4/7/10

It was an adventure day today, and I had a very adventurous day. Susan and I led the high-route hike to Elsigenalp, and it only took us about three hours to get there. It was a very nice hike and it was not as difficult as I originally thought it would be. Our hike ended just by the lake, so we enjoyed a picnic lunch sitting on the rocks right next to the lake. Katie, a guest from Virginia and I, decided that we wanted to hike all the way to the top of Elsighorn. It was an additional hour and a half to get to the top. We met a very nice Belgium family on the way. We were kind of following them, since they too were traveling to the top. It took about 2 hours to get there, since we did not follow the path correctly and we hiked an additional 30 minutes, whoops. When we got to the top which was 2,341m high, and the view was so lovely. We saw Lake Thun, Niesen, Adelboden, Kandersteg valley and many more mountains that I do not know the name of. I have attached some photos of the lovely view. This morning, it was raining, but before we began our hike, the weather cleared. And by the time we were hiking back to Elsigenalp from Elsighor, the sun came out. It was the perfect weather to go swimming. We only had about 30 minutes to swim, since we had to take the gondola down at 4:30. The water felt great, and I finally was able to swim around! We then walked to the gondola, I was still wearing my bathing suit under my clothes so I was a little bit cold. We arrived at the base of the station and then waited for the bus to come pick us up. We went back to the chalet to prepare for evening program, which was games night and we played a PIRATE game!! It was so fun. The staff dressed up as pirates and then we had 3 minutes to hide and then the guests had to find us. I climbed up a tree and I was hiding very high up, so it was difficult for the girls to find me. I finally got bored after 30 minutes and climbed down so the guests could see me. I then only got found by 2 groups, horray I did not have to forfeit myself. It was a very fun game, and at the end the winning team had the chance to splash us with water. We had to 'walk the plank' and get hosed down in the process. This then turned into a gigantic water fight. It was tons of fun, and the guests loved to get the staff soaking wet. I was drenched from head to toe. After the water fight and mopping the main chalet building, it was shower time. After my shower, I enjoyed some all-American homemade apple pie to celebrate the 4th of July. It was made especially by 2 American volunteers =). I had a very good 4th of July. I am very tired, we have one more adventure day tomorrow and then I am off to Montreux for the Jazz Festival and to see a castle, yip-pay!