Being the huge Sherlock fan that I am, I had made tentative plans to climb Reichebach Falls when I was in Switzerland in May, 2017. And by climb, I mean take a cable car up most of the way and the ascend the final steep hill on foot. By getting out to Reichenback, I’d have had to miss my one free day in Lucerne and drive a rental car through some pretty winding roads in the Swiss Alps. So, when the opportunity to climb Trummelbach Falls, a mere 30 miles south of Reichenbach, arose through Globus which including a ride and a guide, I jumped on it! Trummelbach falls is a series of glacier fed waterfalls INSIDE a Swiss Alp, and there is a lift that takes you a lot of the way up and into the mountain.
We departed for the falls from the town of Interlaken and the drive is amazingly beautiful. A lush green valley dotted with adorable homes with geraniums in every windowsill – absolute heaven! The parking lot is about 1/4 mile easy flat walk to the elevator into the mountain. The lift takes you to the top of the 6th out of the 10 waterfalls. This lift is a good size, however, the walls are a see through material and you’re literally going into the mountain and will be surrounded by rock, so those with severe claustrophobia issues may want to avoid this trip. Once up at the 6th level, however, you have access to the out of doors and sunshine so it’s probably doable for most with minor issues.
Once you get out of the lift at the 6th waterfall, you can do a few different things. You can enjoy waterfall 6 and walk down the stairs back to the valley floor enjoying the other falls on the way down. You can also, slip into your Wonder Woman or Super Man underoos and continue the ascent to the top. As I’d mentioned before this was a trip of challenging myself and pushing myself to see what I could do – as I was obviously quite clueless how much I could do. So I went one level at a time. Once crazy slippery and incredibly steep level at a time. I would pause at each waterfall view point and mostly pretend to take pictures while I was truthfully just hiding my red face and trying to conceal my heavy breathing.
Level seven… level eight… level nine…. The last set of steps are the steepest and of course the longest. About half way up I stopped to catch my breath. Some people from my group from Australia were on their way up moving at a much quicker pace saw me and stopped. They checked I was ok and offered to help me up/down. It was kind and not condescending at all and I just cheerfully told them I was all good and just taking a break before the final push. After another 20 seconds I made the final push and got to the tippy top! Level 10! While up there I ran into my Aussies who congratulated me and I took a ton of pink faced pictures.
It was actually more difficult to go down the steps at Trummelbach because they’re so very slippery from the waterfall mist. So I was actually slower coming down. But that meant I could take tons of pictures of the crazy steps I’d conquered with a big grin on my face!
This was such an amazing day. The valley is more beautiful than you can imagine and I got some of my most beloved pictures here at the falls. When we got back into Interlaken for lunch, I bought ALL the drinks as I was incredibly thirsty from my hoofing. Also, on the way into Lucerne, I actually slept on the bus – which I never do. I did stay awake long enough to wink at Reichenbach as we passed though!
These are the days when I’m proud – not because I made it – but because I tried. I had no idea I could make it to the top. All I could do was keep putting one foot in front of the other and climbing the next step. If I had said I couldn’t do it, I probably wouldn’t have. So, that’s what I think drives me … that ‘what if’.
What if.
What if!!!!!
Trummelbach Falls – 5-6
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