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Published: August 29th 2016
Majestic Backdrop
High above Grindelwald on the First Cliff Walk, with the Schreckhorn and Eiger looming ominously behindHaving walked from Engelberg (or at least the Trübsee) all the way to Meiringen the previous day, I woke to another beautiful blue sky on Monday (18th July) and set about making the most of Meiringen's proximity to some particularly spectacular attractions.
Just a short walk upstream alongside the Aare River (which I still remember fondly from having floated down it through the capital Bern back in the summer of 2008; and not so fondly from having floated down it again the following year on my 30th birthday - when it was only May and the water was butt-numbingly cold!) led me to the Aareschlucht, where the river has carved a narrow gorge with walls rising up to two hundred metres high, through which a trail - in places tunneling through the rock; in others bolted to the side of it - allows people to walk through from one end to the other.
From the far end of the gorge I then continued alongside the river to the nearby town of Innertkirchen, where I dropped into the local supermarket to stock up on my customary pastries before hopping on a post bus that took me up into the adjacent
Walls of Coloured Stone
Deep In the bowels of the Aareschlucht Nessental valley to the base station of the Triftbahn cable car.
My plan was to take the cable car to the top, do a loop hike to a suspension bridge at the head of a hanging valley, and then take the cable car back down again - until I was informed that the cable cars (of which there are only two) were fully booked for the return journey from 3:30pm right through until the last one at 6pm... and given that it was already two o'clock, this meant I would have no way of completing my hike in time to take the last available cable car back down. Undeterred, I consulted my hiking map and decided I would just have to hike back down to the valley instead - which would add around two hours to my day, but what the hell... it wasn't like I had anywhere else I needed to be!
My second cable car ride in as many days took me up over the forested lower flanks of the Nessental and offered a birds eye view of the Triftwasser gorge, where waterfalls swollen with snowmelt could be seen plunging into a steep-sided chasm far below.
V-Shaped Valley
Looking back towards the Triftwasser Gorge Arriving at the top station I emerged into a v-shaped hanging valley beside a small artificial reservoir - from where a trail headed directly up the valley, first using switchbacks to gain height and then climbing at a more gentle gradient.
Coming to a trail junction I was faced with a choice - either I could take the easier, family-friendly trail leading directly to the Triftbrücke (suspension bridge) and then return along the same route; or tackle the steep, gruelling climb up to the Winteregghutte (perched somewhere high above me out of view) and then continue on a rocky scrambling route to the bridge from there, before returning via the easier trail above the river.
Given my preference for loop hikes (as you get to see more of your surroundings than on out-and-back hikes) I chose the latter option, and so it wasn't long before I was drenched with sweat as I inched my way slowly up towards the Winteregghutte, where I gladly stopped in for a slice of home-made fruit cake and took the opportunity to refill my water bottles... countering the waitress's concerned comment that "the water comes from the river" with the response "great -
Glacial Cirque
High above the Triftsee on my way to the suspension bridge that's my favourite kind!". Throughout the Scottish Highlands, Canadian Rockies and now the Swiss Alps I have continually parched my thirst with untreated river water, and to this day have never suffered any ill-effects.
It wasn't long after leaving the mountain hut that I got my first glimpse of the Triftbrücke, far away (and far below) in the distance. But with the assistance of fixed chains bolted into the rocks I was soon able to scamper my way down the steep slope towards the bridge, before finally emerging at the spectacular rocky cirque at the head of the valley.
With the Trift Glacier suspended high on the upper slopes of it's namesake mountain; the meltwater run-off from which pooling at the base of the mountain to form the Triftsee lake - in that classic milky-turquoise colour that is typical of glacial lakes; and the graceful curve of the Triftbrücke (which at 170 metres in length happens to be the longest pedestrian-only suspension bridge in the Swiss Alps) hanging in defiance of gravity some 100 metres above the outflow of the lake, it was a truly spectacular panorama; and one that was worth every step of the gruelling climb
Not your average footbridge
Crossing the Triftbrücke - 170m long & 100m high to reach it.
