We woke up early the next day and had a delicious breakfast at our hotel complete with homemade pastries and jam. We had planned on making our way to Randa and hiking to the Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the Alps.
We decided instead of taking the train to Randa, we would walk, which was six miles. It is on a flat path that runs along the river, which turned out to be one of our favorite things we did during our time in Zermatt. You hike from Zermatt to Tasch and then from Tasch to Randa.
Just after leaving Zermatt we got to watch a helicopter flying over us delivering supplies up into the mountains. It was very intriguing to watch.
Helicopter picking up supplies
The path we were on to Tasch is part of the Zermatt marathon course.
It was cloudy out, but we were enjoying the walk to Randa
It was an easy path between Zermatt and Randa
We arrived in Randa and it is a super sleepy town. We were headed to the Hauspil.
Sleepy little Randa
One of the churches in Randa
We originally looked around Randa for a Co-op to get a snack, but nothing was open. We decided we had enough snacks in our backpacks to go ahead and hike to the bridge. We ended up doing to circular hike to the bridge which ends up being 5.50 miles round trip. This of course did not include our trek to Randa itself.
The scenery along the hike
The hike was consistently steep on the way to the bridge, but nothing that was unmanageable. It was nothing like our hike to Hotel Obersteinberg a few days prior.
Soon enough we saw signs that said we were minutes from the bridge. We turned a corner and saw the bridge. The clouds were moving in and we had just seconds to see the bridge before it was completely covered in clouds.
Looking at the bridge, it was really kind of intimidating. I am not going to lie, I was terrified to cross it.
Crossing the bridge in the clouds
Ken on the bridge. Shortly after this photo was taken I had a meltdown and made Ken take my phone because I was afraid I was going to fall. True story.
I was able to cross the bridge. I kept my hands on the railing the entire way. BTW, my hands were absolutely frozen by the time we crossed it. It took about 10 minutes to cross. You feel it sway in the wind, which was a very odd feeling.
Ken shot this video as we crossed. He did make an error as it is the second-longest pedestrian footbridge in the world, not the longest.
Looking up at the bridge from the trail below. Too bad it was not a clear day. That bridge was really something to see.
The hike back was not the best in the rain. Hiking downhill can be challenging and factor in wet rocks and trail, and it can make it more challenging.
We may have been wet, but we were having a great time.
Hiking back into Randa
It was not the view we had hoped for, but we had a fun time hiking together in a new area of Switzerland
We ended up finding a little Co-op that was open on our way out of Randa headed to Tasch. We got an ice cream bar, a candy bar, and two drinks to go. It is a tradition to walk back down mountain valleys with a drink.
Obligatory drink picture on a bridge in Switzerland
We hiked the three miles back to Tasch and stopped at a restaurant for Aperol Spritz and pizza. We were starving since the last real food we had was breakfast and it was now around 5:00 pm. We opted to take the train back to Zermatt instead of walking three more miles.
We enjoyed the remainder of our night with a bottle of wine on our balcony, enjoying the view.
Picture the Matterhorn behind the clouds!
It was a great day all around Zermatt!
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