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The Peak of the Trip

I want to start by thanking you for joining me on this amazing adventure. Sadly, this is my last post because happily... I made it to the Matterhorn! YESSSSSSS! Mission accomplished.

If you will indulge me for one last read, I’m going to take you back to the Rhone Valley, which treated us to one of the easiest, most “civilized” days of our entire hike with its gentle slopes and tasting rooms.

As usual, we were the first 3 people up and out on the road. Here's a pic of Rebecca already blazing a trail down the empty streets of Salgesh.

We were already at the gondola station when the church bells began to clang for the 7 a.m. wake-up for all. (No one is sleeping in in Swiss towns, that is for sure! Unless you have earplugs. Those church bells start mighty early!)

The 3 of us piled into a tiny gondola and put our trust in the good lord above, and the good man above, running the machine that pulled the cables and dragged us up and out of the Rhone Valley. It was pure trust that got us standing side by side in a small enclosed cab of the gondola that swayed as it made its way up the steep granite face to get us started on the second-to-last day of our trek. The next two days we were going so deep into the mountains that we had to carry our food and toiletries on our backs. No more luggage service

Rebecca had fire in her belly on this day and said she wanted to run the trails. Lynn was looking for a faster pace also, so the two of them made sure I had my GPS readings straight on my phone, and the 3 of us each took off at our own pace.

I was relishing the last few days in the hills/mountains and walked slowly, recording videos, catching my breath, taking photos, hunting for mushrooms, stopping to eat, simply making a day of it.

However…I made too much of a day of it, and my phone died, which means I had no more GPS to guide me!

I found myself alone on the mountain without any navigation and had to rely only on the occasional red and white stripes painted on rocks and trees that the Swiss provide on the Alpina trail.

I could lie and say I was “cool with this” but I was angry at myself for plodding along and not managing my battery life on my cellphone. I was angry I didn’t have a Garmin or a watch where I could follow the map instead of using my phone. I simply got caught in the moment and wasted precious battery life on photos instead of on managing where the damned trail was. Not smart at all.

Fortunately for me, after kind of running, cursing, maybe panting, and slightly freaking out, I caught sight of my friend Lynn’s hat, bobbing down the trail, far off in the distance.

I called out her name at the top of my lungs. And thank god, she heard me! I yelled “STOP! PLEASE! My battery is dead!” and I shook my phone in the air. She heard me and waited patiently for me to catch up to her on the side of the steep mountain trail.

I was so happy to catch up to her! I cannot even tell you how relieved I was. I may or may not have cried just a little bit. Tears of joy, relief, and exhaustion. Today was an extra-long hike that just kept going on and on and on, uphill, one mountain after another!

Lynn and I stuck together, with no sign of Rebecca as far as we could see. We were sure she was already at the Hotel Schwarzhorn enjoying a beer, and that made us hustle just a little bit faster. However, we were not fast enough because soon Lynn’s battery on her phone died also! We had been trekking for over 7 hours at this point in time; it was getting cooler as the sun began to set, and Lynn and I felt a real sense of urgency to get to the hotel stat! Well…

With both our batteries dead and no GPS, we resorted to the guidebook and went completely “analog”, reading written directions like “get to the stream, cross the stream, turn left at the tree etc.” We did our best to navigate with just the words. By the grace of God, we soon saw a small cluster of wooden Swiss chalets in front of us on a hill. We were convinced it was Hotel Shwarzhorn and we quickened our pace and scurried up the side of the mountain to the houses. But none of the wooden chalets said "Shwarzhorn". And, in fact, all the homes looked like personal homes of Swiss families with children’s bikes and toys out front. We thought about knocking on someone’s door to ask for help, but that felt dangerous and intrusive so we walked to a small chapel to see if we could get help there. The chapel doors were closed but then we saw an "angel". Her name was Veronik. She was from Slovakia and was out walking her Pomeranian dog in the middle of the chalets.

And our “angel” spoke English!

And our angel worked at Hotel Schwarzhorn.