After stopping to take in the view, indulge in some sweet pastries, and then gather my nerves, I set off on the heart-pounding crossing to the other side - from where the view both upstream into the rocky amphitheatre of the Triftsee and downstream through the v-shaped valley was suitably breathtaking - before re-crossing the bridge and continuing my loop hike by following the trail that I had bypassed earlier which contoured along the side of the valley high above the rushing river.
Having returned to the upper cable car station I then continued along a narrow trail which passed above the precipitous Triftwasser gorge (with another trail on the opposite side of the gorge providing a heart-stopping thrill for a group of hikers who could just be seen walking single file halfway up an almost sheer cliff!) before switchbacking it's way down through the forest and across pastures filled with wildflowers to eventually emerge at the bottom cable car station about two hours after I had left the bridge. Not a bad way to spend a 'rest day' at all!
The next day I was back on the Via Alpina tackling the climb
Powerful Plume
Lower Reichenbach Falls, above Meiringen up over the Grosse Scheidegg (Great Watershed) and down to Grindelwald in the heart of the famous mountain wonderland of the Bernese Oberland. With a clear blue sky as my only companion (my German room-mate Bernd - the only person I'd had to share my 20-bed dorm in Meiringen with - having chosen to follow the same route by postbus) I set off across the Aare River headed for the thickly forested slopes on the opposite side of the valley, with the famous Reichenbach Falls clearly visible straight ahead.
Apart from being a rather impressive natural spectacle, the Reichenbach Falls also happen to be the fictitious location of the death of Sherlock Holmes and his arch-nemesis Dr. Moriarty - a fact that is recognized with a small plaque etched into the cliff beside the lower falls. From there a trail through the forest zig-zags up to the top of the upper falls, then over the other side to a number of viewpoints that offer views of both the waterfall plunging into a narrow chasm at the base of the cliffs and beyond to the town of Meiringen and the lush, green Haslital valley stretching away past Innertkirchen to the
Riverside Ramble
Following the Reichenbach stream up-valley towards the Grosse Scheidegg (Great Watershed) pass south-east.
Continuing the climb beyond Reichenbach Falls, I was soon getting both hot and bothered as I swatted away nasty biting flies that followed my every step, whilst sweating profusely and sucking down the last of my water. But then just as I was starting to reach my boiling point - both figuratively and literally - my prayers were answered in the form of a simple carved wooden trough lying beside the trail, into which fresh cool river water was trickling from a tap. With no buildings anywhere in the vicinity I had no idea to whom the trough belonged, but I certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to cool off, quench my thirst and replenish my water supply at this little hiker's oasis!
From there I headed further up the heavily-wooded valley, sometimes along a trail through the forest and other times following the quiet shaded road, until the valley opened up and a trail broke off to follow alongside the Reichenbach stream. With an awesome cliff-face towering up directly ahead, and the river rushing by clean and clear beside me, this was one of my favourite stretches of trail all day - even if
Narrow Gap
Inside the Rosenlauischlucht I had to share it with a number of other hikers whom I had by now caught up with... including Bernd, who had been unable to take the bus as he had no cash, so had ended up walking all the way from Meiringen after all!
Having once again been unable to stock up on pastries before setting out (I really wasn't having much luck with bakeries at this point...) I was in need of a filling meal, so I stopped off at the Hotel Rosenlaui for what turned out to be one of the most amazing salads I have ever had (complete with fifteen different fruits and vegetables, all beautifully presented!) accompanied by sausage and chips; before making a short detour to the Rosenlauischlucht to follow another precision-engineered trail through a narrow gorge, with powerful waterfalls continuing the process of erosion.
Back on the trail I proceeded upriver alongside the Reichenbach stream towards the head of the valley, following a recently-laid alternative trail on the opposite side of the stream at one point, as the original trail had been buried by a landslide. Onwards and upwards the trail continued - with the peace and quiet of the
Worth climbing 14 kilometres for...
My first view of the Bernese Oberland giants from Grosse Scheidegg upper valley shattered only by the loud three-tone horn of the hourly postbus running between Meiringen and Grosse Scheidegg - until it seemed as though I would never make it to the pass.
