View down from Nufenen
28 June 2011
The morning started with the remainder of the climb up to Nufenen pass (aka Passo della Novena). At the top of the pass, there is a small lake, and a stunning view of the valley on the other side.
The descent from Nufenen is quite fun, winding through small valleys down to Ulrichen.
At Ulrichen the valley empties out into the (much larger) Rhone River valley. (The source of the Rhone is the Rhone Glacier, which we had passed on the climb to Furka two days earlier.)
We rode down the valley in the direction of Brig, stopping at Fiesch to regroup. We drove the last leg into the city of Brig, parked, and ate lunch at the train station.
After lunch, we wanted to head up towards Simplonpass, but the furthest we could feasibly get was the town of Ried-Brig, only 200m up from Brig. It was just as well, because the heat in the valley was really cooking that day. After a short ride we found a hotel and put away our things. Piaw and Xiaoqin went to a water park we had passed on the way up, but I wanted nothing more than to stay in a cool, dark place for a few hours. My room was small, but opened out onto an enormous patio.
For dinner, we drove back to Brig and ate in the city center, which is a car-free zone. We had a great dinner (mmm, moscato d'asti!) and walked around the town for a bit before returning to Ried-Brig. It was the first time this trip that I felt as if my appetite were insatiable.
