Jungfraujoch to Mönchsjochhütte

We needed a break from the unrelenting heat, and decided a trip to the "Top of Europe" might be just the ticket.  This is a very popular and very expensive activity.  We booked our tickets at the tourism office in Lauterbrunnen, where the staff is very patient and helpful, and selected an early morning departure.  There is a lot to see at Jungfraujoch, both inside and out, and just getting there is quite the journey.  The train ride is about an hour and a half in each direction, including a transfer to a different train at Kleine Scheidegg.  I absolutely love trains, so the entire journey was very exciting for me.

First > Bachalpsee > Waldspitz > Bort Traverse

We arrived in Europe in the midst of a massive heat wave that would unfortunately last the entire duration of our trip.  The only time the temperature did not hit the 90s was our last day in Zurich before flying home.  When we were staying in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, it was close to 100 degrees every single day.  This was crushing for me, as we had to scale back some of our planned adventures.  For example, I had been hoping to hike from Schynige Platte to First, a high alpine route with spectacular view that would start with a 19th-century cogwheel train ride and end with a gondola ride.  However, that hike is 10 miles with 2,700 feet elevation gain and not a speck of shade.  It seemed like a lot to ask of an 8-year old on a 98-degree day.  So I did some research and found a shorter route that would still take us to the stunning alpine lake, Bachalpsee, but would be less likely to result in heat stroke.

Furstin-Gina-Weg via Berggasthaus Sareis

We planned this trip after randomly finding a good deal on flights to Zurich, and impulsively purchasing them -- last summer.  The Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland and the Alsace region in France were quickly penciled in as our main destinations, but I lobbied hard to include a stop in Liechtenstein.  Erwin was skeptical at first.  Several otherwise reputable travel bloggers have written that there is little to do there, and he wasn't interested in visiting just to check another country off a list.  Well...that wasn't what I wanted either!  I wanted to hike the Furtin-Gina-Weg.  So I sent him some links, which he skimmed over.  He was intrigued enough to do some further research of his own, which involved watching some youtube videos, and then he was fully on board.  I then moved on to phase 2 in my (obviously successful) campaign: an overnight stay at a mountain hut.  By September 2018, I had booked us a family room at the Berggasthaus Sareis for the very first night of our trip.