Day 10 Sunday 6 September Lobhorn hut to Wilderswil

The last day, it is time to descend out of the mountains. Only one short uphill stretch today followed by a long but straightforward descent.

This week, I have worn my noise cancelling i-buds to sleep in the dormitories and they work. I woke up at 06:30 to find all the climbers except one had left the dormitory. I got up and enjoyed my last view of the high mountains at dawn.

After breakfast I had about a 20 minute walk to reach the col that led over to the Sylertal and a last view towards the Shilthorn.

Looking back to the Lobhorn hut. The Shilthorn can be seen in the distance.

The climbers were planning to cross the pinnacles seen on the right of the photograph

My way took me across the scree slopes of the headwall of the Sylertal

This was a straightforward traverse with only slight exposure, although the Cicerone guide says it can be more of a challenge if the rocks are wet. I could see the Brienzee in the distance. I reached the col on the far side of the bowl and it was now time to leave the mountains.

The Saxental

The paths are very well marked by the yellow signposts. Destinations are given in time, not distance, as it is the steepness of the path that determines how long it takes rather than the number of kilometres. After a couple of days you can judge your personal time. I, of course, am much slower than the times listed on the signposts

I had a steep descent down to the farm whose roof is in the photograph. Here I had to walk around the cows that were happy to continue to graze on the path, they are much more placid than their Scottish cousins. There was then an alternative short, steep descent to the valley floor but I followed the route recommended in the guide. This was a very pleasant walk, descending gradually to the Underbeg farm at the head of the valley. From here, there was a steep descent though forest to rejoin the service road at the foot of a waterfall.

After a short length of road walking I crossed the Saxtelbach to join a forest nature trail. Unfortunately the signs were in German so I failed to learn anything but made my way to the village of Saxeten. There is a hotel here but it seemed shut so I was pleased I had lunch with me. There was an old watermill in the village.

After about 300 metres of road I crossed meadows and I could see the Brienzee in the distance. I now had a fairly steep descent through forest. In a clearing, I could see Wilderswil and the lake.

The Brienzee and Wilderswil

I emerged from the forest at the outskirts of Wilderswil and it was now only a short walk between houses to the railway station and a train back to Interlaken

Day 9 Saturday 5 September Pension Sonnenberg to the Lobhorn hut

I had mixed feelings about today’s walk. I thought that the Shilthorn would have made a fitting climax to the walk and I should have finished at Murren. However today was a lovely walk and I was pleased thatI had continued. My route led me north, high above the western side of the Lauterbrunnen valley.

Most of the walk was though meadows and I took my time. The sound of cowbells has been a constant companion on this walk and today was no exception. There were plenty of views back towards the Eiger and Jungfrau, across the valley to the Lauberhorn. and back to my first few day’s walk along the northern side of the Grindelwald valley. I took my time having plenyt of stops to enjoy my last day in the high mountains.

Looking south from Allmihubel

Wengen and the Tshuggen. Schynige Platte and the ridge up to the Faulhorn can be seen in the distance.

Wengen, the Tschuggen and the Lauberhorn

Today was the day of the Jungfrau marathon. 42km and 1400 metres ascent from Interlaken to the Eigergletsscher. I could hear an announcer and some music drifting across the valley from Wengen but it was too far to make out the runners.

I turned a corner and began my descent into the Soustal. I passed a small farm and then descended steeply through woodland to reach the Sousbach river at a goat farm and chalets at Sousmatten.

Looking up the Soustal valley

I crossed the river and started the climb through meadows to the Lobhorn hut. I reached the base of a cliff and entered woodland. The path now turned parallel to the cliff to contour round its apex into the Sulsbach valley. I climbed once more to come out of the trees at a dairy farm at Suls. It was now a short walk through a limestone gully to the Lobhorn hut.

Dinner was with a German group of climbers. The usual hut fare of soup, salad, pasta (bolognese tonight) and a chocolate mousse. Lovely. The English spoken by my dinner comopanions was not so good, and my German is minimal but I was able to understand that they were doing a big climb tomorrow.

