Lionel and I at the summit of Mount First
God's incredible creations!
During the time that the Lord has blessed us with studying French in Neuchâtel Switzerland, we have been blessed with many fun and enjoyable things to take part in. During our 13 months here I have had opportunity, thanks to our friend Lionel to go for some amazing hikes and to go all terrain bicycling in the Jura mountians near where we live.
Karen had asked me to write about my most memorable adventure here in Switzerland. It was an easy answer for me to make....Mount First, in the Suisse Alps! Lionel had invited me to join him for an all day hike on a beautiful late fall day in October.
We began our day by taking an early train trip to a village called Frutigen at the base of some of the Suisse Alps. Our 9 hour hike started at around 8:15 am, leaving from Frutigen. With our backpacks full, we began hiking through some incredible beautiful country, as we started our climb to the summit of Mount First. I feel the photos do not do justice to how stunning the surroundings are in the Alps. The lush valleys and meadows that we hiked through in the cold morning air, were breathtaking. The Lord's hand of creation was so amazingly obvious as I took each and every step. Lionel is an excellent guide, in that he would point out the many different kinds of meadow flowers (some which are eatable) and moss, taking time to explain them to me as we continued our ascent.
After nearly 5 hours of steady hiking and climbing, we reached the 8,359 foot summit of Mount First, we stopped for a much appreciated lunch! The view from where we sat at the summit to eat was indescribable....words cannot express the majesty of what was surrounding us. It was very cool to be above the birds and small airplanes that were flying below us.
After lunch, was of course followed by a 4 hour plus of hiking back down to a village called Kanderstag (if you have not yet guessed by the names of the villages, we were in the German speaking area of Switzerland at this time.) This day was filled with wonderful sights, sounds and smells of the beautiful Suisse Alps. By the time we caught our train for the nearly two hour trip home....we had ascended over 5,800 feet of altitude and then descended the same 5,800 feet!
It's a day that I will always remember fondly, for the beauty seen and the time spent with my friend Lionel.
