August 31, 2018
Beginning back on June 17, we took our first steps on our Trekking Europe adventure, as we left Porto, Portugal, on the Camino Portugues. Now, after completing that trek and two others in France and Germany / Austria, we had just five days left on our latest hike across Switzerland.
As we made our way to the end of the Swiss Alpine Pass Route, in Montreux, Switzerland, we would be saying farewell to our summer of hiking. Not only would it be an Auf Wiedersehen (goodbye in German), but an Au Revoir as well, as the final day and a half would be spent walking through the French portion of the country.
Climbing the Last Alpine Pass in Fall Weather
After our rest day in the town of Kandersteg, we were anxious to begin hiking again. With the rainstorm that had taken place over the previous couple of days, knocking us off one of the stages, the weather had literally changed from summer to fall overnight. It was in the high 40s F and overcast as we left to begin the final five day section of our journey.
Even though we had left the highest Alps, we still had some challenges ahead of us during the final 66 miles of trekking. The first of those was the last of the Alpine passes, Bunderchrinde. We could see that some snow had fallen in the mountains above Kandersteg during the latest storm, and I was concerned about whether we might encounter any icy conditions at the 7,825 foot pass.
The climb was a long and tough one, with a rocky and exposed trail. The recent rain also made some of the stream crossings a little more daunting.
We took a break to catch our breath. Looking across the valley we had an excellent view of the Oeschinensee Lake, nestled below several towering mountains. We had hiked there on our rest day.
As we moved closer to the pass, the trail took us into a cloud and our visibility became limited.
When we finally arrived at the Bunderchrinde Pass, I was relieved to find that there was just a little snow and no ice.
However, scree on the trail and a near vertical descent took some time to navigate through on the way down to the city of Adelboden, where we spent the night.
Witnessing a Cow Procession
Day two of the section was a short stage of only about 9 miles. Our pass for the day, Hahnenmoos Pass, at 6,398 feet, was reached via a much more gradual grade to the top.
Almost all hotels and mountain guest houses that we stayed in began serving breakfast at 7:30 am. This dictated our hiking schedule, and we generally started walking at about 8:30 am each day. Because we were only scheduled to hike five hours on our second day, we slept in a little and didn’t leave until about 9:30 am. This turned out to be advantageous for us, as we came upon a late summer tradition while hiking.
Each summer, the cows graze in the alpine meadows. At the end of the season, they are herded back to lower ground. My guidebook described the procession that takes place through the local villages when the cows are ceremonially led out of the meadow at the beginning of September each year. Since we were hiking in August, I thought we would be too early to see anything, but with our late morning start, we chanced upon such a procession. Led by an older man holding the hand of a young girl, the lead cows had wreaths of flowers on their heads.
It made me emotional to watch the procession, knowing that not only was the summer grazing season over, but that our own trek was coming to an end.
Multiple Passes and a Braying Donkey
The final three days of hiking took us 46 miles and over six more passes as we continued towards Lake Geneva. A 14 mile day, with 4,500 feet of elevation gain and 4,000 feet of loss, took us up the Wallbach Gorge, using some steel staircases and cables for assistance.
After leaving the gorge, we climbed over the Truttlisberg Pass, at 6,686 feet, At the pass there is a choice of paths to take to finish the Swiss Alpine Pass Route. Both had similar mileage and elevation profiles, and we chose the “old” variant over the new version because of better accommodation options and the promise of a more scenic trail.
We descended to the village of Lauenen. before undertaking an afternoon climb to the second pass of the day (Krinnen Pass at 5,443 feet). After finishing for the day in the town of Gsteig, we took a bus five minutes north to spend the night on a working farm.
Three passes awaited us the next day as we hiked 15 miles. The scenic vistas lived up to the book’s description, making us glad that we had chosen the old variant route. Not only could we take a final look back at the Bernese Oberland Alps that we had hiked through the week before, but we had views of several lakes and the Dent du Midi mountain range.
After climbing over the Blattipass (6,234 feet), we descended to a meadow before ascending towards our second pass of the day.
Col de Vore (6,266 feet) has the distinction of dividing the Swiss cantons of Bern and Vaud with a stone wall. It also took us into the French-speaking portion of Switzerland.
The language change became evident as we hiked up to the pass. Hikers coming the other way now began saying Bonjour to us, rather than the Swiss German greeting, Gurze, which we had heard during our previous two weeks of trekking.
After reaching the Col de Vore, we turned to climb up to the third and final pass of the day. Ahead of us, right on the trail, were two donkeys. The lead one loudly brayed at us, feeling threatened by our presence. We slowed down and carefully walked around both of them with no further incident.
A Weather Delay and a Gourmet Meal
It was cold and windy at Col des Anderets (6,627 feet), and we noticed that some dark clouds were forming ahead of us. We took a short break for lunch and got a glimpse of Mont Blanc in the distance before clouds covered its summit.
Keeping an eye on the weather, we descended about 1,000 feet to a village at the top of a gondola. We now needed to climb up about 600 feet along an exposed ridge to a small settlement before descending for the rest of the day. The weather did not look good, but Darren thought we could make it to the settlement before the rain fell. So we started walking.