There was a beautiful view of the sunset on the Eiger with cloud inversion in the valley.

Day 8 Friday 4 September. Rotstockhut to Pension Sonnenberg

Another tough days walk. I did not walk far today but it was steep and uphill. I was climbing as soon as I left the hut

The path crossed open mountainside before picking its way through the rocks you can see in the photograph and then across scree to reach the ridge. The path then used to follow the ridge but there have been rockfalls so it has been diverted. There is a rocky pinnacle that you used to be able to cross using ladders but this was closed. In fact I could see a big crack in the rock under the ladder.

The way ahead involved a couple of hundred metre steep descent across the scree. I then had to traverse a fairly exposed length of scree under the pinnacle before a steep ascent back up to the ridge

Summit of the Shilthorn from the scree traverse

The path crosses the scree before ascending to the ridge just beyond the rocks in the middle of the picture. It was tehn a simple walk to the summit of the Shilthorn

There were a lot of people up here. You can get a cable car up here from the valley. As well as excellent views in summer and winter there are some nice ski runs off the mountain back to the valley. The summit restaurant (which rotates) is famous for being the mountain lair of Bloefeld in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. As you approach the true summit there is a”walk of fame” with quotes from some of the actors, production team and stunt skiers that took part in the film. One of the skiers was injured in the shoot and said he had had to give up slalom skiing. It did not seem to hurt his career as he won the World Cup downhill the following year!

I spent a lot of time up here admiring the view (and watching clips from the film on TV monitors) Unfortunately the restaurant was closed and I had to make do with a snack but it was worth the climb.

Thunzee from the Shilthorn

A final view of the “big three”

I did not fancy a steep scree descent, and I needed some trail food for the last few days so I got the cable car down to Murren

It was a bit of a shock to see so many people. The disadvantage of this lazy descent was I now had an ascent back up the mountain to the Sonnenberg Pension. This was much less busy than the Rostockhut but I sat with an American from Colorado of a similar age to me. We both thought that our age was a contra-indication to lugging tents around mountains and we preferred some sort of bed to a sleeping bag on hard ground.

Day 7 Thursday 3 September Obersteinberg to Rotstock Hut

Today and tomorrow are the hardest days of the trek. There is a lot of steep ascent and descent today (1000 metres up and 835 metres down, all steep). At breakfast there was a lot of discussion between groups as to whether to make an extra ascent (200 metres) to the Tanzbodeli plateau which is said to have expansive views.

The first part of the walk was fairly easy. Althought the mountain was steep the path made long loops up through meadows before contouring round the shoulder of the Spitzhoren.

Looking back to Obersteinberg hut, the Schmadribach falls and the Jungfrau

Now I had the steep ascent, with a bit of easy scrambling at the top to reach the Tanzbodeli. The word means little dance floor which describes the small grassy plateau well. The 360 degree view was worth the effort.

The little dance floor

Lauterbrunnen valley and Murren from Tanzbodeli

The high Bernese Oberland from Tanzebodi

To the southwest I could see tomorrow’s summit, the Shilthorn with the “James Bond” restaurant on top and the cablecar link between it and Birg. It does not look far in the photograph, but there is a deep valley between me and the mountain and the ascent is via the west ridge, the top of which is on the left of the photograph

The Schilthorn and Birg from Tanzebodi

I retraced my steps down to the path junction. I now had a long descent, initially through the meadows of the Busenbrand and then through forest down into the Sefinental valley. I has a good view of Gimmelwald and Murren

Looking up the Sefinental valley towards the Gspaltenhorn

I followed the river upstream on an easy track. At a path junction I left the track to climb around the end of a cliff face followed by a steep uphill ascent of 400 metres to reach the Rotstock hut..

Approaching the Rotstockhutte

This was a very nice hut. It was full. At these huts dinner is served around a communal table or tables. When several nationalities are present English tends to be the common language. Tonight there was me (British), a German couple, Norwegian and Swiss around the table and a sociable evening was had by all. There have been a large number of Americans. This area is world famous, and I am currently walking in a UNESCO world heritage site. I think it particularly appeals to American trekkers because of the availability of refuges and huts whereas in the American mountains you usually have to backpack, taking a tent of bivouacking in rough shelters and carrying several days food.

