We woke up with fresh forces just in time for the sunshine. The Murmeltierfett based ointment had some good effects on the knee, however something stronger was needed to be able to comfortably go on with the trip. Some fellow hikers had some extra anti-inflammatory pills that they could spare and in a couple of hours we were ready to go.
Going out to catch the sunset we noticed that it was a tough cold and a layer of fog covering the mountain peaks. However as soon as the sun showed up, it started to warm up the fog and cut it through.
Morning break from Loetschenpass hut
We had again a great breakfast and started slowly the hike towards Lauchernalp. To avoid any unpleasant surprise, due to the knee pain, we decided to do the gentle descent to Lauchernalp. This is supposed to be only a half day hike allowing us to return a little bit earlier to Zürich and prepare for the working week ahead.
Morning fog at the Lötschenpass hut
By the time we finished breakfast and packed our backpacks the fog was up and the weather was great again. However we were soon left behind by the other hikers as we were trying to keep it slow on the knees and taking lots of pictures. The view was amazing and we promised ourselves to return one day and do the entire hike through the pass.
On the way to Lauchernalp
The trip down was really pleasant with great views to the Aletschgletcher. While enjoying the hike were we greeted by a sheep which seemed to be confused at first.
The lonely sheep
To our greater surprise it was followed by three other persons … we tried to figure out if the sheep was scared and just going ahead of the pack or the others were taking it to a precise destination, however we could not find an answer.
The sheep and the following crew
In front of us we had great views to the Aletschgletcher while behind in the distance we had some of the greatest peaks (Matterhorn(4478m), Zinalhorn(4221), Weisshorn(4505), check this link for an annotated panorama ) .
Lötschenpass Panorama, can you spot the Matterhorn?
We had a quick snack and started to hurry up the pace as we were taking too many photos and were quite late in the day. We reached a nice plateau and we realized that we were not the only ones captivated by the view.
Mid-day siesta
One last descent and we should be close to the lift, we decided to take the lift as a shortcut as we were told that the way down might be a bit problematic due to the knee condition.
View to the Langgletscher and Grosser Aletschfirn part of Aletchgletcher
As we were losing altitude the vegetation became more variate. We found blueberry bushes of a burning red and very nice yellow larch trees. As we arrived to the Berghaus restaurant we were told that the next lift was leaving in an hour. We decided to take a break and stay there for lunch.
On the way to the lift, on the left the Berghaus restaurant where we had lunch
They served some great Rösti, once we were done we took the lift down to Wiler-Lötschen and continued with the bus till Goppenstein.
From here we took the train to Zürich and officially ended our 4-day trip!
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)
Track Details and Elevation
Total climbing: 76 m
Total descent: -799 m
