Alpine Flowers of Wengen by Dennis Waite

Dennis Waite travelled on our 'Wengen - Alpine Flowers of the Swiss Alps' tour and submitted this entry to our writing competition.

Lady Slipper Orchid

'High' Drama in the Swiss Alps by Dennis Waite

I can’t say we weren’t forewarned - the weather can change quickly! Our first day dawned brightly with the Jungfrau clearly visible from our bedroom window. David, our leader, optimistic for some productive botanising, opted to follow the planned itinerary and take the cable car to Männlichen.

Magnificent! A worthy prelude to the rest of the holiday: pleasantly warm and sunny with fair-weather cumulus and myriads of Globeflowers (Trollius europaeus) against a mountainous backdrop. Cameras were soon clicking as we spotted our first Gentians (Gentiana verna) of the week, Snowdon Lily (Lloydia serotina) and Spring crocus (Crocus vernus), just emerged following the receding snowline of the previous week. By the time we started to think about lunch, I had taken 160 photos, a rate that was to be maintained throughout the holiday.

As we turned away from the peak, the sky had begun to cloud over, though the mountains were still visible and there was no concern that our lunch might be disrupted. Certainly David had not considered this to be likely and had gone ahead to prepare our repast. Some short time later, however, a few light drops of rain prompted me to consign my camera to a plastic bag in the rucksack just to be on the safe side.

But all was still well and we slowly made our way down the path to where the spread of meats, cheeses and salad awaited us. Unfortunately, by the time we had found our plates and forks, the rain was beginning to become more persistent and we were forced to make rather hurried sandwiches and endeavour to eat them with unwanted speed.  As the crisps grew soggier and we contemplated substituting them for rather more waterproof fruit, the weather began to deteriorate with alarming rapidity. Within seconds, it seemed, the mist became denser until visibility was reduced to a few yards and we could no longer see the path that we would be taking. The temperature fell and then, more worrying still, it became darker and darker, and a strong wind whipped up out of nowhere. These latter manifestations, of course, presaged the inevitable thunder storm! Fortunately, the thunder was delayed by a few seconds following each lightning flash or we would really have been worried! Then the hailstones began!

Never has anyone seen a lunch packed away more quickly! I had already donned the waterproofs some time before in anticipation but hadn’t foreseen the need for other garments, such as fleeces and gloves. Naturetrek carefully warned about this in the pre-departure information but how does one extricate these from the bottom of a rucksack, and put them on in the middle of a hailstorm without seriously jeopardising one’s dryness and warmth! Ouch! Those hailstones hurt and, boy, were they cold as they continued to fall (?) for 20 to 30 minutes with scarcely a break.

Needless to say, there was a significant amount of water in all this precipitation, even if our waterproofs remained relatively dry since it was in frozen form. Streams from the still-melting snow were boosted significantly and this led to another danger, encountered further down the ‘Panoramic Way’ (!) – slides of loose scree! Crossing one of a number of minor snow escarpments, we encountered one of these without warning and one of our group found herself trapped as her boot became temporarily engulfed. A quick-thinking gentleman ahead rushed back and pulled her to safety. After a few minutes, the slip slowed sufficiently for our leader to marshal the rest of the group safely across to the other side.

So, excitement over, hail abated and blue skies gradually re-emerging, we descended to Kleine Scheidegg for the return train to Wengen.

So did this eventful afternoon spoil the holiday? Not in the slightest! It was merely the moment of high drama in an overall perfect production, with its increasingly breathtaking mountain panoramas and superb walks through varied terrain. With such a choice hotel (friendly staff and delicious food), the best of Alpine flora and fauna (e.g. field of Lady’s Slipper Orchid, Cypripedium calceolus, with ibex on the snowline beyond), and a leader who was so knowledgeable, experienced and approachable, how could we not conclude that this was our best holiday ever?

Read more about our 'Wengen - Alpine Flowers of the Swiss Alps' holiday.