For many, the gateway to seeing the famous Matterhorn mountain is traveling to Zermatt, Switzerland.
The village of Zermatt is tucked away into the Matter Valley. There is only one way in; one way out. It is recommended that you stay in Zermatt for three days to get a good chance to see one of the famous peaks of Switzerland, the Matterhorn. Many times it is clouded over.
My interest in seeing the Matterhorn was through my dad’s 1953 picture of that famous mountain. My mom and dad took a three-month bicycling hostel tour through Europe. Every so often, my dad would pull-out the slides and projector to show us their great sojourn.
Many people get to see the Matterhorn with EPCOT’s Soarin ride. To actually see the 14,692 foot Matterhorn is a memory of a life-time. The second picture was our first view of this iconic mountain.
Kathie and I walked into the valley trail for a number of miles. You could not possibly get lost as there are plenty of signs.
In parts, we actually had to watch where we were walking with all the sheep dung.
Every so often there are benches to relax and observe the flowers.
Eventually we came to a small Alpine village named Zmutt which is hundreds of years old. We felt that we had traveled back in time.
If we had continued further, we would have been to the base of the Matterhorn.
The first ascent of the Matterhorn took place in 1865. Unfortunately, four of the seven members died.
This event is portrayed in the Zermatt village museum. The actual museum is underground.
There is a mountain display showing the route mostly used to climb the 14,692 foot mountain.
It was at this museum we found out that Theodore Roosevelt climbed to the summit when he was 23 years old in 1881.
At 55 in 1914, Teddy would paddle the Amazon River. What an interesting President, well deserved to be on Mount Rushmore.
The museum had plenty of artifacts about the valley and the Matterhorn. There is an interesting 15-minute video about the first climbers of the Matterhorn.
Not far from the museum is a small church. Around the church is a cemetery. Many of the patrons buried here died climbing the Matterhorn.
The Matterhorn is considered to be one of the world’s deadliest peaks. Over 500 people have died trying to climb this prestigious mountain.
There are a number of cable cars that will take you to various points along the valley. As it is cloudy most of the time, we decided to save our monies.
As you walk around old town Zermatt, there are a number of original buildings. They are small and uplifted to protect everyone from the deep snows that must exist here.
Around every corner there is always something to observe.
There are a number of new buildings now in Zermatt. Many of which are rented out during the skiing season.
Every once in a while, you noticed a trash compactor.
We stayed three days at a Best Western known as “The Butterfly.” Everything was comfortable.
Modern bathrooms. Just have to watch-out for the high tub sides.
We did find one café we really liked, The Brown Pub. They had a very good hamburger and their soups were to die for.
