Via Alpina 6: Faulhorn and on to Lauterbrunnen

In Part 1 of this account, we outlined the project (hiking roughly 1/3 of the Via Alpina across Switzerland with Tom, Carol, Bob, and Diane), and covered our first two days, hiking from Mels to Elm (and taking transport to Braunwald). Part 2 took us on to Klausenpass and to Altdorf, home of William Tell. In Part 3 we climbed over the Surenenpass and enjoyed rest days in Engleberg. Part 4 took us over the next pass or two to Meiringen, while Part 5 went on to Grindelwald and an excursion to a high mountain hut.

 Day 9: To the Faulhorn

After our two days of dubious weather (see Part 5), the beautiful clear skies were back, along with more heat than we really wanted. Since we were there to see the mountains, it was a trade-off we were willing to accept.
First light gilds the cap--more a wave than a lenticular cloud--on the Eiger.

From the front porch of the hotel.

As was our wont, we headed down the street and grabbed the First lift. This day, the last of our Via Alpina, actually isn't on the VA route at all. I'm counting it because we made linear progress. This was also another day when we had to carry what we wanted for the night. Our target: the oldest mountaintop hotel in Switzerland. More on that later!

We took the First lift as far as the first stop at Berg, and opted to do the rest of the climb afoot to enjoy the one quiet and solitary part of the day's hike.
 
Our charming cheese-themed gondola. Note it is apparently sponsored by Raclette, the famous special cheese for melting on your dinner.
 
Once we left the lift at Berg, we began a stiff climb through pastures that might have been featured in Heidi, always with views of the mountains across the valley from us. At one point we heard, though we couldn't spot, an icefall on one of the glaciers.
 
Bob and Diane toil upward with (I think) the backside of the Mönch in the distance.

Above the forests and wearing shorts again. Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau step away to the horizon.

We had the option of skipping First at the top of the lift, but made our decision at Bachlager (below) to take the long way, brave the tourist scene, and check out what promised to be spectacular views (okay, and maybe we wanted to test our fear of heights on the cliffwalk).


You can see the selfie platform sticking off the edge of the cliff. If you look really closely, you can also see the walkway along the face of the cliff.

Given the size of the queue for the platform (which had exactly the same view as you got standing on the walkway) we didn't wait in line for it. Most of our party did the cliff walk and agreed that Swiss engineering beat out fear of heights.

On the high bridge.

Once we touched the tourist route, we were not to be free of crowds again. Everyone wanted to walk the two or three miles to the Bachalpsee and picnic by the water.
 
The crowds thinned some when we walked on to the far end of the lake.

It began to feel like a long day as we continued up beyond the lake. Far fewer people were going all the way to the Faulhorn, but there were still plenty of other hikers toiling up all around us.

That final summit push is always the real killer!
 
The Faulhorn hotel as mentioned is the oldest mountaintop hotel in Switzerland. It was built in 1932-3, and in many ways shows the impact of 90 years perched at 8700'. The fact that it is there at all says a lot, good and bad, about Swiss attitudes to challenges and the mountains. That it continues to be there kind of defies logic.
 
Yes, the walls really were that far off plumb. Rooms were primitive and unheated, and there is no potable water (or hot water).

Of all the places we went, this was the one that most reminded me of the hotels in Nepal. One big difference caught us unprepared: there is not just no potable water, but because of the materials used in the roof-top collection system, you can't drink the water even with filtration. We were forced to purchase water at $15 for a 1.5 liter bottle. In the morning, they did sell "hiker tea" for about half that much, as it was made from their bulk supply rather than being bottled. I can't gripe too much, though: everything up there is hauled up by chopper, at a pretty stiff per-kilo price. Water is heavy. What I would have done, had I known, was fill my water bag at the lake before the final climb. 
 
No one, however, stays at the Faulhorn for the amenities (dinner wasn't bad, except that they somehow missed serving our table--everyone else was on dessert and they hadn't brough us the entree. Even once they got that message, it took a long time to get our food. We didn't have anything better to do, but we were hungry). What you stay there for, is sunset and sunrise on the mountaintop. Conditions were fantastic for photography. My apologies for including too many of these photos (sorry/not sorry).
 
Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau

Looking west--a glimpse of the Thunnersee.


Day 9 stats: 6.1 miles, 3600' climb. Plus two or three trips up from the rooms to the viewing platform on the very summit, and a somewhat precarious trip downstairs to the loo in the middle of the night.


Day 10: Walk to Schynige Platte, trains to Lauterbrunnen

The sunrise was both colder and less spectacular than the sunset, but I was out there waiting at first light, along with one or two other hardy photographers (at first just my brother-in-law).

 



Eventually they served breakfast, so we stopped taking photos and fed ourselves, then got ready to hike. This was a mostly downhill day, to compensate for the previous day's all-uphill route.

The route also included a long ridge run.

A long traverse away from the big peaks.

For just a bit I thought I was back in the Sierra.

Eventually we came around to an aerial view of Interlochen, with glimpses of the Thunersee (far left below) and the Brienzersee on either side of the city.
You can tell which way the water flows from the glaciers--the Brienzersee is much greener than the Thunersee, because it has more glacial silt suspended in it.

I'm not completely clear on what causes the lines--currents, shadows, boat traffic... but something is shifting the silt.

Eventually we all made it to the train station at the Schynige Platte, and onto the cog rail for a long (4600') descent to Gsteig, where we changed trains for Lauterbrunnen. This was much farther than we would care to walk in a day. Though the Via Alpina route crosses from Grindelwald to Lauterbrunnen in a single day, it takes a much more direct route (and even on that one I'd take the train down. I'm just not that big a fan of pounding downhill for hours).

Bob shot Tom and me checking our progress. I made sure to pull in my head before we reached the tunnel!

Waiting for the next train.

Before dinner time, we finally arrived at the end of the road--for us--in Lauterbrunnen. We had a couple more days of local adventures, and were all feeling the fatigue of the long trip, and were excited to reach our hotel. For me, it was a disappointment. This was the first place where I wished I had upgraded my room (though I don't think they had any single rooms in the remodeled part of the hotel). My room was tiny, dark, well-worn, and had a "view" of another wing of the hotel and the kitchen entrance. In short, it was the only room I had that felt more like "cheap motel" than Swiss Hotel. This did, at least, encourage me to get out and see the town, and so maximize my last days in Switzerland. All of that to come in one final Via Alpina post!
 
Day 10 stats: 6.7 miles. 325' up; 2613' down.
 
Lauterbrunnen valley and Staubbach Falls from alongside the hotel.


Tune in next week for the exciting finale of my nearly 2 months in Europe!


Here's the whole series:

In Part 1 of this account, we outlined the project (hiking roughly 1/3 of the Via Alpina across Switzerland with Tom, Carol, Bob, and Diane), and covered our first two days, hiking from Mels to Elm (and taking transport to Braunwald). Part 2 took us on to Klausenpass and to Altdorf, home of William Tell. In Part 3 we climbed over the Surenenpass and enjoyed rest days in Engleberg. Part 4 took us over the next pass or two to Meiringen, while Part 5 went on to Grindelwald and an excursion to a high mountain hut. Part 6 finished the linear journey. In the final post, we'll do some hikes around Lauterbrunnen and visit a cool outdoor museum. 
 
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2022
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Comments

  1. I love seeing your pictures. They make me smile.

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    1. Thank you! I hope to do that, whether I share photos or stories :)

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  2. Wonderful! I could look at these pictures several more times.

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