• Beautiful Switzerland
    Riffelsee Lake with Matterhorn reflection
    Hiking to the Lake, with the Matterhorn peaking out from behind.Riffelsee Lake looking away from the Matterhorn, reflecting the glacier.Riffelseeweg TrailFamously confusing trail sign. We manged to avoid Top of Switzerland. Yikes!The die is cast: we take the Riffelalp trailPanorama of the mountain range from the Riffelalp trailView of Riffeleberg StationRiffelberg Chapel, where Deb will pray for hiking poles.The end in sight

    Hike Rotenboden to Riffelberg

    September 20, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌫 43 °F

    We rode the Gornergrat train down one stop from the summit to Rotenboden and hiked the Riffelseeweg and Riffelalp trails down to the next train station, Riffelberg.

    Yes, it’s a lot of Riffels.

    Like all our hikes in Switzerland, it was called “easy” and was about our maximum in skill and strength. For the record, Deb wants to note that we did all our hikes without poles. And , yes, that is a complaint.

    The Riffelseeweg took us directly to Riffelsee Lake, a well-known photo stop where, under perfect conditions, you can get a photograph of the Matterhorn and its reflection in the Lake.

    We continued on the trail wending our way through the rocks, mostly descending… until a new choice emerged: continue as planned on the Riffelseeweg or take our chances on the faster but perhaps harder Riffelalp.

    We went with the Riffelalp and got to the station just in time for the next train to Zermatt.    Read more