Weirdest. Bunderspitz. Hike. EVER.

On the 14th,
my last full day at Our Chalet,
was scheduled to be the overnight sunrise hike,
and I was scheduled to go.
But then no guests signed up.
However, Katie Scales, is an amazing human and took me anyways.

So around 9 or so, Katie, Jess (summer Vollie) and I embarked on the first bit...
To the Cheesemakers.
We got there around 11 and sat for a snack,
and finally got snug into bed at 11:30-ish.

Then we woke up at 3 am!
We needed to be to the peak of Bunderspitz by 6:29 for sunrise.
About a half of the way there we stopped at a cow shed for a sandwich...
and to our surprise... we found a cat.
Not any cat, this is the same cat that hiked with us for about an hour and a half when we went to Kandersteg.

So we hiked on...
And the cat followed...
We arrived to the peak at about 6:20...
With the cat still there.

Our Kitty Cat friend and I on the TOP of a mountain.

On top of the peak we cuddled with our new kitty friend
and watched the sunrise.
As the sun was rising,
Katie signed the LAST points I needed for my Staff Challenge,
and she then proceeded to award me with my Staff Challenge.
I am the first staff to receive their staff challenge on Bunderspitz.

Receiving my Staff challenge from the same person who I received my guest challenge from 2 years ago.

We then ate some American candy, Sour Punch Straws, that Katie loves now.

American candy is the BEST hiking food.

And just before we hiked down,
we sang my newest favorite campfire song--Ocean.
It's one I picked up from Katie in 2010, and have been reunited with this summer.

It was by far one of the oddest mornings atop Bunderspitz,
but it was the BEST morning I could have asked for to end my Chalet summer.

I thought it would never end...

My time is coming to an end, my glorious Our Chalet time.

When I was seven years old I dreamed of coming to the Chalet for a full summer, and used to save all my pennies so that this dream would be a reality.

When I was sixteen, I came to Our Chalet as a guest, and learned about volunteering (Shout-out to Anna—Spring 2010 Vollie).

When I was eighteen I applied,

And luckily I celebrated my 19^th birthday in the Swiss Alps as an Our Chalet Vollie.

My 19th birthday at Our Chalet. 

But my time is coming to an end…

The reoccurring realization creeps in to my head often these last days…

As I sit in my super messy room in the staff house,

As I laugh with my fellow Vollies,

As I stare at my favorite mountain, Lohner,

And even as I clean the bathrooms…

I remember… I’ll have to leave soon.

Goodbyes have never been my strong suit.

I’m a crier, but not a hugger.

So when the end comes, in a week,

I will cry, and others will hug.

I’m actually tearing up thinking about it and writing about it.

My experience of Our Chalet cannot even be summed up in words.

My best experiences are the moments you cannot capture with a camera,

The things you cannot express in a brochure,

It’s the moments that will live with me forever,

But no one but my fellow Our Chalet friends will understand.

A wise Deputy World Center Mananger once told me,

“Remember to talk to people who speak your language”

I was confused at first,

But what she meant was,

Remember to talk to the people who experienced all these magical moments with me.

Because I can tell my friends back at home the stories over and over,

But, as hard as they try, they’ll never fully know what happened.

But my fellow Vollies, and the long term staff, they’ll always understand and remember.

Leaving the Chalet fills me with worry,

I’ve changed, so how will my home friends react?

How can I know I will for sure ever meet with my fellow Vollies again?

Will all my challenges and accomplishments go to waste at home?

Is it possible for my life to ever be better than it is now?

And will I ever be able to look at a person named Wendy and not think of a dishwasher?

These are all real worries that haunt me as I try to sleep my last few nights.

No amount of reassurance will calm these fears either.

Not all of my leaving is sad,

I look back on the fresh-faced girl who arrived here in Switzerland back in May,

And now I see a totally changed girl.

I once hated hiking, and I’ve now completed a hike to Kandersteg (9 hours!) and actually enjoy hiking.

I was rubbish at cleaning, and can now clean a bathroom like my life depended on it.

I used to struggle my way through my German homework, and I’ve now read a German book, and written a fluent summary on it.

These may seem minor to someone else, but to me these are amazing.

On top of the mountain on my way to Kandersteg International Scout Centre.

When I was a child Our Chalet was a magic place,

It’s no longer the same magic that filled my head as a child,

However, it’s still a magic place.