Which, it turns out, according to Veronik - is 3.5 km UPHILL from where we were standing! We had already walked more than 10 miles at that point in time and the thought of more uphill made me want to crumple into a ball and roll down the hillside. But our “angel”, Veronik, offered to drive us to the hotel as she had to be there in an hour to start her shift as a server. Can you believe our luck!? I mean, come on! Pure angel intervention there.

So, Lynn and sat on a log in Veronik's front yard as she took her dog for a walk and then showered and dressed for work. I have to tell you, there is nothing more luxurious than zipping up a Swiss Alpine Pass in an Audi driven by a Slovakian angel. I was on Cloud 9!

When we arrived at the hotel, Rebecca was, in fact, out on the terrace, enjoying a cold beer and she greeted us with open arms. She was quite worried that we had lost contact with each other. This was the first time on the trip we were not in constant communication.

Rebecca also let us know that we did NOT have reservations at the Hotel Shwarzhorn as we had been told. This news stunned us all, as this was the only lodging in the middle of the mountain pass and we NEEDED a room. It was beginning to pour rain, and an electrical storm was booming loudly in close proximity.

Somehow, something had gone awry with the tour company, and they canceled our reservations at this location while we were “mid-trek” (if that’s a word). Fortunately for us, the man who ran the place had "beds on the floor" that were available to us, so we spent the night on numbered mattress pads and fell deep asleep after a communal dinner.

This was the first night the 3 of us were together in a room, and the thrill of sleeping on a pad on the floor and sharing one toilet and one shower with 42 other souls on our floor was pure hilarity to us. That was a really fun night, all things considered.

The next day was our final day of the entire trek, and we headed to Zermatt. I had been searching for the outline of that majestic Matterhorn for days, but it turns out we didn't get to see that beauty until the trek was completed, so we hopped aboard a train that took us into the "carless" resort town of Zermatt. Take a look!

We stayed at the beautiful hotel GinaBelle. It was exquisite! The rooms were luxe; we had access to an infinity pool beneath the Matterhorn, and we were right in the middle of all the action in Zermatt. Talk about a perfect ending to a perfect trip! If only my girls would stop hiking! Because, yes, even though we made it to the Matterhorn, we still had one more EPIC day of trekking to get even closer!

This last hike was the most extreme of the entire trek for me, as the trail to the Matterhorn had us walking on a one-foot-wide ridge that had a death-drop on either side of it. I was far from my comfort zone on this trek, but so blessed to have Lynn and Bex coaching me. Lynn taught me to "love" the trail and stop cursing it. She told me to walk as if I were simply "walking on the sidewalk," even though I could have died at any second! And step by step, we made it along the ridgeline over to exquisite views of the Matterhorn and surrounding lakes. Take a look!

We trekked far that day and reveled in every moment because we knew it would be our last time together. Rebecca was leaving early the next day, rushing home to San Francisco to be part of a sailing regatta that upcoming weekend. Lynn was off the following day, headed to London to go on a trek through the Cotswalds with her daughter, Kayla, who was studying abroad at the University of Westminster. And I was headed to London for work, myself. We spent the evening enjoying gourmet food at our hotel restaurant and then toured the beautiful town of Zermatt before falling sound asleep and returning to our separate versions of reality the next day.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. We traveled 135 miles on foot and ascended 30,000 feet - this is equal to ascending Mount Everest! I highly recommend this trek to any of you reading this blog. Don't wait! Glaciers are melting. Muscles get older. Priorities shift. This is a trek you need to make time for, and share with people you love. Or go solo (if you're an experienced hiker). I am more than happy to give you details on how we planned this trek and the companies we worked with if you're interested. Until then, I am leaving you with some classic celebration photos and a short poem because yes! The Green Dress came out for the celebration, as it should.

She walked 135 miles where the wild winds soar,
Climbed 30,000 feet, and still asked for more.
With friends by her side through each valley and story,
She reached toward the Matterhorn, crowned in its glory,
And found at the summit: strength, friendship, and glory.

Goodbye, my friends. I will see you on the next adventure...

With kindness,

Kathleen Hayes

HERStrength Founder & CEO