Day 6 Wednesday 2 September Stechelberg to Obersteinberg

The second half of the trek takes me away from the Grindelwald valley into the more remote west side of the region. Today I had a choice of routes up to the Berghotel Obersteinberg. I started the day by continuing to follow the Weisse Lutschine. The path soon left the river and climbed steeply uphill to the Berghaus Trachsellauenen. There were good views across the valley to the Jungfrau.

It was too early for coffee so I continued to climb until I reached a path junction with a view of the Schmadribach falls.

I had a choice of routes here. One alternative was to climb up the side of the waterfall and walk around the head of the valley. The other path was said to give a better view of the waterfall. My plan was to take the alternative route to a col and then climb to the Oberhornsee, which lies at the foot of several glaciers, before returning to the col to continue to the Berghotel. As it turned out this was the right choice.

I haad a very pleasant walk through forest and eventually came to another path junction where I stopped for a snack. I was then meant to drop to the foot of another waterfall before ascending through a valley to the col. However, the path was closed because the bridge across the river had collapsed. I had to take another path which climbed steeply, but directly to the Obersteinberg. This was a steep but pleasant climb with good views when it emerged from the forest.

I still thought I would have time to leave my pack at the Berghotel and walk to the tarn. However, when I got up to the ridge just before the hut I found that the path to the tarn was closed. I later discovered that a couple of German men had climbed the Schmadribach waterfall only to find the path higher up the mountain was closed. They had to descend back to the path junction and take my route up to the hut. I had saved myself a lot of unrewarding climbing and had a leisurely afternoon drinking beer and reading in the sun in a spectacular location.

Panorama from Berghotel Obersteinberg

The Bergghotel had no electricity in the rooms and water for washing was from a jug. The hut is next to a farm and a dairy and the cheese we ate was from the adjacent dairy.

Obersteinberg Berghotel and dairy

Day 5 Tuesday 1 September Lauterbrennan to Restaurant Stechelberg

My original plan was to walk back along the Panoramaweg to Kleine Sheidegg and then to continue on Kev Reynold’s route to Stechelberg. However, the shop in Stechelberg has closed since the guide was written and I needed trail food. There ware no stops in huts for lunch on most of that days of the second half of the walk. Also, I was finding the steep ascents very tiring and was in need of a quiet day. so I had a lie in and took the gondola down to Wengen and, after stocking up with trail food, I got the train to Lauterbrunnen.

All the cloud that was obscuring the peaks yesterday had disappeared and I went outside before breakfast for a spectacular view of the high mountains.

The Jungfrau from Mannlichen

Looking west towards the Shilthorn

Looking along the Lauterbrunnen valley

After an early lunch in Lauterbrunnen, I followed the tourist, tarma,c path up the valley. It is claimed that there are 72 waterfalls in the valley. It is a typical U shaped glacial valley, as they all are here, which is why the ascents are so steep. During the last ice age the main glacier that formed the valley had branches that passed between the surrounding mountains. As the valley floor dropped the side glaciers formed hanging valleys and now waterfalls drop to the current floor formed by the Weisse Lutschine river.

Looking up the Lauterbrunnen valley

The waterfalls are most spectacular in the spring, as the snow melts on the mountain but they are still very impressive in September

The Staubbach falls, a 297metre drop

At Trummelbach the waterfall flows through the mountain. A funicular takes you to a series of tunnels where you can see the 10 waterfalls either within the mountain or in a narrow gorge

The noise that the torrent makes as you walk through the rock tunnels adds to the atmosphere. It is claimed that 20 000 litres of water per second flow down the falls.

I continued up the valley to reached the Murrenbach falls which tumble over 400 metres from the plateau where the village of Murren is situated

It was now just a short walk to the Hotel Stechelberg where I had a bed booked for the night.