My favorite Girl Scout campfire song says,

“Magic did not fade away, it took a new disguise”

and I think that more than accurately describes my time here at Our Chalet,

and I think that as I leave the Chalet’s magic will again,

merely take on a new disguise.

That time our Crazy Uncle took me across the border...

The other day, Swiss National Day to be exact,
Christoph informed us of yet another Christoph adventure trip that would take place the next morning.
Be at his car at 9 am and you get to join in.

At 9 am I was at his car and ready.
And Christoph said
"Do you speak any French?"
I told him I didn't, and asked him why.
To which he informed me--
We were going to France...
And Germany.

Just another day, field trips to other countries.
So we drove a few hours to Germany,
and once there we stopped at a Grocery store to buy some bread.
Then we went to the parking lot and Christoph bought a half of a chicken for each.

So we got back in the car,
and drove to France...
Where we then pulled over and proceeded to eat our chicken halves on the side of the road.
And then we went to a French grocery store...

I'm not making any of this up...

After our French grocery store,
we proceeded on a drive through the beautiful Black Forest--
complete with a stop for cakes!

Then we went back to the grocery store in Germany,
to buy meat and tobacco...
and then we brought A LOT of meat and tobacco over the border...
More than you're probably supposed to...
But we hid it throughout the car...

This is all real.

I've proudly been on a meat/grocery tour of Germany and France.
Christoph is basically the Vollie best friend.
We love our crazy uncle...

80 years and you still look so fine.

July 31st was a BIG day.
Our Chalet turned 80!
The long term staff and the vollies put in a lot of work--
and the birthday turned out perfect!
We all basically thought it was our birthday.

Starting in the morning of the birthday you could hear yells of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to every staff member you came across.
There was an atmosphere at the Chalet that was fresh and new.
The morning was spent planning and setting up.
We were running all around the grounds,
and somehow I ended up on the floor of Katie Scales office making a paper chain...

Once the afternoon came, the party began!
There was a water slide down one of our hills, organized by Naomi (New Zealand-Summer Vollie)
We went down again and again in our staff uniforms not even caring that we were soaked!
There was also a cake stall,
in the cake stall there was Pavlova's, some Canadian dessert, cookies, donut holes, and cakes.
It was delicious.

Then there was RAPPELLING DOWN MAIN CHALET!
This was somehow, magically organized by the one and only Katie Scales.
We started from the attic,
climbed out the window,
and began our descent downwards.
Mike, the mountaineer guide that we work with often, was lowering all the girls down himself.
However, I got to lower myself down one time WITHOUT MY SAFETY ROPE!

That evening we gave a tour, and then had a huge birthday celebration out on the lawn,
with a cake made to look like the Chalet.

All in all, it was a magical 80 years for Our Chalet,
Cheers to the next 80!

I am 1 in 10 million.

Do you ever think for a second and realize that you are only 1 person in this huge world?
It can be a depressing thought.
Sitting back and thinking, "what can only 1 person do?"

When those thoughts creep into my head,
I am lucky enough to sit back and remember,
I am a Girl Scout,
and I am 1 in 10 million.

As a young Girl Scout living in Oklahoma I never quite realized this.
I went to my weekly troop meetings in the school year,
and when summer came I headed to Camp Kate Portwood for some Girl Scout camp fun.

Working at Our Chalet has shown me a new side of Scouting and Guiding--
We are 10 million members strong around the world,
which means I have 10 million people on my side,
helping to make the world a better place.

To illustrate this message to the lucky young women that visit Our Chalet,
at closing campfire we a song.

The song goes like this...
"I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am not alone..."
and on that, one person will stand up with them,
they will proceed to sing "We are two voices, and we are singing"
at the end of each verse another group stands up,
as we go threw 10 voices, 100 voices, 1 thousand voices, 10 thousand voices, 1 million voices, and then 10 million voices.
Then at the end, when the entire group is one large circle,
we revert back and sing "we are 1 voice, and we are singing"

At the recent campfire, two nights ago,
A fellow vollie stood up and sang the solo part,
and then I stood and was her second voice.
While singing with just my fellow Vollie,
I thought, "what if one of us messes up?"
Luckily, neither of us did,
however, about the time it got to 10 million,
my fellow Vollie flubbed a word,
I overheard this, because I was directly next to her,
however, the rest of the group, "the 10 million" voices,
were able to cover her small mistake without everyone noticing.

