Morteratsch glacier walk

This is an easy walk from Morteratsch station which, although it climbs about 100m up to the Morteratsch glacier, is relatively gently graded. It would certainly be a good walk for a bad weather day although then, of course, you might miss the views of the mountains. On fine days it gets very busy.

All along the walk, there are signposts marking the retreat of the ice since the beginning of the twentieth century; now almost 2km.

Leaving the station, the signs suggest about an hour to the glacier. The track is broad and initially passes through forest....

....before emerging into the more open valley. This is looking back, to give a sense of the gradient of the path.

The path continues to climb gently.....

.....until it becomes almost level.

It's a very busy path and suitable for virtually anybody; not a place if you want some peace!

Huge boulders left by the retreating glacier litter the valley floor.

Soon the glacier's snout begins to dominate the view as the vegetation becomes scarcer.....

......and scarcer. This sign shows just how much the glacier has retreated in just ten years...........

The sheer scale of the glacier, slowly becomes apparent.......

.....as you get closer.

Signs warn of the danger of ice falls but, despite this, some people seem determined to enter the cave, out of which flows the river. Awe-inspiring indeed!