Hundsee Bivvy

We have an excellent weather forecast, so we opt for hiking from the Kiental to the Lauterbrunnental (this has been on our list for a while) with a bivvy along the way.

An early start on Saturday to do the train-train-bus to Griesalp (unsurprisingly there are loads of people out and about on this sunny August Saturday!). Then up, up, following the road to Obere Dürreberg. It's quite hot, so we're happy to find a shady place beside the stream for a nice food break (funny scene below us as some cows also cool off in the stream) and to pump a bit more water. Then it's up, up, steeply up, through the Hundsflüe on a good blue-white trail. It really is oppressively warm, and the packs are not light, so we take another break and short nap-with-a-view at around p2420 before continuing up, up  to Telli. Through the rock wasteland and past the first small lake, then on to the larger lake (p2677, there's already a group here who will obviously be staying the night). One possible plan here was to head up the ridge to the Hundshore, but neither of us is particularly enthusiastic about that, so we continue on to the saddle. Here we opt to improvise and take a more direct route down rather than staying on the blue-white path towards the Schilthorn and then down (we'll be heading up that tomorrow). The first bit of this is mostly ok, then it's a bit hairy near the first set of cliffs, then ok again as we head down, down, to rejoin the trail at Hundshubel. The next order of business is to find a place to bivvy, so we head up to the ridge above the (mostly dry) Hundsee and follow that towards the Horen until we find a nice location. Ditch the packs, pump some water from the Sefibach, then spend a lazy afternoon enjoying the amazing views and watching other groups show up and find places to camp (of course we aren't alone: the weather is great, the views are great, and there is a relatively short approach from the Schilthorn). The group on the other side of the lake, who have chosen to camp in an area easily accessed by cows, are a running source of entertainment. After a nice dinner we walk up to the Horen to enjoy some amazing sunset colors on the Jungfrau, Mönch, and Eiger.

Sunday morning we're awake early enough to enjoy the great sunrise and packed up and underway shortly before 8. Back to the Hundshubel, then following the nice trail up, up, to the pass at p2684, where we do a short food break. From there along the ridge to the saddle at p2798, and then steeply down into the Soustal. If there wasn't someting of a use trail, this is a descent we probably wouldn't have done; the first bit is pretty hairy and a lot of it is quite steep and on fairly loose terrain. With the use trail it's not too horrible. Down, down we go into the lovely valley, which we then follow more or less to the end. We do a lunch break and then, later, a bathing break along the way. At the end of the valley we take the trail through the woods which leads us to the gondola at Grütschalp which starts us on the long (crowded) trip home.

Track:

Stats:

• Saturday: 5:50, 12km, 1460m up, 540m down.
• Sunday: 6:07, 15km, 600m up, 1430m down