As I have written more than once, I am afraid of heights, especially when there are precipices wherever you look, and no railings. The worst is when it goes sharply down right away in any direction, and the nearest point is kilometers away, whether vertically or horizontally. I can handle it to some extent, but sooner or later my legs start to shake and my head starts to spin.
Once we climbed up to the ridge, my nerves finally gave out. I crawled on all fours for a bit, which obviously looked comical from the outside. Fortunately, there weren't many hikers around, so there was no one to witness my shameful degradation back to our tree-dwelling ancestors. I really hoped that this terrifying trail wouldn't last long. Luckily, just a couple of hundred meters later it got a bit better. I slowly hobbled forward, holding onto the stone wall on the left.
The fog would roll in and out, revealing a view of the fjord. Sorry, not a fjord, but a lake. It looks very similar. I was in Norway with its famous fjords when I was about 16+-2 years old. The beauty there just knocks you off your feet. It didn't help matters that a cute young milf was sitting next to me on the bus, and we chatted the whole way. My poor brain was pumped full of hormones from all sides, and I walked around constantly like I was stoned.
This time it was a bit easier. I've grown old, cynical, and misanthropic. Nevertheless, I can boldly and confidently report to you: the view around the Brienzer Rothorn peak (2350m) is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life.
Occasionally, we would run into hikers coming our way. They preferred to ride up on the cable car, but go down on foot. As for me, I walk down very slowly because I'm afraid of stumbling, and besides, my knees hurt afterwards. But Jedem das Seine, as they say.
Soon we reached the steam train station. This time I'm not just saying that for effect. A real steam train was going down from the peak. Okay, stereotypically not entirely real in the sense that it runs on fuel oil, not coal. It puffs, it smokes, and it hauls without electricity. The main difference between a steam locomotive and a diesel locomotive is the presence of a steam boiler. A diesel locomotive, on the other hand, uses an internal combustion engine, very often accompanied by an electric generator.
My plan was precisely to take the steam train down to the lake and spend the night there. My companions didn't support the plan.
So how did it all end?
