On July 17th, 2017; I had the opportunity to hike up onto a ridge and get a excellent view of the Grosser Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland. 

     Switzerland’s Grosser Aletsch Glacier is the largest glacier in the Alps.

     The Aletsch Glacier is included in the World Heritage Site list of the U.N., it’s over 1.5 miles wide.

     Located in the Benner Oberland region near the French and Italian borders, the Aletsch glacier is also the source of the Rhone River.

     The Aletsch glacier predates the last ice age, and is an estimated 60,000 years old.

     The next day, I’ll drive to the other side of the glacier and take a gondola to the head of the Aletsch glacier, where it starts. 

      The region is plowed by the Aletsch Glacier, that is 15 miles in length and 3,000 ft. deep. Above the picture shows the Aletsch Glacier from the head looking south towards the Matterhorn.  I’m standing in front of Jungfrau peak at the Jungfrau Meteorological/Climatological
Research Station. I took a train that tunneled through to Eiger, to get there. In other words, I’m standing on top of the famous Eiger.

     On my drive to the Grindelwald, the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschorn region, location in the south-central Swiss Alps, is a stunningly beautiful region. A rich coalition of geological and glacial processes have combined to produce this extraordinary landscape. The complex rock formations here, are the result of over-thrusting and folding rock layers between 20-40 million years ago, and have subsequently been exposed by the action of large glaciers. The region covers 133,400 acres and boast heights ranging between 3000 ft. and 14,000 ft.  Picture above and below is brief exploration of Aare Gorge near the highway.