Friday 2nd of October 2015
4:00 AM : Sleepy but very determined we woke up and started our 4 day excursion to Berner Oberland. We made the final touches to our rucksacks and we were ready to go …

4:30 AM : We left from home to the nearest train station by foot (as there was no bus or tram so early in the morning). Arrived at ZH main station we took the first direct train to Bern.

05:21 AM : In the train to Bern we were already excited but still a bit sleepy. The young ladies nearby didn’t help too much so there was no chance of sleeping in the train.

06:34 AM : Next was the train to Interlaken Ost. We’ve enjoyed some amazing morning views in Interlaken.

07:35 AM : Already in the train to Lauterbrunnen. We were finally awake and full of energy. The fog offered us some spectacular views around the lake.

08:00 AM : On our way to Mürren … First we had a short ride in a cable car followed then by the BLM small train ride. The train goes around the mountains and the views are pretty cool. Arrived in Muerren we walked to the cable car station and finally from there took the cable car to Schilthorn.

09:00 AM : Buna dimineata soare! Schilthorn … breathtaking views … James Bond … and the well-deserved brunch. Thanks to my colleagues we could enjoy a tasty breakfast in the rotating restaurant. We charged our batteries and with even more energy we started the adventure …

10:30 AM : We left Schilthorn behind and started the descent with big smiles on our faces.
The descent was a bit steep but there were ropes on the exposed sides. Some places had a bit of snow and ice and were slippery. But with technical hiking shoes you can survive. We even saw some mountain goats on a nearby mountain …

We were very optimistic and when we reached Rote Härd we actually thought we were at the next intersection and we turned right instead of left. Actually it was a choice between the sunny and the rainy side. And we kept going … We’ve heard some noise on the mountains and saw some ibex climbing.

After we descended for half an hour we realised we were going in the wrong direction. So we had to return all the way up. The good thing was that the ibex had descended from the mountains near the path. But they were extremely shy and started running back.
Still we could get a very good look at them and discovered that they also had some baby ibex with them.

After 40 minutes we reached Rote Härd and started descending in the right direction. The descent is not very difficult but some parts are quite steep.

We reached the intersection with the road that goes to the Rotstockhütte and had lunch there on the big rock.

Having recharged our batteries we took the path to the right towards the mountains. This is quite an easy walk passing by a small lake and a small canyon on the left side (Sefibach, Hundsbach). The views were a bit similar to the ones in Iceland.

Then we saw many beavers everywhere: some on the rocks nearby, some crossing our way – funny little creatures. The weather was very capricious: some rain, wind and the sun in all combinations.

We continued walking and reached the base of the Sefinenfurgge pass. Yet another climb and because there was a mixture of snow, ice and water this was quite hard.

The beginning wasn’t that bad, but just before reaching the top I had to explore many alternative ways. We had to use our hands as well and we finally made it to the top. Great view unfortunately it was foggy and we couldn’t see all the mountains. It seems that the view is looking towards the Jungfrau, Monch, Eiger and other Bernese Oberland peaks.

The Backpacker magazine named (around 2011) this  as the best hike in the world and probably one of the main reasons was the great view. We’ll return here someday when hopefully we’ll be more sunny. We continued just a bit more to the top and then started the descent. Fortunately there were some ropes that you could grab to avoid a deathly falling in the deep dark.

And at some point started the stairs and then the curves around the mountain -never ending up long switchbacks.

There were no trees only rocks all around us. Once again we had the impression we were on another planet. And we kept going … the fog started to come. I had the impression that we’ll never make it to the hut.

We were going around the mountain on very narrow paths. At some point we saw the Gamchigletscher sorrounded by fog just from another world. Suddenly I looked forward and I saw a green field full of animals. I realized there were more than 20 ibex having their dinner. And then I looked up and discovered the Gpaltenhornhütte. Amazing location up and near the glacier. We started with more confidence the ascent towards the hut. Unfortunately we scared the ibex and they started running in different directions: some up, some down in small groups. After 10 minutes we reached the hut around 6:45. The people from the hut already tried to call us thinking that we were no longer coming. Unfortunately we had no signal on the way. Tired but happy we had a great dinner: a large portion of soup, spaghetti bolognese and a nice dessert. We slept in a private small room – the hut was renovated this year (2015) and they have nice little rooms with two beds.

Photos, Downloads and References

• The complete photo gallery
• The recorded GPS track (please note that it also contains all the mistakes we did on the hike)
• The topographic map in SchweizMobil

Track Details and Elevation