Day 4 Monday 31 August Alpiglen to Mannlichen

Alpiglen Berghaus lies adjacent to a dairy farm and I was lulled to sleep by the sound of cow bells outside my window. Either I was tired or the cows were moved to a barn but I had a quiet night.

It was cloudy when I left the Berghaus and returned uphill to the junction where I left the main path yesterday. Once there, I set off on the Eiger trail that continues underneath the Mittelegi to reach the base of the North face. There were good views towards the Grindelwald valley but the tops of the mountains were shrouded in cloud. There was a gentle uphill climb to reach the waterfalls of the Langengggraben waterfalls (not a misprint, the three g’s are intentional).

The path began to climb now. I could see my route ahead: a climb up scree to the top of the Eigergletscher gondola and the new Eiger experess lift from Grindelwald that they were building when I skied here just after lockdown. After that I had a descent to the saddle of Kleine Scheidegg.

The Eiger trail. The tourist centre at Kleine Schidegg can be seen in the distance

In fact, the path up to the scree was closed due to a rockfall so I contoured across to the western end of the scree where a path zig-zagged up to the base of the North face

An information board related the history of the first ascents of the Eiger. The first was in 1858 by an Irishman, Barrington, by the west flank. Barrington, apparently, was more interested in horseracing than mopuntain climbing and is not mentioned in the Alpine literature after this ascent. The north face was deemed unclimbable and it was not until 1938 (after several failed, fatal attempts) that the north face was conquered. The board showed the multiple routesnow taken up the Eiger. The cloud briefly lifted so I could see the summit of the Monch.

I now climbed up to a shoulder where I should havebeen able to see the mountains above Murren, which I would reach in two days time, but these were hidden by cloud. I descended slightly to cross a basin before climbing once again to reach the complex of gondala stations, the train station of the Jungfrauloch and a restaurant at Eigergletscher. After a coffee I began my descent to Kleine Scheidegg. The tops were hidden by cloud but I could see the col between the Monch and the Jungfrau. The views across the valley were better and I could see the Faulhorn with the mountain hut at its summit.

On the descent to Kleine Scheidegg

I continued down the mountain. For a few moments, the Eiger summit was clear of cloud

A train was descending from the moutain. The (very expensive) Jungfraujoch railway runs from Wengen to the Sphinx, on the ridge between the Jungfrau and the Monch.

I stopped at Kleine Scheidegg from lunch: rosti and cheese. Yum! From here I had a good view of my efforts of the last few days

Looking up the Grindelwald valley towards Grosse Scheidegg

My route after lunch took me on an easy path alongside the Lauberhorn and the Tschuggen. I have skiied in this area but the only run I was able to discern the whole walk was the run from the Lauberhorn. This is the site of the longest downhill run on the world cup circuit. I am afraid I was tired when we were up here so I took the easier blue/red run. Out of race conditioning (they inject salt into the snow to make it really icy) most of the world cup runs are skiable by amateurs, although not at the 90+mph at which the racers travel

This is a popular tourist route as you can get a gondala to Mannlichen, walk the few kilometres to Kleine Scheidegg and then get the train back to Wengen. There should be magnificent views of the 4000 metre peaks of the Bernese Oberland but these were all shrouded in cloud today. I made my way to the Berggasthaus Mannlichen, stopping on the way to talk to an American couple from Minnesota, it was his first time in Europe. An early arrival gave me time for a rest followed by an excellent dinner.

Day 3 Sunday 30 August Hotel Wetterhorn to Alpiglen

A beautiful sunny day in the Alps. I wandered into the forest just downhill from the hotel where there was a sculpture trail. The sculptures were made by local artists and designed to decay with time and feed the forest floor

The display was impressive but I did not want to lose too much height so after a few hundred metres I turned round and returned to the hotel. I walked uphill through forest for a few hundred metres before turning on to a track that descended to cross the Schwartze Lutschine torrent draining the upper Grindwald glacier.

