Trailrun / hike from Grenchen to Oberdorf

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Arete des Sommetres

 The forecast was for sun, but maybe too cold for climbing shoes, so we decided to do the Arete des Sommetres again.

We weren't alone (unlike last time) since another pair started just before us, but we didn't have to wait for them too much and there was no one pushing from behind.

It's a really nice scramble and it was great to be out and moving with perfect weather conditions. 

After finishing (in just under three hours, with a short snack break to let the other pair get a bit further ahead of us), we did a nice lunch break at the top and then enjoyed the walk down to Saignelegier.

Moutier trail running: Tour du Moron.

 We wanted to do some trailrunning above the fog, so we took the train to Moutier and did a loop to the Tour de Moron (last here back in 2012).

We start in the fog and follow the road out of town to Perrefitte. From here we switch to trail/forest roads and head gently up through a nice (though short) gorge before starting to climb more seriously, past Combioz and then up onto the ridge and breaking into the sun at the hut at Le Remeule. We do a nice lunch break in the sun there and then continue the last bit up to the Tour de Moron. 

The staircase has, unfortunately, partially collapsed on the tower, so we can't climb up, but the sun and the views are still very nice. We continue along the ridge gently descending, before heading more steeply down to Champoz (very nice, for G. at least, descent through the woods here), Taking a short snack break before getting to down we notice the intriguing looking Lac Vert on the map, so after hiting down we head up a bit again and follow the trail to the lake. This looks super cool, but unfortunately it's all fenced off with big "do not enter, you will be fined" signs... ah well.

After that dissapointment we continue down, down, bid the sun farewell, and enjoy the run down through the Gorges de Court to Moutier. Fortunately the sun is shining in Moutier, so we can enjoy our recovery drinks and snacks while waiting for the train in the sun. :-)

Track:

Stats: 27.7km, 1100m up and down, 4:46 total time.

Late season at the Mittagfluh

 G needed to head to a conference on Sunday, but the forecast was great for Saturday, so we decided to spend the day doing some granite multipitch climbing on the Mittagfluh. We headed to Guttanen on Friday evening, had a nice meal, and went to bed.

G got up early and did a couple hours of trail running, then we had breakfast and hiked up the crag. There were two other rope teams there in front of us, but they were both doing the Südkante, so we had Durststrecke to ourselves... nice!

We start in the shade (where it's not especially warm), but by the end of the second pitch we were in sun and everything was right with the world. A couple of hours of super fun climbing later we were up top enjoying the sun and a lunch break before abseiling back down over the route and into the shade. 

Back in town we got to enjoy an impromptu Guggemusik concert while waiting for the bus. A nice end to a really nice day of climbing.

It wa great to see that we hadn't forgotten how to efficiently do multipitch climbing and abseiling.

Climbing above Engelberg

We decide to take advantage of the good weather by spending the weekend in Engelberg and doing some climbing.

Saturday morning we take the train to Engelberg, drop an extra bag at the hotel, then take the bus, gondola, and chair lift up to the Brunnihütte. From here we hike up to the klettergarten at the Bettlerstock, where our plan is to spend the day doing sport climbing in the sun.

We start in the sector Bettlerstock West, which is unfortunately shady in the morning:

• Adler 5a
• Murmel 5b (g only, at this point we decide that it's too cold and windy for this sector)

After moving to Sector South, which was in the sun, though still a bit windy:

• Südwand 5c (we consider doing the second pitch, but it seems to sketchy for g)
• Die da 5c+
• Janosch 6a+ (A halfway, g with one hang)
• Macbeth 7a (g was playing in toprope here and only made it part of the way up before getting completely blocked on a move)

We called it a day at that point and headed back down to Engelberg.

Sunday morning g got up early and did a trail run before breakfast. After breakfast we headed up to the Brunnihütte again and did some of the short routes on the crag next to the hut. We climbed all of these in approach shoes:

• Barba Lala 4a
• Barba Letta 4b
• Barba Kud 5a
• Barba Bo 4b
• Mama Moll 5a
• Globi 5a

At this point we decided that the weather and views were just too good to be climbing, so we followed the panorama trail to the Rugghubelhütte (their last day open of the season), where we enjoyed cake and cool beverages in the sun while enjoying the fantastic views before heading back down to Engelberg and the train back home.

Memo to ourselves: we really need to go up some weekend, stay at the Rugghubelhütte, and do the Lauchernstock east ridge.

Track from the hike:

Stats: 13.8km, 540m up, 1400m down, 4:10

Climbing at Stockhorn

Good weather forecast day, so off we head to the Stockhorn. The train ride is a bit scary since we're still under the hochnebel, but that clears up once we turn into the Simmental. The views open up as we take the gondola up... nice!

Our first route is Chum u lueg, which we did nine years ago. We're faster now (though not as efficient today as we were last year... the missing practice shows), but it's still an enormously fun route, and the bit of coming out into the crowds at the top of the Stockhorn is definitely entertaining.

