I have had these photos from when I visited this part of
Switzerland lying around for a few years now, but I had never gotten around to
posting them. They were taken with an old cheap camera and I was never overly
happy with their quality, nevertheless I decided to tidy them up a little,
run them through a slideshow program and compress them into a video. I prefer
Vimeo for this process but the compression program did such a poor job that I
elected to try YouTube for the first time. The results are definitively better
through YouTube and considering the cheap camera used I’m relatively happy with
the results.
(Best quality achieved in fullscreen and 1080 HD)
This day walk ranks as one of the most spectacular and scenic
hikes in the Bernese Oberland/Jungfrau area, and offers jaw-dropping views in
all directions. It leaves from Schynige Platte at 1969m, ascends to
Faulhorn at 2680m and ends at First which is 2180m above sea level. I extended
the route to Grindelwald where I was staying which took me back down to an
elevation of 1034m. It’s a big day out with at least a kilometre of vertical
altitude gained and a similar amount to descent, plus another 1100m if you
chose to walk from First down to Grindelwald. The main trail from Schynige
Platte to First is 16km but as I continued on to Grindelwald, which I guess
added about another ~6-8km or 2-3hrs walking if you take that option (a gondola
from First is available, but if you miss the last gondola you have no option
but to walk down to Grindelwald).
The start of the walk is reached with a 50 minute trundle on
the old and slow cog wheel rack railway which leaves from Wilderswil (586m) and
climbs to Schynige Platte, (1967m) home to beautiful green meadows and at the
right time of year, masses of alpine flowers. The steep cog railway offers
spectacular views of the Brienzersee and the Jungfrau and is a pleasant prelude
to the days walk.
The walk itself is simply stunning, and, has it all! Far
below, I was able to peer down on the turquoise waters of the Brienzersee, and
the alpine lake of the Thunersee while above, the skyline was dominated by the
peaks of the Niesen and the Niederhorn. Below, lay the endless green valleys of
Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen which are surrounded by the majestic towering
range of the Wetterhorn, Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains. Passing wild
scree slopes and many beautiful small alpine lakes I descended into a valley in
which nestled the not so small but postcard perfect Bachalpsee Lake. From this
valley I could see the Rötihorn away to my right while across the lake, the skyline
was dominated by the peaks of the Wetterhorn and Schreckhorn.
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