D23: Paragliding and Hiking in Interlaken

 A friend I met at the hostel the night before recommending paragliding, so I booked it. It's been on my bucket list and it lived up to the hike. Oddly though, the experience was relatively chill and my body didn't register that I was floating thousands of feet in the air. The pilot did some tricks before we landing and that was amazing because it caused that stomach churning feeling, one of my favorite feelings.

After paragliding, my goal was to do a hike up in the mountains called the Eiger Hike. Since I finished paragliding around 2pm and it gets dark around 6:30pm, I had to hustle back to the hostel and then to the train station to catch the earlier train to make sure I had enough time to safely do the hike in the daylight. The train attendant selling tickets tried to caution me against doing the hike due to the failing light… but there was no way I was not going to do it.

The plan was to ride trains and then take a gondola up to the top of the trail to hike down since it would be a 2,400 ft climb if I started at the bottom. The hike allowed for breathtaking views of the valley and the infamous north face of the Eiger Mountain. Parts of the trail was still covered in snow and I only fell once, which I was proud of considering my track record of falling on snow on the PCT. It felt extremely revitalizing to be back hiking in the mountains and the brisk mountain air had me feeling sooo alive and happy.

There was a restaurant at the end of the trail where I stopped to enjoy a beer and a salad (life is about balance) and watching the setting sun over the valley. A perfect ending to the day and an excellent warm up for the big hike I'd be attempting tomorrow.