Van Essen Adventures: Schilthorn

Sunday, August 30, 2009. We are ready to head up into the mountains. We got onto the cable car which would take us up to Gimmelwald, then to Murren, Birg, and finally up to Schilthorn. We decided to ride all the way up first - and then stop at each location on the way back down.

The kids enjoyed the ride. We were packed in there like sardines in a can....but fortunately we were by the window...so we had a nice view from the cable car.

Looking down at the valley floor....we hiked along that stream yesterday! As you come over the cliffs you finally get to see more of the mountains.

As we go higher we see some really neat rock formations. It is just beautiful!

At the top of the Schilthorn! 10,000 feet! We walked around on the terrace and enjoyed the view!

You could see for miles and miles....amazing the vastness of God's creation!

A family picture...with the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau peaks behind us.

Fortunately they had these descriptive plaques all around the terrace - so you knew which mountain peaks you were looking at!

Trying to take turns?!? And another family photo.

We were going to try and walk down a little path and have some of our packed lunch on some benches just below the Schilthorn visitors center....Shane started down...but then we decided it was a bit too steep and dangerous for our family with 4 small children. One slip of the foot and down the mountain my precious children would go....so we opted to stay on the terrace. But I got a quick picture of Shane.

Also - up at the top along the trail we saw this sign! CLASSIC....NO HIGH HEELS...duh???

The Schilthorn is also famous for being the location of the filming of the 007 James Bond movie, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". We got to see a free slide show in the visitors center with highlights from the movie, as well as other scenic photos and video of the area. We couldn't help but take these photos for my dad - since he is such a James Bond fan!