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Fiesch
Riederalp
paragliderAletsch Glacier Hike Adventure II
Revitalised with our hearty lunch of Rosti we continued on our way. From the Gletscherstube it said 2 hours to Moosfluh were we hoped to catch a gondola down rather than a tiring descent to Bettmeralp. We soon reached another lake(pic 1), beyond which were tantalising glimpses of the Aletsch Glacier and beautiful cotton fluffy flowers - grass cotton or bog cotton as it is known - so detour for more photo stops! Then a short distance further and the glacier was reached - more photos! There was a path that went right down to the glacier - 15 mins the waymarker said but I reckoned on about 40 mins to climb back up so we contented ourselves with some zoom shots from a vantage point - even they were amazing so to be right close up must have been staggering. (pic 2)
Reluctantly we head back to the path and soon had to climb some rock steps up to Roti Chumma - from here it was a fairly broad ridge path (pic 3) towards Riederalp, Biel and Moosfluh (with some zig zags up) where the path descends to the Blausee and Bettmeralp. We were gradually traversing above the glacier and now had Southward-looking vistas of the Monte Rosa range and the Matterhorn ever before us (pic 4) - splendid views which ever way you looked.
We'd hoped to get the gondola from Moosfluh but last descent was 4.30pm - it was about 5pm by the time we reached Biel so we cut the hike short and descended from Biel to Bettmeralp via the Bttmersee (pic 5). The circuit was finished by walking to the Bettmeralp gondola and riding down to the valley staion and then bus back to Fiesch. A long days hike but certainly one of my most memorable ones in Switzerland and so photogenic.
