goats, clouds and the missing view

When you take yourself up onto a tall mountain ridge in Switzerland, you expect a spectacular view. At least I did.

When I arrived at the last stop of the little mountain railway, at an elevation of 3,400 metres in the Jungfraujoch pass, all there was to see was fog. Thick fog, embracing you on every side. The only things visible were the quaint little train station building and various hiking trails leading off in different directions on grassy slopes.

To say I was pissed off is like saying hell's furies are mildly annoyed. I had been in the country for three weeks, volunteering for a nonprofit organisation, and had so far been a bit disappointed by the fact that Switzerland is not all dizzying heights and deep valleys. During my last week, I had been travelling through the country on a railway pass and had finally got to see the Alps. Actually going up to the highest train station in Europe was supposed to be the highlight, satisfying my desire to be IN the mountains, ON the mountains, at the "Top of Europe". Now I was here, and had to go back on the next train down, and could not see a thing.

Dejected, I walked up one of the slopes ( taking care not to lose sight of the trail ) and sat down in the grass. I opened my picnic bag and got started on my sandwiches. And suddenly found myself surrounded by a pack of hungry mountain goats hoping to get a taste of the picnic. As I was shoving one particularly bold billy-goat away, I realised that the fog was actually clouds, shifting and moving, and that a "window" had opened between them. I glimpsed a breathtakingly beautiful, snow-capped mountain through that window.

I was so struck by this sight that I nearly lost my sandwich to the billy-goat.

In a few minutes, more and more "windows" opened and closed, and opened again with a slightly altered perspective. I glimpsed a mountain summit here, part of a valley far, far below there. Twenty minutes later, the clouds had dispersed and the late August sun was shining. All around me were the majestic Alps, except on the side that provided the spectacular view of the valley below.

It was jaw-dropping, especially since it was presented in such tantalising pieces at first. I was almost dancing with joy. The sandwich was forgotten - the goat probably made off with it.

( Picture from Wikipedia. )