can remember anything similar was a visit to the Carrizo Plain one spring. Need to come back another May and explore some of the other valleys.
Here is another example of Swiss wood stacking skill.
Marcy was prolific and got work done on 3 paintings. Man, what a luxury! I worked on 3 paintings standing on the balcony of our hotel. What a wonderful time I had, working, working, and watching the sun move!
We are having fondue tonight as part of our five course dinner. I don’t see how people can regularly eat 5 courses. I’m glad we are only doing it for 2 nights.

































Incredibly beautiful. So glad the flowers were greeting you everywhere! What a great balcony to paint from! Kind of kept expecting to see Heidi skipping down one of those mountainsides!!!
Glorious photos of God’s countryside! Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us all. Did you see and smell white lilacs or just purple? We love your new cabin!!!
Boy…does this all bring back wonderful memories!!!