The trail was rocky and muddy, slowing our progress. In the distance I could hear thunder, but saw no lightning, much to my relief. About three-quarters of the way up the ridge, raindrops began to fall. The thunder grew louder, but we kept going.
Finally, we reached the top of the ridge and turned a corner. The thunder was now much closer, but we could see the settlement just ahead. Right as we reached the buildings, a bolt of lightning flashed about a mile ahead of us. There was no one around, so we quickly found shelter outside under the eaves of one of the structures.
Now out of the elements, we waited about 30 minutes while the worst of the storm passed by us. After the rain abated and we could no longer hear thunder and see any lightning, we decided to start again, having about 2 ½ more hours to hike before reaching the village of Les Mosses. The trail was muddy going forward, but the skies cleared ahead of us as we completed the day’s hike.
As we walked, I looked back several times towards the pass and ridge that we had just hiked prior to the storm. The sky there was still pitch black and the rain was not moving from that location. I was concerned for the Australian couple who we had met a few days before and who were also hiking the entire Swiss Alpine Pass Route. Even though we stayed in different places, we continued to see them every day, and had started around the same time that morning. We were hiking ahead of them, and I was worried that they might be caught in the storm.
We arrived at our B&B in Les Mosses at about 5:30 pm. The owner had emailed me a few days before, asking if we wanted to eat dinner there that night. Since it was such a small town, I had arranged a price with him for the meal. We showered, changed, and came down at 7:00 pm to begin our first course. It was an incredible gourmet meal, with appetizers and wine, and an additional four courses, served over 3 ½ hours. Darren and I agreed that it was one of the best meals we had ever eaten.
At about 7:15 pm, just as we were finishing our appetizers, we heard the front door of the B&B open. It was the Australian couple, who were just arriving from their hiking day and also staying at the same B&B. They had gotten caught in the storm at the third pass and had been greatly delayed in continuing. It was great to know that they were safe.
A Tough Descent on Our Final Day
Our final day of the Swiss Alpine Pass Route was a 17 mile stage, taking us to Montreux and the shore of Lake Geneva. Although there was not much climbing to the final pass on the trail, the Col de Chaude (5,318 feet), we would be descending over 4,000 feet in just 8.5 miles. Just as was the case at the first pass of our trek, Foopass, which we climbed back on August 10, it was foggy during our ascent. The difference was that it was now much colder and windy, making it uncomfortable if we stopped moving for too long.
On a clear day Lake Geneva is visible from the Col de Chaude pass. In our case we saw nothing but fog.
However, about 15 minutes after we began our descent, I audibly screamed as the clouds momentarily cleared and we saw the lake for the first time, thousands of feet below us.
Even though the end was now in sight, we still had almost five hours of hiking to go, with some of the steepest descent we had experienced on the entire trek. It was not at all helped by the fact that the trail was slick and muddy from all the recent rain. Darren slipped a couple of times, but we both made it down without any incident.
We had one more beautiful section to walk through just prior to reaching Montreux. The Gorge de Chauderon was a pleasant surprise, filled with forest, rainforest plants, streams, and waterfalls. By the time we arrived, we were both tired and our feet were developing some small blisters after walking in damp shoes all day. But we still could appreciate the beauty of the gorge as we hiked through it.
The gorge ended at the entrance to the old town section of Montreux, signaling that we had not long to go. We weaved through the cobblestone streets towards the train station.
We cut through the station and emerged a block from the lake. After crossing a street, we walked to the lake promenade path and officially finished the Swiss Alpine Pass Route, 21 stages and 23 days after leaving Vaduz, Liechtenstein!
We took a few photos and then walked to our B&B to check in and relax. More tired than happy, we needed the next day in Montreux to rest and reflect on what we had just accomplished.
A Final Goodbye to Our Summer of Trekking
The Swiss Alpine Pass Route was unlike any trail we had ever hiked. It was certainly one of the most difficult treks we had ever done, with the combination of steep ascents and descents, rocky and muddy trail conditions, inclement weather, and long mileage days. Although we were not able to walk every step across Switzerland, having to skip about nine miles because of rain, we still completed over 220 miles with about 69,000 feet of total elevation gain and a similar amount of elevation loss.
Not only did we have the challenge of climbing over 16 different passes, but we hiked through a variety of Swiss cities and towns, stayed in quaint mountain guest houses, walked by thousands of cows grazing in the meadows, and of course, witnessed the incredible rugged beauty of the Swiss Alps themselves. It was a fitting end to our Trekking Europe hiking adventure, and the final of our four treks totaling over 500 miles.
Even though we have said “goodbye” to the trekking part of our journey, we still have some time left in Europe before arriving home. We will be traveling to Geneva, the Normandy region of France, and Paris before flying to Iceland for four days. After all of our trekking we are looking forward to transitioning back to sightseeing mode.
We made a video to recap our Swiss Alpine Pass Route trekking experience. Take a look below.