Edelweissweg & Wisshornweg (Trift)
Zermatt (1620m) – Alterhaupt Edelweiss (1961m) – Trift (2337m) – Schweifinen (2503m) – Zermatt / 900m ascent / 900m descent / 13 km / 6 hrs
After going through beautiful houses with balcony full of cheerful flowers in the east side of Zermatt, we found a path, leading steep uphill to the restaurant Alterhaupt Edelweiss. It perches on the rock above Zermatt, its white building visible from anywhere.
After a refreshing home-made ice tea, the path follows the narrow gorge and its serene stream. Here, there is no gondola nor mountain trains, nothing but quiet nature. That is not so easy to find in an area as developed as Zermatt.
The higher we go, the valley opens up and we see several impressive peaks and glaciers.
After some serious uphill, we arrived at the pink Trift Mountain Hut. I realised that I had been here more than 10 years ago.
We hang out in the wide basin near the hut for a long time, basking ourselves in the warm sun, having our delicious self-made sandwiches (away from the crowded mountain hut restaurant), taking many photos, listening to the hut owner playing the alphorn.
We changed our original plan which was to head back down the same way we came up and continued up a bit to walk a loop.
Above at Schweifinen (2503m), we have a phenomenal view of the entire east valley: Matterhorn, Klein Matterhorn, Riffelberg, all the way down to Winkelmatten where we stay. I was very happy that Philippe suggested this little scenic detour.
From there the path was steeeep downhill! With Zermatt visible 900m below, we started that long zig-zagging down the mountain. While descending the narrow path I slipped on a tree root and got a mountain gift in form of a blue ankle for weeks…
We were relieved to be back in town to put our feet up…
Fly, Hike & Travel. 