Schynigge Platte and Darwinism

Visibility ...

As I previously noted, the weather in St. Gallen was less than ideal, and as Gabe and I made our way southwards by train towards Interlaken to begin the Tour of the Jungfrau Region hike, it became increasingly clear, and later confirmed by weather reports, that the clouds, intermittent rain, and periodic thunder and lightening were a problem across all of Switzerland. Always hopeful, we still took the 50 minute train from Wilderswil to the Berghotel Schynigge Platte (2000m approx.), hoping beyond hope the weather would turn in our favor ... Not so much. We could only see clouds from the porch, despite the fact that the hotel boasts a panoramic view of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau mountains, and the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen Valleys.

Sinner

We quickly befriended a fellow hiker named Rishi, who himself had schlepped from California for the TJR only to find that the weather for the week rendered the hike not doable. Despite all this, we had a lovely time in Schynigge Platte, dining with our new friend Rishi for a three hour, five course marathon dinner, the discussions of which ranged from Silicon Valley (where he works) and the next "big thing," to the usefulness of a college education and his positive thoughts on the new Facebook timeline.

Fortunately, even at 2000m, the Berghotel had wifi, and after dinner, Gabe and I, with the aid of our parents, we're able to pow-wow, and asses the situation for the remainder of our trip. Rather than wallow in our disappointment, we instead opted to adapt, changing our entire trip and replacing our itinerary in the hopes of returning to Switzerland for a second attempt at the TJR ... only the fittest species adapt, and in our case, evolve their plans to make the trip continuously enjoyable.

To that end, Gabe and I opted to go South to Northern Italy, and explore that region for a week. We decided to eliminate Nice and 2 days in Paris, so that we could return and try the hike in better weather. Given our Eurail Pass and the modern wonders of the Internet, we were able, with relative to ease, to incorporate Italy into a brand new itinerary. More details to come!