Me: "I can't see anything. I can't see where i'm stepping. Shit!"
Him: "Don't worry, just hold on to my hand."
About 15 min later....
Me: "Holy shit! What the hell is that???"
Him (very calmly): "It's just a cow. Don't be scared, it won't hurt you."
I didn't think cows were up at 4am, but i guess they are. And when they are black and white, and don't carry a bell around their neck, they are not easily spotted until they are right in front of you. And when you are not a mountain person or a cow farmer and are walking in the middle of nowhere in pitch black darkness, with only the light of the stars to see by (which is not much), and a big black/white shape suddenly emerges in front of you, you tend to get startled and yell :"Holy shit! What the hell is that???"
About 1 hour later....
Me: "I don't think i'm gonna make it all the way to the top."
Him: "That's ok....You don't have to. Wanna little break?"
Me: "No."
Another hour later....
Me: "Oh my God! That's the most beautiful sunrise i've ever seen! It was so worth it coming up here!"
Him: "I'm so proud of you!"
We were not at the top yet, it took us another half and hour to reach it. Later, coming down, we met a couple in their 70s and a 11 year-old kid also climbing up to the top. Who's proud of me again???
That was the condensed version of our trip to the Gifer Horn this morning to watch the sunrise. But to leave it like this, would not be fair to the Gifer itself and to the experience it offers to those who wish to conquer it.
We got up this morning at 3am, put on our hiking boots, grabbed the backpack and headed out. We drove up as much as physically possible so as to cut down on the walking as much as possible. When we parked the car and got out, at about 3:50am, the world was in complete darkness still and so high up in the Alps, the stars swallowed the sky which resembled a black velvet canopy with billions of diamonds embroidered into it. It was really beautiful and peaceful. But the light of the stars alone was not enough to see our way by, and not seeing where i was stepping was a little unnerving, but holding on to Reto's hand gave me the comfort i needed and the walking got smoother.
There is a long way up a steep grassy field before one even reaches the summit of the mount. This grassy field is used by farmers as cow pasture and at 4am, the cows were out. We could hear their bells in the distance. Reto said, they stay out all night and come inside the barn early morning, just after sunrise to get milked which relieves a lot of pressure for them, and after, they stay in the barn during the day to avoid the heat and the annoying flies till evening when they get milked a second time and then go out again for the night. I was enjoying this little story which was successfully taking my mind off of the walking when suddenly a large black shadow appeared in front of us. I jumped and cried out. Turns out it was only a cow without a bell which we didn't see until we were literally upon it. It payed us no attention and continued grazing. But now i wanted a picture of it of course. As i turned on my phone and the light, it turned towards me and posed. In the absence of adequate lighting, it looks like a devil cow shooting lightning out of its eyes. See the pic and judge for yourselves, but i say it looks pretty creepy.
Half an hour into our walk, we reached the summit, and now the real climb began. After an hour of serious climbing up the rocky path i saw what i thought was the top of the mount. I happily announced that i can see the end of our torture and then Reto squashed my excitement swiftly by pointing out that that was not the top and there was still quite a ways to go. After we had cleared that hurdle, i saw another, bigger one, which i swore must be the top. It wasn't. At this point, the first disturbing thoughts of discouragement entered my head and i told Reto i might not be able to make it to the very top after all. He, of course, was very understanding and let me be the one to make that decision. I kept climbing.
At about 5:50am we were still about half an hour from the top and the sun was coming up. The world had turned on its axis faster than i could climb a 2,500m mount. We found a nice spot to sit down and watched the sun rise above the majestic Alp peaks. It turned out to be better than watching it from the very top, and this is not sour grapes. On a beautiful morning like today, there was a handful of people already at the top (like, when did they wake up?) all gathered there to watch the sunrise, and we liked our own little private party a lot better. As well as a crowd, there was a constant, strong, cold wind blowing up at the top which made it not as pleasant of an experience as we had, sheltered from it a few meters down below. We had our fist sip of coffee there and it was the best cup of coffee i've ever had in my life.
A few minutes after the sun came up, the people from the top started heading down and we started heading up again. I felt so proud of myself for being able to do the climb and see the breathtaking view and the beautiful sunrise. When we finally reached the top, we were the only ones there. It was a special moment of my life, one that will forever remain in my memory. We spent a few minutes up top looking around from all sides, taking in the site, but the cold wind made it difficult to spend more time up there. We wanted to still sit a bit and rest and have the rest of the coffee before heading down so Reto began looking for a sheltered spot just below the top where we could do that. Meanwhile i though how nice it would have been if we had some toast, bacon and eggs and a tall glass of OJ to go along with the coffee, but Lana, just be grateful your husband was thoughtful enough to make coffee at 3 o'clock in the morning while you still moaned and groaned and walked around the house half asleep looking for your socks!
Reto called out from somewhere below me and startled me out of my thoughts of breakfast. He had found a small patch of grass just below the top which was protected by the wind and bathed in sunlight. Despite the sunlight, it was quite chilly up there, so i had taken Reto's sweater on top of my own, while he was left in only a T-shirt. He had taken an extra one (smart boy) so after we reached the top, he changed the sweaty one he was wearing with a clean and dry one. Now, after i stole his sweater, he proceeded to put his old sweaty one on top of the other one, poor guy. So now i thought we are all out of sweaters and T-shirts to sit on, but the grass would do. As i stomped around trying to make a comfortable sitting spot for myself, my wonderful husband reached in his backpack and produced a blankie which he spread over the grass. I sat down. He then reached back in his backpack and produced the thermos with the coffee, a bottle of OJ, a bag with bread buns, boiled eggs, cheese, a package of cold cuts, and two yogurts!!! Breakfast was served! I could have eaten him though!
Stomachs satisfied, legs rested...well, sorta...we began heading down. Who thought going down would be easier than going up? Did i think that? No, not me. Well, it wasn't really. It's different, but just as hard, even harder on the knees actually. Half way down, i had to part with the sweaters, and even in a T-shirt, i was sweating pretty good with the sun now baking the land and the temperature soaring even at 9am. What were the poor people in Zurich and Bern doing, i thought, where it's at least 5 degrees hotter always? Am i complaining from the heat? Laws, no! That's my kind of weather in which i thrive and waited so long for, but my poor Reto!
At 10:45am, we were back at the car. There were no cows on the way back down the grassy hill. They were inside the cool barn happily regurgitating. The pain had started long ago, but the last few steps to the car were excruciating. Once sitting down, i could not feel my legs any more. Still can't. It's now 6:30pm. This is the only time when i'm actually glad i do my job sitting down! I'm gonna be hurting the whole week. And next weekend, Reto has another adventure planned for us.....Mommy!
