Oeschinensee

Today we decided to stay closer to home. We tried to sleep in, but Ali was up at 6:45 and Connor was up soon after. Even with everyone up so early, we stuck with our plan of a more laid back day. We had breakfast and then took the train to Kandersteg, just one train stop away. Kandersteg is a town with a lot of hotels, restaurants, and the home of the International Scout Center. We saw many Scouts during the day.

It was just a 15 minute train ride, then we walked about 10 minutes to take us to the gondola lift up the mountain. The lift was 50% off with Swiss Pass, so the round trip ticket was $12 per adult and the kids were free. The ride up was beautiful like always. Once we arrived at the top the kids saw the surprise we had for them. At the top of the lift there is a summer toboggan ride which would be our first stop! The kids were super excited. We decided to buy a ticket so that everyone could have 5 rides, Ali was free because she had to ride with an adult.

View from the gondola

The toboggan track

On the first ride Ali and I went first, followed by Connor, and then Dan. Dan went a lot faster than Connor, I think it was a combination of Connor being lighter and using the brake more. After a couple of rides Connor went with Dan and he went much faster when they rode together. The ride down was really fun with amazing views. It started getting a little busier as we were getting done, the busier track slowed down our rides a bit. If you get behind a slow person you have to brake more so you don't hit them.

Dan and Ali heading down the track

After our rides we headed down to the lake. The walk was 20 minutes or so, it wasn't a hard walk but it was a hot day which made it seem long. You can't see the lake until you get very close to it. Once we spotted it though it was more beautiful than we'd imagined. Ali was very excited to see a group of cows who were grazing at the edge of the lake. We'd brought a picnic lunch with so we walked around the lake a bit to find a spot to sit. Ali saw people swimming and she was mad that I hadn't brought her suit. We had a great picnic lunch, I think the setting made the food taste even better.

View of the lake

Cows by the edge

Beautiful waterfall

The cows must have been hot too!

Our view from our picnic spot

After we ate, Dan and Ali went wading in the water. Dan said the water was cold but tolerable. The water was very clear! While they were in the water one of the cows decided to walk over to where some people were eating. A lady tried to shoo him away but she wasn't very successful. It was a pretty funny sight! Ali took the opportunity to get close enough to touch the cow, something she'd been wanting to do since we got here. The cows are huge here and they are really pretty.

Ali and Connor wading

The nosy cow

Ali making friends with the cow

Ali chatted with the cow a bit and then we walked over to see how much the rowboat rentals were. I think it was 22 Francs for an hour so we decided to do it. There was a beautiful waterfall on the other side of the lake so we rowed that way, well technically Dan rowed that way. I was so thankful he was there, he's great at rowing a boat, I would have had us going in circles! The kids took their shoes off and dangled their feet in the water. Both kids took a turn rowing, it was pretty funny to watch them try to get the hang of it! We made it over to the waterfall and back in our allotted hour. It was really fun! If you are at the Oeschinensee on a nice day, I definitely recommend renting a boat!

Our Captain

Happy Passengers

Gorgeous!!

Having fun on the lake!

We returned the boat and headed back to the lift station. The walk back to the lift station is uphill and it was really hot. Dan and Connor were walking a lot faster than Ali and I were. It was not a very fun walk, on a cooler day it would have been fine, but on a hot day in the bright sunshine it was yucky. Finally, we made it back to the top and we bought ice cream at the little shop for both kids. When they were done, we headed back down to the lift. We stopped at a shop in Kandersteg where Ali got a cow bell that she'd been wanting, then we caught the train to Frutigen. We were back by 3:30 or so, it was a nice short day.

My parents arrived home from their outing at just about the same time. My dad and I did some grocery shopping on the way home. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do the next day, the weather forecast wasn't very good so I needed some different options depending on what happened with the weather.

We really had a good day, the lake was beautiful! The shorter day was perfect, you just can't be gone 8-10 hours everyday. We all needed some downtime so today was really perfect!

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