But eventually, after almost six hours on the trail (including several lengthy breaks) I arrived at the busy hotel/restaurant atop the pass, which despite sitting at an altitude of just 1961m had required a climb of 14km (with almost 1400m of ascent) to reach, in what would have to have been the longest continuous climb I have ever completed. And there to greet me (yet again) at the top was Bernd! Needless to say, I was in no hurry to tackle the descent to Grindelwald - which was still a further 10km away (and 1000m below)...
While the scenery on the way up to Grosse Scheidegg was impressive to say the least, it immediately got even more spectacular upon cresting the pass, as the first of the really huge mountains of the Bernese Oberland came into view - the north faces of Wetterhorn (3692m), Schreckhorn (4078m) and Eiger (3970m) rising skyward in a straight line stretching to the south-west. And with the trail following exactly
Greener Pastures
View of the Schreckhorn's and Eiger's north faces on the descent into Grindelwald this direction the panorama got better with seemingly every step on the long descent to Grindelwald, with the three mountains providing such an incredible backdrop to the small settlements scattered about the valley floor that I regularly just stopped and stared at their impossibly rugged profiles.
I've been lucky enough to have encountered some epic landscapes on my travels - various parts of Australia, Capadoccia in Turkey, the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the volcanic islands of Hawai'i come immediately to mind - but the mountainous splendour of the pastures above Grindelwald would have to rank right up there with the best of them!
I could have spent the entire afternoon wandering slowly from farmhouse to farmhouse along those narrow country roads - and I almost did, after being so engrossed by my surroundings that I missed a turn-off and ended up nowhere near where I was supposed to be! A confusing half-hour followed as I first tried to ascertain where exactly I was, and then which combination of roads would get me back onto the right path; until eventually I found a familiar Via Alpina trail marker and from there made my way down into the busy
The Holy Trinity of Swiss Mountains
Eiger, Monch & Jungfrau rising up behind the Männlichen ridge, seen from Schynige Platte tourist mecca of Grindelwald - arriving at my hostel (the excellent Naturfreundhaus up on a hill overlooking the town and mountains) just before 8pm, almost eleven hours after I had set out from Meiringen. But what an eleven hours it had been!
With just one more day of clear weather forecast, my rest day in Grindelwald (meaning 'Locked Forest') was always going to be anything but that, so I took a regular train to Wilderswil - near where the Schwarze Lutschine (Grindelwald) and Weisse Lutschine (Lauterbrunnen) rivers meet - and then a slow, steep and scenic cogwheel train up to Schynige Platte. Perched high up (1967m) at the western end of a mountainous plateau that separates the Grindelwald valley from the adventure sports capital of Interlaken to the north, Schynige Platte is the starting point for one of the most renowned day-hikes in Switzerland: the Faulhornweg panoramic trail to First, which sits near the opposite end of the same plateau, a thousand metres above Grindelwald.
Even before leaving the train station at Schynige Platte I was treated to an amazing panorama to the south, with the broad valley of the Schwarze Lutschine river flowing down from Grindelwald and
Beautiful Background
High above Interlaken and the Thunersee on the Faulhornweg trail the steep-sided, glacier-gouged valley of the Weisse Lutschine river flowing down from Lauterbrunnen intersecting almost at right angles far below; the two valleys separated by the Männlichen ridge towering up to a mile above; and the holy trinity of Swiss mountains - the Eiger (Ogre), Monch (Monk) and Jungfrau (Virgin) - rising up another mile into the sky beyond that.
On any other trail such a view might be the highlight, but on this one it was merely a taste of things to come; for after rounding a few corners the trail then followed the crest of a ridge which dropped gently down to the wildflower-strewn meadows of the plateau on one side, whilst plunging over a precipice on the other side - opening up a stunning panorama to the north, with the town of Interlaken sitting almost 1500 metres below with the magnificent turquoise-coloured expanses of the Thunersee and Brienzersee lakes stretching off into the distance on either side.
