Day 20: Hike to Silleren Part II
Cate and I followed the road up the mountainside. The road was surrounded on both sides by rolling fields with mountain flowers. On our uphill climb, we found a patch of snow! We had a mini snow fight and I made a tiny snow man. The mountains are majestic and the higher up we climbed, more mountains peeked out in between the peaks. Though the hike uphill was long, it was a good bonding time for Cate and I.

Finally, we saw a building as we neared the summit! There was a restaurant, a playground and a gondola system at the top. The restaurant and gondola were closed because the summer season has not started yet. I hope to return to the top of Silleren soon to rent out a scooter and scooter down the peak! We played on the swing set for a little bit and then we took in the beautiful view of the valley. To the left, we could see the roofs of houses of nearby towns. In front and to the right, rolling green hills dotted with pine trees rose up to rock decorated with snow.

After taking in the view for a little while, we began our descent to Adelboden. We crossed a bridge near the gondola station and followed the narrow dirt trail past a small pond that then led into the pine trees. We followed this trail down the mountain through the pine trees and lush greenery. Part way down, we took a break and called Our Chalet to let them know that we would be back in time for dinner! We also found some branches to use for walking sticks which helped take the pressure off of my knees. Adelboden came closer and closer into view as we made our way down.

The trail ended and we passed through a large wooden door frame. We followed a trail that led us into a field and we passed an abandoned farm house. Luckily, we spotted the "Wanderweg" sign and knew we were on the right path. We continued down the mountain and as we got closer to the bottom we could hear cowbells (as well as smell the cows nearby haha). After passing through a few turnstyles, we reached the bottom of the mountain in a field right next to where cows were grazing! We followed the trail until we reached the road. After making a turn in the road, we realized that we passed signs that we had looked at before earlier in our hike.....we had turned around and backtracked though we had actually been going in the correct direction....oh well haha. We did get a little lost but it was all part of the adventure!

We decided to follow the road into Adelboden. We were walking on a semi-busy road so we were careful. On our walk into town, we saw some ponies with shaggy coats and took some breaks. Since we were at the same elevation as the town, we did not have to walk up the hill! We walked into town on a far edge that I had never been by before and within five minutes we were on the main street. We stopped and got dessert at a cafe (the same one that I had been to with Karin, Carly and Rihanna!). This time, I got a strawberry tart for a dessert..yum! We enjoyed our dessert on a bench nearby the square with the town fountain. Then, after stopping at Co-Op we began the journey back to Our Chalet.

We made our way down from town and then climbed up the mountainside to Our Chalet though at this point my legs were hurting a lot haha. We got back at 5ish and I took a shower before dinner. At dinner, I sat with a family who lived on the military base. We had a good conversation and at one point they asked me what I missed the most and I named a few foods including granola bars. Then, one of the kids ran and got me a few granola bars! I was touched by their kind gesture and I am saving the bars haha.

There was a campfire that night but I was too exhausted to go so I went to bed really early...at quarter to 9pm! I think I set a new record for going to bed early for myself haha...I am one of the night owls here so it's rare if I go to bed before 11pm haha