That just proves that when we stand alone, everyone notices our faults,
but when we stand up, with our 10 million voices loud, no one will notice 1 person's fault.
This is why I am blessed to be a Girl Scout.

When we stand together, who can stand against us?

Please let this be a normal field trip... With Christoph? NO WAY!

Christoph.
Oh Christoph.
Christoph is the grounds and maintenance man here at Our Chalet.
He's basically like a German Chuck Norris,
but better.
He's hilarious.
And odd.
And everything else amazing.
And every now and then,
he takes random trips and tells the vollies...
"Whoever is sitting in my car at 9 am when I go to leave, can come with"

So that's just what Jess and I did yesterday.
We were sitting in his car at 9 am,
ready for an exciting day of "Christoph Adventuring"

We ended up going to a valley two valleys away,
called Gasteretal.
It's a really special valley,
you can only enter from this time to this time,
and you can only exit from this time to this time.
Also, you have to have a pass to enter.

The road getting in is extremely narrow,
and slightly terrifying with Christoph's European driving.
But once in, you are struck my a beauty that you can't even imagine.

Christoph took us a to a Gasthaus and we had tea, coffee, and pastries.
And then we began to hike.
For anyone that knows me knows, I HATE HIKING,
however, this hike was at a slow pace,
we had nowhere to be at a specific time,
It was the most enjoyable hike I've ever been on.

We had an ice cream about two thirds of the way up,
and then continued up to this little spot off the beaten path and had our packed lunches.
Once back at the car, Christoph decided we would go to KISC,
so we went to KISC.
(P.S. KISC is Kandersteg International Scout Center)
It's AMAZING!
We saw Karin, a spring vollie of Our Chalet,
and then Jess and I basically wandered around.

All in all,
it was a perfect day.

Gasteretal Valley

Welcome to KISC

Klettersteig? Via Ferrata? Illegal.

Many days ago...
(sorry I'm late at writing this...)
These two wonderful people, Katie Scales and Alex Newcombe,
used their days off to take two bright eyed little vollies,
Me and Cate O'Donnell on this little adventure called Klettersteiging.

Klettersteig is the German word for it,
the rest of the world calls it Via Ferrata,
while America calls it... illegal.


A via ferrata (Italian for "iron road") or klettersteig (German for "climbing path") is a mountain route which is equipped with fixed cables, staples, ladders and bridges.
(and that kids was copied straight off Wikipedia!)
So basically, it's like hiking, 
but A MILLION TIMES COOLER!!!


You're strapped into harnesses, 
and you've got clips and hooks that keep you completely safe.
You also wear a helmet, just for those rouge rocks.
It's honestly the safest I've ever felt on a mountain.


And, even from someone who doesn't like hiking that much
(yes, I know I VOLUNTEERED to live in Switzerland and lead hikes...)
It's still a really fun activity, 
because it's pretty slow going.


So basically, to sum up Cate and I's Klettersteiging day,
We did the entire Klettersteig in about 3ish hours,
with Katie in front and Alex in back,
just to make sure we were safe.
It felt just like mummy and daddy were keeping us safe.
And I was pretty grateful to have experienced people along on the journey.


So once back at the Chalet,
and realizing how much I enjoyed this new activity,
I thought of how much I wanted to take my friends back at home,
maybe we could find some somewhere and take a long weekend road trip,
who knows?


Much to my dismay, 
as I googled them in the good ole US of A,
I found out...
THEY'RE ILLEGAL...
Permanent climbing wires,
such as the one's used on a Via Ferrata, or Klettersteig course,
are illegal in America.
There are only 4 Klettersteigs in the USA,
and they were built before the law was in place.


So basically this just means... I have four new places to visit.


Also, while Klettersteiging,
we saw the famous flower of Edelweiss,
I would like to take this time to publicly apologize to Katie Scales for calling her ALL TIME FAVORITE flower ugly...
it's not ugly, 
it's just different,
and beautiful in it's own way.

Katie and I on the Klettersteig

Bright-eyed and bushy tailed Vollies pretending to do the Lion King at the top of the Klettersteig.

Our fearless mum and daddy, Katie Scales and Alex Newcombe.
Love you guys!