Thursday 5th September : Weather: 18°C all day: Misty rain Lauterbrunnen, sunny Interlaken, Rain Griesalp
Lauterbrunnen to Griesalp: 9.0k walk: Lauterbrunnen Waterfall Weg
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 50m, Descent 50m,
Time: Walk 8.30am to 10.30pm : Train Bus 11am to 2.30
Accommodation: Naturfreundehaus, Griesalp
Serious Rain to Lauterbrunnen
Walking downtown Lauterbrunnen
Prettiest cemetery in Lauterbrunnen
A bit sunny in Interlaken
Post bus on 28% steep curve
Arriving in rain Naturfreundehaus
Highlight today wasn't climbing the Sefinenfurke at 2,212 metres as intended. In fact today was the first day in twenty years of hiking that we have missed a day. It rained and rained most of the day and was too dangerous. Instead our highlights were walking the waterfull Weg up the Lauterbrunnen valley and the post bus ride from Lake Tschingelsee to Griesalp. This is the steepest post bus in Europe with inclines of 18%, and it was hairy scary riding in the purpose built post bus with other hikers who had also given the Sefinenfurke a miss.
We’re awake at 6am, and it’s dark and raining outside. We look at the weather map and it’s ominous. Big orange blobs of rain heading our way. An executive decision is made. We’ll give Sefinenfurke a miss and go by train and bus to Griesalp via Interlaken. So first up our morning cup of tea, then a shower up the hallway, a chat to Bonnie who has just arrived back from Bali and we’re packed ready for breakfast at 7.30am. I have to say this was the biggest and best breakfast we have had. Everything you could possibly think of laid out in the buffet. I eat too much - meusli, yoghurt, croissant, fresh bread. The only downside was the quadruple strength coffee which I was tasting for the next few hours.
Ae fully pack and leave our bags at reception and have already decided to do teh waterfall walk up the Lauterbrunnen Valley, famous for not only the 72 waterfalls, but also the route the cows take when descending from the alpine pastures. We borrow the Hotel umbrellas and head off through the village and up the valley in the rain. The bitumen path is free of cars and there’s already several day hikers out and about. We soon see the Lauterbrunnen Cemetery, with each plot neatly covered in flowers. It’s without doubt the most well kept prettiest cemetery we’ve ever seen. Better than teh Toowoomba Flower Show. We see the Trümmelbachfälle water falls from across teh valley, a world gheritage listed site with water from teh Jungfau Glacier. Most of the waterfall is beneath the ground, having washed away earth and rocks over hundreds of years.
We walk for about 4k up the valley, then return by the same path just before 11am to pick up our back packs left at then Steinbock Hotel, It’s only 50 metres to the train station where we but tickets at 48.8 CHF each to Griesalp - four stages - Train to Interlaken Ost, train to Spiez, train to Reichenbach, then bus to Griesalp. The train leaves at 11.02am, travelling down a steep incline on it’s way to Interlaken. Our tickets are valid all day, so we leave the station and sit in the park for a coffee. It’s not raining and almost sunny, but we can see heavy clouds to the South East where we are headed. Returning to teh station, we catch the next train (direction Basel) to Spiez, then a quick change to Reichenbach where bus 220 to Griesalp is waiting. It leaves at 1.27 with several hikers on board who have given the Sefinenfurke a miss after being advised by locals it was too dangerous in this weather.
We were not prepared for this bus ride. It was strainght out of Disneyland and people would have paid a fortune for this adventure trip. The post bus travels up the end of the Kiental Valley on the steepest road in Europe with inclines of 28%, cutting between rocky passes, winding around hairpin bends, crossing narrow bridges. The bus driver gives a running commentary of teh various features on teh way - thundering waterfalls, steep Gorges, high cliffs - all in German! The 45 minute ride was one of the highlights of the day.
We arrive in Griesalp at 2.30 and it’s raining and misty. There’s no phone reception, so we need to guess where the Naturfreundehaus place is. Putting on rain gear, we head further up the mountain about 500 metres to see a familiar building - we had stayed there with Graham and Jenny in 2015. Daniel is having lunch on the deck, so we sit outside - it’s not cold, just wet, to have a few nuts for lunch. We’re in room 2 and there’s just enough space for a double bed and a chair! It’s hard to spread out our wet gear and packs, and most of the stuff we have to slide under the bed, which has a distinct sideways lean courtesy of sloping follor boards. Shower time, and lucky we brought small towels and mini shampoos.
Then at 4pm, we’re down stairs near the fire, sorting photos. There’s no phone reception but at least there’s WiFi. The dining room “would have” a wonderful view across the valley, but today it’s shorouded in misty rain. Some hikers arrive and tell us how terrible and slippery it was on the Sefinenfurke pass. We already know we’re glad we didn’t go there today. It’s a bit early for a drink but Ian has a beer and I have a very nice Pinot Noir while waiting for dinner at 6.30pm.
Dinner is a bowl of salad, followed by tomato risotto with a large sausage, and dessert of home made ice cream - with another pinot noir. At our table are two young girls from the Netherlands. They're both doctors and tell us they walked all the way from Lauterbrunnen, not Murren, over the Sefinenfurke pass shrouded in mist and rain, then down the slippery shale on the other side. While we are having dinner, another couple arrive at 8pm, sodden and exhausted after the same walk. We’ve never missed day hiking in twenty years but we’re glad we missed this one today.
After chatting for an hour, we’re in bed at 9pm.