Zermatt -- Schonbielhutte -- Zmutt -- Zermatt

Cullen met Gabe and I in Zermatt last night, and after catching up, we explored downtown Zermatt, which is a really charming, unbelievably expensive town. Zermatt is small and justifies maximum only a few hours of slow, relaxed ambling. For dinner, the group elected to eat outside the hostel, and after fruitlessly searching for a meal less than 30 francs, we eventually found a burger joint that was cheap by Zermatt standard. A lovely and hilarious meal ensued, lasting almost 2hrs. Drinks at the ZERMATT YOUTH HOSTEL followed.

To our list, I can add:

- "Georgia," our 17 year old roommate who, given his birthplqce and accent, reminded us of Maddox
- "So-Cal," a group of five high school grads who came to Zermatt to snowboard ... in the Summer?

The following morning, we woke up at 7am, snarfing down breakfast at lightening speed so that we could beat the weather and hike the 6hr30min round trip to Schonbielhutte and back. The hike begins in Zermatt, and rises gradually through picturesque alpine meadows until reaching Zmutt, a town consisting of ten houses and two restaraunts. We went further into the valley, affording us picture perfect views of the north face of the Matterhorn, which, in a stroke of luck, was not obstructed by any clouds. As we approached the hut, a storm started to build, and we elected to turn back only 15 minutes hike from our final location, with the hut in site ... Responsible but slightly unfortunate. We ambled down to Zmutt, and had another marathon meal (three seperate types of rosti), before returning to Zermatt for some serious R&R, dinner, and further relaxing walks through the town.