Säntis

We had a zone P-Day activity on September 1st (Labor Day for those in the US, nothing special here). We attended it though we did not have a lot of information about what we would be doing. It turned out that the plans were to climb to the top of Mount Säntis, the highest point in this part of Switzerland (somewhat over 8000').

Before I get to that, I wanted to say that we have had some great experiences in church. We have a new family that just moved in and along with that, we have had a number of vacation visitors, so our attendance has averaged over 30 this month (Sacrament Meeting). We now have a primary and ordained a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood, our first young man in many years.

We have been getting back to visit some of the members and have been enjoying that again.

Now for the pictures. We drove to Urnäsch and took the bus with the missionaries to Schwägalp, which is basically the base of Mount Säntis. They have a hotel there and the lower end of a gondola ride to the top of the mountain. You can guess how we climbed the mountain. The main group  of missionaries hiked about 4 hours or so to get to the top. What we all did not know was that, as it was raining lightly where we were at the bottom, they would be slogging through about 6 inches of snow in freezing wind and ice at the top.

This one was a picture of our area the day before.

A large railroad viaduct on the way up to the hike.

The missionary group starting their climb in the rain.

in the gondola, not yet into the clouds

entering the clouds

and ice

There were videos showing what we could not see due to the clouds (not really, it was a documentary about the mountain goats and other animals in the area).

With the fam. (a headless pose stand). You can guess who had the camera.

Stepping out at the top so I could climb to the actual peak (about 100 feet to go).

Approaching the top.

A display about the local music.

An art exhibit in honor of cows. No, this is not a Chic-fil-a ad. They had numbers of pictures and sculptures of cows in various poses, many from behind shots.

a sampler of artwork

President Kohler with the missionaries, most of whom did the hike.

A display of the wildlife.

A stein eagle

Sister Schwabe looking at the eagle

On the way down. The clouds were clearing.

a few waterfalls

On our way back, we stopped by Liechtenstein for the elders' sake.

some bells at a local church

this one has a date of 1509.