Going Down a Mountain (really fast)

“From there, it was all downhill.”

In a very very positive context. Going downhill on one of the mountains (there are at least 74. give or take 60. maybe 10. you get the point.) around Oeschinensee is one of the most exhilarating experiences ever. For multiple reasons:

1. The blue blue waters of Oeschinensee
2. The magnificent view of the Alps all around
3. The green grass with white and yellow flowers
4. The combination of all of the above at the same place
5. The feeling of accomplishment after going uphill

Oeschinensee is one of the bluest lakes you’ll ever see. To say that the hiking paths along the lake are scenic is an understatement. For us who live in the middle of nowhere, getting there was time consuming but fairly simple: Board a train in Geneva, get off at Kandersteg. Walk from the Kandersteg railway station to Kandersteg cable car station - this should take about 15 minutes (or 45 if you stop for pictures now and then). Take the cable car up the mountain, and the hike officially starts here. Snowcapped peaks all around, grass on the hills in front of you, the pretty town of Kandersteg far far below. Oeschinensee is not in sight yet, but as you walk along, you see hidden bits of blue from in between the tree branches.

As we walked the paved path towards the lake, Oeschinensee revealed itself little by little. The water looked bluer, and then it didn’t. And then it really did, when we were right in front of it. Words will not do justice, but what’s the point of this blog if words are no good? It looked like when you’re in class 5 using ink pen for the first time and you spill ink on your white uniform so now you have a mixture of white and royal blue. You have to physically be there so that Oeschinensee can invoke the same feelings in you. In one word, it looked inviting. It might be useful to mention at this point that we were three people on this trip. One of us who will remain unnamed forgot to mention to the others that the lake is swimmable. Since we couldn’t swim in the lake, we decided to hike around it.

The paved path ends somewhere here and the way ahead is foresty. This is great for a hike because you FEEL like you ‘hiked’ and not just ‘walked’. When I say foresty, I don’t mean ‘can run into a bear any moment now’ situation. I mean a ’the road is not paved but your phone still has network’ situation. There are multiple small waterfalls on the way, and they’re so frequent that you constantly hear them. You won’t believe what we saw while we were crossing one such waterfall.

A snake! When I tell this story to my grandkids, I’ll tell them how we escaped the wrath of the deadliest snake known to mankind, at least 7feet in length, ready to devour us whole. However, since I owe honesty to my readers, I will reveal that the snake was no bigger than my palm. Some might even mistake it for a worm. Seemed like a chill guy, was on his way up the mountain, did not pay much attention to us. Probably got scared of us even, but continued on his way upwards. We wished him the very best and parted ways.

We resumed the hike until we reached a scenic point (to be fair, every point in the hike was scenic) with benches to sit on and another waterfall on the side. No snake this time. No noise either. But that doesn’t mean it’s quiet. It’s nature in its natural habitat. Water from the waterfalls, wind from the mountains, the rustle of grass if you can hear it, your thoughts if they’re loud enough. After chilling here for a grand total of 15 minutes and clicking a gazillion pictures, we headed back, because we wanted to try the adventure of a lifetime* awaiting us. We looked for the snake on the way back, but he wasn’t around. After hiking down some more and then some more, we were back at the cable car station. Overall, we had done a round trip of 7km.

Now, we’ve already lived a very interesting hike experience so far, but this is where things get even more intriguing.

After doing the Panoramaweg hike in Oeschinensee, there are multiple options: you could hike down the mountain all the way to Kandersteg and put your knee through a lot of compressive force^, or you could be like the cool people(as previously established here) and take a mountain coaster**. We obviously chose the cool option and bought three tickets for the mountain coaster. And then the mountain coaster ride began. And from there, truly, it was all downhill. Fast, windy, and entirely worth it. I thought I was going at dangerously high speeds until my friends complained that I wasn’t going fast enough. The mountain coaster did not change me as a person, but it did make me feel like I was 13 and on a school trip.

I could go on and on, and you could read on and on, or we could both save some time and watch this video Yash^^ made. Feedback, criticism, 500-word essays explaining every emotion the video put you through, appreciation etc. are more than welcome.

Maybe next time, we’ll actually swim in the lake.

*Debatable.
**This is a false claim that the author wrote for dramatic effect. You cannot descend the mountain with the mountain coaster, it is a loop. You will have to hike downhill or take the cable car to get to the base.
^At the time of writing this, I’m 24. It is only natural that I care about my knees.
^^A Yash is usually found making brilliant videos, you should check out other videos made by him.