Via Alpina 1 Stage 8: Bundalp to Adelboden

I wake up wondering if I’ll be fit for walking today. It’s difficult to say when nothing really hurts and a resting position makes everything feel right. Straight off bed I feel weak but that may be normal. I decide to give breakfast a go and see how it feels. It went down this well:

Alp breakfast

My body welcomed the food. I think it was its way of telling me it was fine. My mind welcomed the super charming staff at Bundalp that took care of me, comforted me and made me feel like family. Also the warming conversation with fellow hikers on the breakfast table –thank you all.

I got energy for body and soul, the final test was to go hiking and see how it felt so off I went.

Bundalp berghaus

It’d rather feel good because from Bundalp it’s all uphill to Hohtürli, the highest pass on the Via Alpina 1. I’m cautious for a start and probably not at my physical best but I’m feeling otherwise fine and increasingly confident that the sickness is over. This gives me peace of mind and a sort of calmness that makes me feel well overall.

The environment certainly helps. There’s cloud in the valley, blue sky above, it’s cool, temperature wise, just about perfect for a steep climb. There must be a high pressure going on that forecasts stable weather and puts climbers above the clouds. It’s so beautiful!

On the way to Hohtürli

Sea of clouds and mountain islands

The approach to Hohtürli is rugged and rocky and it’s a spectacular climb on a bright September morning.

Up onto rocky ground

Final climb to Hohtürli pass

As usual, the path is well engineered. Here it avoids the steep scree slope leading to the pass by taking to the side over a series of stairs. I guess it helps limit erosion in addition to making things easier for the climbers.

The oddest thing is the wooden bench

The Hohtürli saddle area is very similar to Sefinenfurkke minus the dense fog I met at the latter the day before. It’s noteworthy the shift in the naming pattern for the passes has come with a change in their actual shape. Both Hohtürli and Sefinenfurkke were rugged, narrow and rocky, nothing to do with the wide and grassy passes of previous days when the -pass suffix was always part of the name. It’s like the more convoluted names would reflect the character of the pass.

Hohturli, looking south

If I must take things as they come, I’m glad for the bright weather today cos the views are magnificent in all directions: to the south and just above the pass there’s the Blümlisalp massif summits with their glaciers that you can almost touch. To the north, the sea of cloud, the mountain islands and the odd red dot of a fellow hiker’s shirt for colour.

The Blümlisalp massif

Well earned view

The Blümlisalp stands out as one of the most interesting areas along the Via Alpina 1: great mountains, sizeable glaciers and not as spoilt and crowded as the Bernese Oberland tourist hub. The view over the west side of the Hohtürli shows more mountains over the cloud and I take the chance of a fellow hiker around to become myself part of the scene:

The Blümlisalp from Hohtürli pass

I’m so happy to be here and my sickness is now definitely behind. All is good.

The climb down is also spectacular over a narrow trail transiting the slopes with great views to the glaciers.

Trail with a view

The Blümlisalp glaciers

It’s mid morning and I start to meet climbers in multi-day packs heading for Hohtürli and beyond. It takes a reasonably long descent to reach the first alp hut on the way which is very popular today with day hikers enjoying the views and basking in the sun after the walk up.

View from Ober Bärgli alp

The trail gets wider and busier as it gets to the edge of the escarpment leading down to the Oeschinensee, a big mountain lake of turquoise waters, enclosed by towering mountains and ice sheets that appears magnificent from above.

Oeschinensee

Once down near the water though, the dirt-road like, wide track and heavy day-hiker traffic spoils the feeling somewhat. At the far end of the lake there’s yet another tourist hub with service road access and cable car lift for the public. Lots of people but the place is still beautiful.

Oeschinensee, busy side

The trail down to the valley is nice and only moderately busy in this sunny Saturday afternoon. One last look back to where the water comes from before concentrating on the great views of the valley confluence, Kandersteg town and the mountains beyond.

Oschibach waters

Valley confluence and Kandersteg town

Once again, Kandersteg is very touristy. The place is beautiful, with a wide, bright valley flanked by high mountains. It feels sleepy on this weekend afternoon.

Kandersteg

I make a quick recall of how long it would take to hike one more section, i.e. up the next pass and down to the following valley to see I’m in good time to make it so my only stop in Kandersteg is a brief one at the train station to get information about transport options from my planned, possible destinations out to town and airport tomorrow. This is bound to be my last hiking day on the Via Alpina even though I could still use the Sunday morning for a few additional miles, if needed.

The transport information system in Switzerland is remarkably efficient. In a matter of seconds I get a printed card with all my requested schedules for a country-wide commute including rail and bus lines all the way to my final destination at Geneva airport. You got to love such a well organized country.

Just upstream from Kandersteg, the valley narrows down into a gorge and the Via Alpina climbs on one side to reach a feeder high valley dotted with alp buildings among the summer pastures. The cloud that had been breaking up through the day has got a stronghold over the west side mountain crest and the trail takes me towards it.

Side valley heights

The route to Bunderchrinde pass climbs straight up the valley side wall over switchbacks through a weak point. As I climb I enter the mist.

Back into the mist

It looked highly unlikely to be hiking in low vis conditions on such a brilliant day but these mountains grabbed their share of cloud and hadn’t let them go yet. It’s early evening now and that means empty trails, I met the last day hikers off the mountains in the switchbacks section. It’ll be a stylish end to my trip, I think to myself, to cross one last high pass with nobody around and the feeling of isolation and remoteness enhanced by the misty conditions. I count on the trail to be as straightforward to follow as usual.

This way

Hang on to trail tread and paint stripes

Bunderchrinde is high, its name rough-sounding and I wonder if it will meet the pattern of the two previous passes. It turns out it does! A narrow gap in a rocky crest:

Bunderchrinde final steps on the east side

The sense of isolation is profound. It’d surely feel very different mid morning on a sunny summer day with more hikers around. Now it feels comforting to start the climb down. My goal is put down to numbers in the yellow signs:

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I recall the descent from Sefinenfurkke the day before when I took pretty much the same picture of a trail skirting the slope and disappearing into the mist:

Trail into the mist

Eventually I get off the cloud and take advantage of the rockfall for a vertical support to take one last selfie:

Back to the meadows

The environment is so much darker in this basin. The sun barely makes it across the clouds to reach the valley floor and Adelboden town, which is now set to be the end of my trip on the Via Alpina 1. I can see it getting closer.

Barely visible Adelboden

Almost there

The Engtschligetal lacks a flat bottom and Adelboden town is set up on the slope. This makes it appear to me less welcoming than Kandersteg did earlier on the day. It takes some time to locate the campground that turns out to be a tiny bungalow/caravan park with no tents but the manager is very welcoming to me and my Trailstar anyway and I get a nice grassy corner for a final Trailstar pitch.

Adelboden campsite

There’s about 5 h walk to the next valley to the west. I could cover that on the Sunday morning and still be able to make it to a train link on time for my flight home from Geneva. It’d be more epic but I decide against. Enough of the nothing-but-hike plan. Sunday morning will be holidays and reflection time on the way home. Celebrations start now:

Well deserved

I made it to Adelboden, roughly 3/4 of the way in the Via Alpina 1 when I was meaning to cover it all. I’m surprised at the gap between expectations and reality but not deceived. It doesn’t really matter. I loved the trip as it was and I loved hiking in Switzerland and getting to experience this part of the world that I had so far skipped from my trips. It may not be my dream environment but these mountains are part of the history of mountaineering and part of the reason why I’m doing this thing at all so it made all the sense in the world to come over and hike. I’m very glad I did.