We went on a short hike above Reichenbach im Kiental, Switzerland. The lighting was very difficult for taking pictures (or the photographer was not good enough), so I had to zoom in a lot to get the (my) best pictures.
Since it won't take long anymore before the snow is fully gone, took the opportunity to take some close-ups from mountains.
Still did not have the opportunity to really go out into the mountains, but did manage to go on a small hike on Bürgberg. From there you have a nice view on Faulensee and the Bernese Oberland.
The climb to the Zuckerhütl (3'505m / 11'499ft) is mostly a glacier tour. It is the highest mountain of the Stubaier Alpen, Austria. Only the last part to the summit has some easy climbing. If you look closely, you can see two groups of climbers towards the summit.
It was a long time, since I hiked in Grindelwald for the last time. Although not as early as last hike, I will still the first on the trail to Bergrestaurant Bäregg. The cablecar was not running yet, so most of the people were not on the mountain yet.
Reason for this hike was the news article of last week about the first hut of the Swiss Alpine Club and that triggered my curiosity. Had to see for myself where it stood. Will spend another post on that later.
The hike brought me to beautiful vistas on the Fiescherhorn and the west wall of the Eiger. A nice train ride brought me home again.
The Breslauerhütte (2'844m / 9'330ft) is a hut in the Ötztaler Alpen, Austria. The hut was built in 1882 making it an impressive 141 years old.
The primary summit which can be climbed from the hut, is the Wildspitze (3'768m / 12,362ft). After the Großglockner (which is only 30 meters higher), this is the second highest mountain of Austria.
From the village of Vent you can go up partially by cablecar, making the hut also a popular goal for dayhikes.
Today, with a group of friends, we made a nice hike through the Rhone Gorge. We walked from Flims down to the trainstation Versam-Safien at river level.
It was very hot, especially during the final descent, where there was no wind and all around were just cooking rocks. A quick dip in the Rhine cooled us off.
Have never been here before and it exceeded my expectations.
We plan to make an overnight stay in the Geltenhütte this Saturday. Since our last visits the hut has been renovated, so I thought I post before and after pictures. Today on #ThrowbackThursday the hut as it looked like in 2008 (no rainfilter or waterdrops on the lens, the camera was just that bad).
As promised, the "after renovation" pictures of the Geltenhütte. I have tried to reproduce the two pictures in the previous post, so you can compare easily.
They have added a part on the terrace side, but tried to keep the look as it was. New there is now a door to the terrace directly. They kept approx. the same size for the terrace, which they basically moved it a bit to the left. You can use the rocks at the back of the terrace as reference.
The inside has been modernized, which has been done nice. I could have done without the modernization, except for the comfy chairs (a lot of the time there are only stools).
High mountains naturally attract, lower ones do not get the same love. Horen (2'444m / 8'018ft) in the Bernese Oberland is such a mountain.
Surrounded by giants it is often overlooked as a goal, but the panorama from the top is very nice. You will be certain you have the place by yourself as well.
To which summit do you take a first timer in mountain hiking? Ofcourse to the First above Kandersteg at 2'548m / 8'359ft.
The route from Kandersteg to the summit and down on the other side to Elsigenalp is a T3, with a few small T4 parts. Going down on the T4 parts was a challenge, but with taking it slow, this was not a major issue.
All in all this was a very nice day hike and my friends hiking career might be ignited.
View from the Nufenenstock (2'846m / 9'337ft) with to the right the Blinnenhorn, which marks the border between Italy (to the left) and Switzerland (to the right).
The rescue helicopter was already there when ascending to the summit. One man was calmly being treated by the medics. When we arrived in the hut we found his friend who could tell us, that all was well with him. 🙏
What a blessing that there is a such a good rescue network in Switzerland. An dumb accident or medical situation can happen oh so quickly.
Got the mountain virus from my grand-dad. When he was still roaming the mountains, it was much more common to celebrate summiting with a "Schnapps". On multi-day mountain trips, when reaching the highest peak of the trip, I try to keep this tradition alive. As a remembrance I also have the laces of his last hiking boots with me in the backpack.
This mountain probably hardly needs an introduction: the Matterhorn (or Cervino in Italian, as it lies in the Swiss/Italian border) seen from the ascent to the Allalinhorn. With a height of 4'478 m / 14'692 ft it is the 10th highest mountain of Switzerland and was first climbed in 1865.
On the 150th anniversary of the first ascent, the mountain was given a day of silence, in remembrance and honor of the over 500 climbers who lost their lives trying to climb the Matterhorn. Anyone who was climbing the Matterhorn that day anyway, would get a fine of 5'000 CHF (5'500 USD).