Via Alpina 1 Stage 3: Urnerboden to Attinghausen and beyond

In the morning, as expected, everything is dripping wet and I need to leave well before the sun shines so I pack a wet mess and a good excuse for an extended break in the sun later on the day. The setting is not idyllic, too close to human habitation but the valley is beautiful and very well worth a camp pic:

Dawn in Urner Boden

I have a close encounter with local wildlife before I leave:

Duck family visiting

I walk along the valley, past cattle fields and the scenic setting of Urnerboden village, on top of a knob that seems purposely built to hold the town. I can imagine it was a useful feature to avoid flooding, maybe aid with defense.

The Fätschbach flow

Urnerboden village

Then it’s the climb to Klausenpass. The sun is out, the trees are no more and I start the first sweat session of the day. Klausenpass has a through road so it’s not the most glorious of climbs but the route stays on trail and the views down the Urner Boden valley are still beautiful.

Urner Boden Valley

The actual pass is fully taken by the road. There are a couple of pubs so I spread all my wet camp stuff and take a double run of coffee and cake to justify the wait. Motorists may feel my display weird but everything makes sense to me.

Klausenpass

The Via Alpina is remarkably loyal to a real trail and avoids the road completely. There’s a long, long valley ahead and after the initial descent the route leaves the valley floor to veer off to a side and start what’s going to be the longest high traverse of the whole trip, above the Schächental. There’s grand views across the valley as the path goes across meadows and chalets, then the trail climbs further in a welcome move towards wilder land.

High farms of the Schächental

High slopes of the Schächental

Traversing the slopes

Then the route comes back down to the meadow-farm-chalet section of the slopes. Here the combination of heat, impending tiredness and a suburban traverse through a mess of dirt or tarmac tracks starts wearing me down. Then I realize I can stop, rest and feed, if only for a short while. It may sound odd but I’m so much into the walking discipline that I sometimes need a conscious awareness effort to take this option. I need it this time around.

Heavy metal in the meadows

Next the Via Alpina comes down all the way to the valley floor and regains some dignity as it follows the river through some nice woods. There’s still the road on the other side of the stream but I can barely notice it’s there.

Eventually the trail spits me out onto a main alpine drain, the biggest valley since I left Sargans. At this stage I’m certainly tired and not at my emotional best. I avoid visiting Altdorf, allegedly the most scenic village in the area, which would need a slight meander, and take a straight line across Bürglen and Attinghausen to reach the base of the wall on the other side of the valley.

Bürglen

The cable car at the far end of Attinghausen is damn tempting. It’s late, I face yet another sweaty climb and I’m fed up more than actually tired. It’d be so easy to jump in and save myself from all that doesn’t feel appealing now but I’m ready for moments like these. I know they will happen and I know what to do, i.e. keep walking. So I do, past the cable car terminal and up the usual steep section to get myself out of the valley. I get my sweat and I’m rewarded with nice views of what I leave behind.

Altdorf and company, the Urnersee on the far left

I reach the upper floor and the first flat spaces since I left the main valley just before darkness. I make myself comfortable in a cattle meadow with luckily no cattle around. My next milestone, Surenenpass, is visible at the far end of the scene, the city lights down in the valley are too if I walk a few yards towards the edge.