Driving the cows up the mountain.
Every morning during our stay in Switzerland we'd wake to the clanging of cowbells, as the cows were driven down the road (there was only one road winding through the Lauterbrunnen Valley). And in the evening we'd hear the clanging again, as the cows made their way back up the road and into the mountain.
A couple of hikers follow the cows.
My husband happened to get caught in the traffic jam caused by the cows, and he figured out how the whole thing worked. Before the cows passed, someone went by and roped off all the driveways. The grass was already roped off, so the cows couldn't wander from the road. After the cows passed, someone would unlatch the ropes so cars could exit the drives. Someone also shoveled any poop the cows left, leaving the road very clean. This is, after all, Switzerland, where messes aren't allowed.
Here's a photo showing the ropes:
And here they are heading into the mountain:
