Karl finally showed up around 7:30. We were all on the verge of hypothermia. I thought it would be somewhat like a hike: relaxed, jovial and 32% miserable. Instead, Karl handed us all long sticks. Cow poking sticks. What? I had no idea that the cow parade would involve wrangling. It was not a real parade. The cows were not dressed up. They had their bells on but I expected more ribbons.
We got off to a rough start with the cows--mostly because we were given no instruction and not a one of us had any experience with real live cows. After a few near-death-being-pushed-off-the-mountain-by-a-cow experiences we all got the hang of when to poke, when to firmly tap, when to grab a leather neck-strap and when to stay the heck out of the way. It took us two hours to get the cows up the mountain to the meadow. There was a huge crowd up people up there watching us walk by and they took many pictures--hey maybe I'll be on the next Adelboden postcard! Our Chalet manager was up there too. That was pretty exciting, we felt like celebritys. Though, looking back on it now, it seems fairly ridiculious. Everyone pays 20 CHF to stand on top of a waterfall and watch the farmers hit cows with sticks so they'll walk up a horrendeously steep mountain.
So we made it to the meadow and we were exhausted. The cows scattered a bit and we thought we were done. Unfortunately, we were not done. We had to drive the cows up over another pass into the next valley. After 3 and a half hours of cow poking we made it to Karl's abode.
Karl's barn had no electricity but he did have a small gas stove and he made us cheese in a pan (which I think is all he eats) and offered us powdered ice-tea in incredibly dirty glasses. We were awfully thankful for it too.
Laura and I ate lunch on Karl's back porch and headed down the waterfall--after I sat in a nettle. On the way up, I was so preoccupied with keeping the cows from falling off a cliff that I didn't realize how steep the trail actually was. I think going down was much much more difficult than going up. We took a different route for the first quarter of the way down--I think it was more of a dry stream bed than a trail though, because it was just large slag. Large slag that was wet from the mountain mist. I've been making fun of those walking stick/ski pole things people use, but I would have paid quite a bit to have had one while I was walking through that slippery slag.
So we made it down, alive and totally exhausted around 3:30. Around 6:30 Jen came to my window to inform me that the rest of them had made it down the mountain and were on their way to Bunderspitz for the night. Seriously? I can't keep up with these kids.
And now, a photo journey through the cow-wrangling day.
First. This is a cow. They have horns.
This is our cow-driving party moving the cows over the second pass after we got through the meadow.
Laura and I in Karl's meadow. See our cow poking sticks?
Our cows, in their summer grazing range. If you look carefully, you can see Adelboden way below.
Karl's barn/house.
My neighbor, Jen.
Laura and I stopped in the meadow before heading down the mountain again. These are the mountains you can see behind the waterfall.
They let the cows roam free up on the Enstligen alp meadow.
These are the horrible bells they make the cows climb mountains in. The smaller brass ones are much heavier than the dark ones, still it must suck for the cows. I'm not sure why PETA isn't all over this one.
We met a friendly goat.
This is a picture of the trail we hiked down...can't see it? It's there, I swear, somewhere.
The waterfall.
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