Crazy Ninja Monkey Grandma (Le Weekend: Part II)

I met a girl from my dorm last night, and she mentioned that she was going with a group that hikes Mount Saleve every Sunday. It was perfect because I had been looking to do a day trip of hiking to see some of Switzerland's natural beauty and was eager to go in a group.

Every Sunday a group of the Genevoise hikes up Mount Saleve for a beautiful view of Geneva and the Jura mountains on one side and the Alps on the other. There's old people and young people, but everyone is surprisingly spry and we moved at a good pace. The trail takes longer than expected, and three hours later we are greeted at the top by cows with real bells! Though Mount Saleve is a steep climb, the top flattens out to fields of grass, hence the cows. There is a restaurant at the top as well, and this is when I realize some people just drive up here or take a gondola up. Lol. I rest for a while, but the dorm girl I came with wants to do some more exploring at the top. (She walked 40 minutes to a mini-town with an amazing blueberry tarte last week and was eager to find it again.) I wanted to get home and shower and be online, so I said I'd take the cable car down. It was a 20 minute walk to the cable car station and that is when I got it into my crazy mind that going down on foot would not take much longer than waiting for the cable car.

I set out down the mountain with abandon. Eager to reach flat ground. I thought the steep descent meant surely I would get back in no time flat! Then the fear set in. My poor running shoes weren't much for grip, and the terrain was anything but sturdy. I am inching my way down a pebbly slope when I see a grandma boldly scaling the mountain by making her own trail amongst the trees! Sensing my anxiety, she smiles at me and says this is not an easy hill. She gives me some hiking tips, most of which I don't understand, but I am comforted to know that she's going down this hill with me. I am so impressed at the courage and agility of this little swiss lady. She tells me it's because she's done it many times, but I'm still really humbled. At one point, it gets so steep I am climbing down the trail and Ninja Grandma sits on her bottom and somehow gets down the rocks like a pro. It still took me 2 hours to go down that hill. And I eventually split off from Grandma and got lost for a little bit. I definitely won't be doing any hiking on my own...

I have to say the view from the top of the mountain was a little underwhelming. You could see rows of Alps mountains, but they didn't come out nicely in any of my pictures.
tiny view from the top

Mount Saleve
The rocky areas are so steep there is no vegetation. But anywhere that is horizontal enough is densely populated with trees. Oh my gosh...what was I thinking?!?!

blissful ignorance
At this point I am all happy thinking I am almost home free. Little did I know I had 1.5 more hours to go!

at the top
That california cheese commercial kept running through my head. Good cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California. (or in this case, Swizterland)