THREE HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES

What a wonderful Monday!

We decided to take the day and travel three high mountain passes, and it turned out to be an incredible experience for us! We started with Grimselpass, where we picked blueberries on the way. Then Furkapass, where we went inside the Rhone glacier, and ending with Sustenpass, where we hiked and sat and contemplated the wonder of it all and heard an alphorn being played by a man in the parking lot.

When we pulled over to see the view, we noticed a man bending over the bushes and we wondered what he was doing. Then we saw three people get out of a car each carrying a small bucket, and going up onto the hillside. Lenski said, "Blueberries! They are picking wild blueberries. It's the right time of year, and those are blueberry bushes!" Instantly we were searching for something to gather blueberries in. We took a plastic bag and started picking. We picked for just about 20 minutes and gathered about a half a sandwich bag full, nibbling along the way. Oh, were they delicious!!!

A quick picnic.

Bright bluebells were everywhere and . . .


. . .these little white fluffy things in the moss were irresistable!




A zigzagging road at a distance . . . it is all so wild and raw up here . . .

. . . a little closer . . .


. . . and we are on that road . . .

The views those zigzagging roads gave us are worth every scary turn! We both said almost simultaneously, "If you see a painting of mountains that look like this, you think the artist was imagining or exaggerating them!"

In a parking lot we were serenaded by this man on his alphorn . . . sounded wonderful echoing off the mountains!

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Lakes of glacier melt, milky opaque and slightly blue.

Waterfalls everywhere, amazing gushing waters where ever there are glaciers . . .

. . .ending in noisy rivers like this one

We saw glaciers on every high pass.

We got close up and personal with this one.

This is the Rhone glacier . . . crevasses are bright aquamarine in the bottom.

The glacier is huge. Black specks are adventurers --with guides, we hope!!

We walk inside the glacier . . .

. . . close enough to the surface that outside light gives a gorgeous glow to the ice . . .

. . . so beautifully blue! A close-up . . . it looks like we are under water!!

The happily tired but contented travelers!

Next morning, blueberries ready to be washed.

Honestly, never before have we had blueberry pancakes that tasted like this!!! Never!!!