Bernina Hiking

The weather has turned beautiful in Graubunden, after a really crappy spring it has been hot hot hot. With the beautiful weather we went for a long weekend hike in Bernina near the top of the pass.

On our first day we hiked up a nearby (and not very pretty) mountain, which had those puff-ball flowers.

When we got to the top there was a building and in the shade were a bunch of sheep, hanging out and keeping cool.

 Most of the sheep just kept their distance, but one was curious enough to come in for his closeup.

And here are the hikers sitting on the peak with a great view over the valley.

Behind the building was a family group of ibex!!! This is the second time I've seen them and this time it included babies. They were cooling on the snow and hanging out on the rocks. There was one animal that would move around the building to keep an eye on us as the rest hung out. To keep cool they would sit in the snow.

That night we stayed at a hut close to the train station, just an hour hike. It had hot water showers!! And we were the only people in the group sleeping area. It was August 1st and so there was a special meal served and a fire in the evening.

The next day we hiked out to the lake, the glacier used to cover it, and continue down the valley which we could see in the photos posted in the hut.

After a tour around the lake we hiked down the valley along the river.

When the glaciers were much bigger, they extended down past the train station at Cavagli and where the water rushed under the glacier, they churned stones which dug deep holes into the rock (Giant's kettle). We walked around this small park and checked out the deep holes.

And this is where Switzerland is a bit different than North America. There was a long ladder going down into the bottom of one and no supervision.