There was a bridge across the torrent after which I had a steep climb through the forest to the Milchbach restaurant which was closed, so no early coffee break. One of the problems with walking in this time of climate change is that the mountains are more prone to rockfalls and my onward path had been closed. Fortunately I only had to descend a few hundred metres before traversing the slope and climbing again to rejoin the path that rose gently to the chalet at the top of the Pfingstegg gondola. On the way I passed through the Breitlouwina tunnel which avoided having to climb a crest running north off the Mattenberg

After the tunnel there were good views to the Grindelwald valley and I soon arrived at the gondola station where there was a rather tame, grassy toboggan run and a childrens playground. There were plenty of tourists admiring the excellent view

Looking down the Grindelwald valley

Looking back to Grosse Scheidegg

It was too early for lunch and I knew that the mountain hut where I was planning to stop for lunch was now closed. I had coffee while they made me a sandwich to take with me. At the hut there was a sign telling a story of the dwarves that lived in the area. These dwarves seem to have been very benign, happy to help the farmers work the hay meadows and then watch the feasts and parties at Pfingstegg. There were several of these placards on my route relating other fairy tales and legends, at some places the dwarves were much more mischievous.

After coffee I had a fairly easy walk with good views up to the Eiger and down the valley. I then started a steep descent into the Gleitscherschlucht gorge which drains the glaciers to the east of the Eiger. I reached the gorge at a site where you can bungee jump into the gorge or swing into the gorge on a rope. I gave both a miss. The gorge was spectacular

I crossed the gorge on a bridge high above the torrent. I then began a steep climb through woodland to an open area where I stopped to have lunch and chat to a couple of Nepalese girls who work in Switzerland. I then had a very steep climb up a metal ladder and through woodland to reach a path that ran underneath the Mittellegi ridge of the Eiger, the rock wall hiding the summit of the mountain.

I now had a very pleasant 3km walk on an undulating path that ran high above the Grindelwald valley

This path joins the Eiger trail which passes under the north face but that is for tomorrow. I took a descending branch down to the dairy farm and berghaus at Alpiglen.

Approaching the Alpiglen hamlet

I had booked a dormitory space here but there was only myself and a group of English women who have been going on an annual hiking trip together each year for the last 20 years or so., one lives in Stockport. They were in one dormitory and I had the other to myself. Even better, there was a hot shower before I sat down to a nice meal of soup, salad and mushroom risotto.

Day 2 Saturday 29 August Faulhorn to Hotel Wetterhorn

The sunny weather was back. Before breakfast I climbed the last few metres to the top of the Faulhorn. It was a bit chilly at 7am at 2681 metres but I was rewarded by the rising sun shining on the mountains to the north.

I returned to the Berghotel for breakfast.

Looking back to the the Berghotel and Faulhorn summit

Then it was a steep descent down to the saddle at Gassenboden. The incline became less severe and I continued to descend to the Bachsee. On the way I passed one of the hotel staff walking her dog, he (the dog) goes swimming in the lake every morning.

The Bachsee

The Swiss group, who had stayed at Manndlenen, were already there swimming in the lake. The Cicerone guide says this is a busy spot for day walkers but at 8:30am we were on our own. By the time I got to the south-eastern end of the lake and had sat down for a rest, day hikers were beginning to appear having got the cable car up from First. I had a gentle descent to the col at Bachlager.

Looking back up towards the Faulhorn from Bachlager

From the saddle it was an easy descent to the cable car and the Berggasthaus at First. There were more day walkers now as well as some tourists who had come up in the gondola to walk on a steel bridge suspended from the rock over the drop down to Grindelwald. Others rode a zipline that went back down to the lower cable car station. I am not sure whether the screams were of delight or horror as they descended 200 metres in altitude over less than a kilometre in distance, their legs dangling over the drop.

At First I stopped for coffee and apple cake. There was a good view of the glaciers to the east of the Eiger and Monch. A photograph on the terrace showed how much the glaciers have retreated over the last 40 years. From the station I had a good view of my walk to Grosse Schieidegg

Grosse Scheidegg is the saddle in the distance. It is actually lower than Kleine Scheidegg (which I will cross in two days). The Grosse refers to the surface area of the saddle. As you can see in the above picture, it was a lovely undulating walk to Grosse Scheidegg, first on a track and later on a path. The track led through a field where there was a herd of goats (they can also be referred to as a trip, tribe or flock). These seemed intent on following walkers. Some were following a group climbing up the path, they then followed me back down the path

“You shall not pass”

No obvious troll but I wonder whether the goats thought I was Big Billy Goat Gruff

Its funny how little things can remind you of the past. In this case playing Billy Goat Gruff and the troll with the children when they were small.