As the trail continued it's easterly march across the plateau - contouring around the rocky outcrop of the Loucherhorn as it went - the views rarely diminished, with the 2000-metre-plus elevation of the trail leaving it above the
Alpine Splendour
View of the Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau and friends from the top of the Faulhorn treeline (though this also left me with virtually no shade for the entire afternoon). After crossing a steep scree slope with the cliffs of the Sägissa ridge rising up to the right and the small, circular Sägistalsee lake occupying a rocky cirque down below to the left, the trail then doubled back on itself and climbed up through snowfields to the Berghaus Manndlenen at 2344m, before resuming it's easterly advance across the upper slopes of the Winteregg ridge - crossing a hundred-metre-wide snowfield along the way - with the 2681m summit of the Faulhorn rising up straight ahead.
Though the main trail skirted around the base of the Faulhorn, there was never really any doubt I was going to tackle the steep, switch-backing side trail to the top - during which I tried to distract myself from the gruelling nature of the climb by reciting all the different colours of wildflower that I passed along the way: "purple, blue, pink, yellow, (breath), purple, white, blue..." and so on it went, until ten minutes later I emerged at the summit (crowned, of course, by both a Swiss flag and a busy mountain restaurant!).
After catching my breath and soaking
Simply Stunning
The beautiful Bachalpsee, on the way down from the Faulhorn up the views - which contained peak after peak stretching off in an unbroken line as far as the eye could see to the south-west - I re-joined the main trail at the base of the Faulhorn and followed it downhill towards the beautiful blue form of the Bachalpsee, around which a carpet of green extended in all directions, and behind which reared up the serrated peaks of both the Wetterhorn and Schreckhorn. Not for the first time - or the last - I was left awestruck by the sheer beauty of the scene in front of me; and I was in no rush to leave the lakeshore behind after following the trail alongside the lake to the outflow stream at it's far end.
But with the final cable car down to Grindelwald leaving at 6:30pm, I eventually had to tear myself away from the Bachalpsee to cover the final couple of kilometres to First, where the recently-completed Cliff Walk provided the perfect end to what had indeed proven to be the perfect day-hike. Clinging to the side of an over-hanging cliff-face, a steel walkway led first to a curved suspension bridge and then finally to a vertiginous viewpoint
Cliffhanging Trail
The First Cliff Walk, with the Eiger North Face in the background that offered perhaps the most spectacular panorama of the entire day - with the plateau that I had just traversed stretched out behind me; the Grosse Scheidegg pass that I had crossed the day before off to my left; the Männlichen ridge tapering off towards the Kleine Scheidegg pass (that I would be crossing the next day) ahead to the right; and the spectacular north faces of the Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn and Eiger looming up behind the town of Grindelwald far below... their rugged profiles seeming to grow ever higher as I descended back towards Grindelwald on the lengthy cable car ride down from First.
As expected the sunny weather of the previous five days had been replaced by overcast conditions by the time I set out on my third stage of the Via Alpina the next day, though at least the predicted rain hadn't yet materialized as I left Grindelwald and began yet another arduous uphill slog - this time to the pass at Kleine Scheidegg (which despite meaning 'Little Watershed' is actually a hundred metres higher than the 'Great Watershed" of Grosse Scheidegg) at the base of the fearsome Eiger North Face.
Following quiet sealed roads rather
High above the 'Locked Forest'
View of the Grindelwald Valley from Alpiglen than designated walking trails, and with a steep incline to overcome and no sunshine to speak of, this was probably the least enjoyable of my climbs so far. It was also bloody hard - for what it lacked in distance the climb more than made up for in steepness! The flip-side to all of this being that because I had little reason to stop and linger over the views - given that by now I had been staring at the same mountains for the past day-and-a-half - I was able to make good progress, reaching each landmark along the way (of which there were few) in half the time suggested by the frequent trail signs.