The goats followed me to a turnstile at the edge of their meadow. I presumed they then waited for the next group of walkers heading uphill.I joined a road which ran along the saddle to a Berghotel at the end of the saddle. There was a superb view down the Grindelwald valley and across to the Mittellegi ridge of the Eiger and the glacier under the summit of the Monch.

looking towards Kleine Scheidegg

The Eiger and Ischmeer glacier. The Wetterhorn is in the foreground

I grabbed a sandwich and a drink at the Berghotel. There was then a long descent to the Hotel Wetterhorn by a path that descended through pastures and woodland, crossing and recrossing the road that leads over the pass. There is a bus service up to the saddle and every time the bus went round a hairpin bend its horn played a tune to warn cyclists of its approach. The dramatic limestone cliffs of the Wetterhorn could be seen on my left.

The Wetterhorn

I was feeling quite dirty and sweaty, only having had a cold wash at Faulhorn so I was pleased to jump, into a hot shower when I arrived at the hotel.

Day 1 Friday 28 August 2026 Schynige Platte to Faulhorn

I boarded an early train to Wilderswil where I changed for the cog railway that climbs the mountain to Schynige Platte. This saved me about 1400 metres of steep ascent through woodland. The day started sunny and I walked through an alpine garden designed to showcase the plants found in the Alps. The path now started to climb along a panorama route that led the the Oberberghorn. I contoured round the summit of this mountain and got my first view of the three mountains that the Bernese Oberland is famous for. There are actually a total of nine 4000+metre mountains in this region.

The Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau

While I was walking in sunshine I could see the cloud that was coming in. On the left in this picture is the Eiger (the devil), the central mountain is the Monch (monk) and on the right is the Jungfrau (young girl). Legend says that the Monk protects the maiden from the devil. From the other side of the ridge I could see down to the Brienzee. Ahead was a ridge that ran to the Loucherhorn and in the distance was the Stellihorn ridge with the pinnacle of Indri Sugissa on the left.

The cloud continued to close in. As I approached the Loucherhorn it started to rain and I got out my waterproofs in anticipation of a downpour. By the time I had donned my overtrousers the rain had stopped so I took them off again. This was the only time I touched my wet weather gear in the 10 days. There was a little height gain before the path contoured around the peak of the Loucherhorn, with more good views. I descended towards the rock wall of the Sagissa. I then ascended towards a col to the north east of the Indri Sagissa. Now the cloud closed in and I was walking in mist.

The path became rocky and I continued to climb. At last the hut of the Manndlenen Bergghutte came into view. As I approached the hut it started to thunder. I was not too worried as I was walking in a shallow gully but I was grateful to enter the hut. While the storm passed I had some bread and soup and chatted to a Swiss group and a couple from Scotland. The Swiss told me there used to be much more snow on the summit of the Jungfrau throughout the year but last winter was very warm and much less snow than normal. They think the glaciers will have gone within the next 5-10 years.

I started off as the cloud lifted. I had a short, steep ascent up to the Winteregg ridge but I could now see the Faulhorn and the Berghotel in the distance.

At the top of the ridge the cloud came in again but there was no difficulty following the path and the short ascent up to the Berghotel Faulhorn that lay just below the summit. I had my own room (at my age, it is worth paying the extra to avoid the dormitory). There was no running water but I was provided with a jug and basin for washing. There was a normal toilet, not always present at the huts!

I was quite tired and I was happy not to have to walk on to First, as suggested in the book. One reason was that I knew no potable tap water was available at the Faulhorn so I had carried about 3.5 litres of water (as well as 5 days worth of trail food) making my rucksack several kg heavier than usual. I resolved to buy bottled water later in the trek.