Within an hour of setting out I had reached the bergrestaurant at Alpiglen - a climb of 700 metres - and in just another hour-and-a-half I had attained the pass at Kleine Scheidegg, a full 1100 metres above Grindelwald. Unfortunately if anything the weather by this time had gotten worse, and with the pass being home to an extremely busy train station (with lines leading not only down to Lauterbrunnen on one side and Grindelwald on the other; but also the world-famous Jungfraubahn line
Scenic Location
Passing through Wengen on the way down to Lauterbrunnen that tunnels up through the Eiger to eventually emerge at Jungfraujoch - the highest train station in Europe at almost 3500m) I again had little reason to linger... though I was soon to wish that I had, as not long after leaving the crowded scene at Kleine Scheidegg behind the heavens finally opened, eventually forcing me to seek shelter (alongside four other thoroughly drenched hikers) beneath a grove of pine trees, as a thunderstorm raged all around.
As so often happens though, the worst of the weather lasted no more than thirty minutes; and barely an hour after the first drops of rain had started to fall the sun had already made a brief appearance! But though my wet weather gear had managed to keep the rest of me dry, my lack of weatherproof footwear had come back to haunt me as my feet were left soaking wet; so it was with renewed vigour that I then pushed on down towards the car-free town of Wengen - which occupies a broad shelf on the lower slopes of the Männlichen ridge - and from there tackled the final 400m descent on a steep, switch-backing trail through the forest to the
Not your average town
Cliffs rising up on both sides of Lauterbrunnen bustling tourist town of Lauterbrunnen on the valley floor, where I wasted no time in checking into my hostel to get warm and dry.
Despite the weather forecast for the weekend looking bleak (and with it my chances of completing the next stage of the Via Alpina, given that I would have to cross the Sefinenfurgge - which at 2611m would be by far the highest pass of the trail thus far) I was determined to give myself every chance of completing the trek in the event that the weather gods changed their minds; so I decided to use my 'rest day' in Lauterbrunnen to knock off the first 6km (and more importantly 800m of ascent) up to Mürren, in much the same way as I had climbed to the Trübsee from Engelberg a week earlier.
This would then shorten the following day's walk from 21km with 1800m of ascent (ie at the very limits of my endurance) to a far more manageable 15km with 1000m of ascent. From Mürren I could then complete a loop hike back to Lauterbrunnen by passing through Stechelberg at the head of the valley, and in doing so follow the exact same
Valley Deep, Mountain High
View from the trail between Mürren and Gimmelwald route that I had walked eight years earlier whilst staying in Lauterbrunnen on my first visit to Switzerland.
Fortunately the rain that had been falling all morning (while I was holed up in an internet cafe catching up on e-mail correspondence) stopped almost the moment I started my hike - and stayed away for the remainder of the day - though the resulting humidity made the steep uphill climb through the forest to Grütschalp less than pleasant. From there at least the gradient eased, as I followed the scenic railway line that runs from Grütschalp to Mürren along the upper flanks of the valley.
Much like Wengen on the other side of the valley, Mürren is a car-free town occupying a broad shelf almost eight hundred metres above Lauterbrunnen; and looks directly across to the gnarled facade of the Jungfrau, offering spectacular base-to-summit views of the West Face of the mountain rising more than three thousand metres from the valley floor. It would also prove to be the end point for my continuous walk along the Via Alpina, if the weather forecast for Saturday turned out to be accurate and I was forced to abandon my crossing of
Valley of Waterfalls
Beautiful waterfall in the forest above Stechelberg the Sefinenfurgge.
Nevertheless, with the bad weather holding off for now I was at least able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon, as I set off along a narrow trail that led down from Mürren to the idyllic little hamlet of Gimmelwald; and from there worked my way around the end of the Lauterbrunnen Valley - passing a number of impressive waterfalls, for which the valley is justifiably famous - and down to Stechelberg at the head of the valley.
With still more waterfalls plunging down the almost-sheer walls of the lower valley - each of which measuring around 300m in height - the trail back down the valley to Lauterbrunnen was a visual delight, following the rushing waters of the Weisse Lutschine river through what is referred to as 'Switzerland's Yosemite', with almost-vertical cliffs rising up on each side and the whispy plume of Staubbach Falls plunging over a precipice right on the edge of town. And I still had ten days left in Switzerland...!
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