After a bit of food, we head down to one of the sport climbing sectors and did the first pitch of Märitfroueli 5a (A did this one in lead, which was her first lead since injuring her elbow), then the first pitch of Pistache 5c (A top rope) before going back to Märitfroueli and doing both pitches. After eating a bit more we moved up to the next sector and did ??? 5b. At this point G's motivation was lagging (some was the fact that we haven't been climbing outdoors much in quite a while, some was irritation at a loud group with a screaming kid), so we had another snack and then walked down to Chrindi and the gondola down.

Beautiful day and great rock. More! :-)

Trailrun / hike from St. Ursanne to Delemont

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Climbing at Baerenfels

The plan was to go climbing somewhere else, but g forgot the gri-gri, causing us to miss the train we wanted, so we went to Baerenfels.

Routes (grades from Plaisir Jura, g lead all of them, A did top rope)

1. Alpha (5a+)
2. Mit Seil und Saege (5b). Crack-climbing Jura-style, including a bit of an off-width at the bottom
3. Oliver Twist (5a). We have definitely climbed this before
4. Chruetlischwur (6a). g only, top rope.
5. Bel Ami (5b). g only.

We're both still remembering how to do this outdoor climbing thing, and A still has a way to go to recover her strength, but things are coming along and it was a fun day. The sun even came out, which was wild!

Hiking Vacation Engadin

• Sun: ride down to Scuol in the afternoon (Andrea still recovering from a bout of Covid)
• Mon: Scuol to S-charl (via Chamonna Lischana and Fora da l`Aua)
• Tue: S-charl to Lü (via Fuorcla Sassalba and Piz Terza)
• Wed: Lü to Pass dal Fuorn/Ofenpass (via Piz Dora, Taunter Pizza and Juf Plaun)
• Thu: Pass dal Fuorn/Ofenpass to Chamanna Cluozza (via Alp Schera, Val dal Spöl and Fuorcla Murter)
• Fri: Chamanna Cluozza to S-chanf (via Fuorcla Val Sassa), train to Zernez
• Sat: Zernez to Lavin (via Lais da Macun)

Trailrun / hike Engelberg to Hasliberg

Gletsch to Andermatt (2/2)

 day 2

text to come

Fiesch to Münster (1/2)

We've got another stable and hot weekend, so it's off for a weekend of trail running.

We take the train to Fiesch, where we fill up the water bottles and see some signs that there might be some kind of race going on (though the people we see have paraglider backpacks, so it's not quite clear what that is).

......

Trailruning Davos day 2: Davos to Klosters via the Weissfluhjoch

We set off in the morning with the plan of ending in Klosters Platz. A has planned three different routes that we can decide upon along the way.

The trail starts directly outside our hotel and leads us up, up, up (no warm-up today!) mostly in forest until we get to Schatzalp. We head through Schatzalp and continue our way up, up to Strelapass, where we start to see other people (mainly mountain bikers on their way down). We fill water bottles, make our first route decision, and continue along the really nice trail (first running of the day!) towards the Weissfluhjoch. 

The last bit of this is kind of ugly ski area, and that continues for the first part of the descent down the other side. Down, down we go, later on nicely runnable single track, until we hit the Grüensee (we walked past this on a bivac tour a couple years ago). Here we do a food break and enjoy the sun and nice temperatures before continuing on our way down, down. Instead of taking a more direct route to Schifer, we do an extended zig-zag through the woods and moor down to the stream at Moosboden, where we fill our bottles and cool down a bit, before continuing through the woods (sometimes runnable, sometimes not) before emerging onto forest roads at Conterser Schwendi (closed!) and then continuing along to Schifer. A bit of climbing on the forest road under the trees (with a short snack break along the way) takes us to Serneuser Schwendi, and then we start the long, relatively fast (for us) descent to Klosters Platz. In town, we have plenty of time to get food and drink at the Coop and to cool down at the fountain before starting the trip back home.

This was another very nice day of running!

Track to come

Stats: ~26km, 5:15, ~1300m up, ~1700m down

Trailrunning Davos day 1: the Jakobshorn loop

Inspired by a  route in "Flow trails für Geniesser", but we extended it on both ends to make a loop from Davos Platz.

The "warm up" from Davos to Teufi is a really nice and flowy bit of running, then we pick up the route from the book and climb up, up, up to Bramabüel, where we do a sandwich break before continuing along the ridge to the Jakobshorn. We were mostly alone for the first bit (just a couple groups of mountain bikers heading down), but we start seeing more people now. At the Jakobshorn (full-on busy now) we fill the water bottles and then continue along the ridge to the Jatzhorn. The descent along the ridge is nice, but not super runnable, but once we turn off at the Taellifurgga it gets a bit better. We do a second food break before joining the larger panorama trail (with a, thankfully separate, very busy mountain biking trail), which leads us, mostly running, down to Sertig Doerfli. Here we stop at the restaurant and have drinks and cake before finishing the way down to Davos Platz. The first bit of this is very nice and flowy through the woods, then there's an asphalt bit down to Clavadel, then another nice bit through the woods before we arrive in Davos Platz near the Jakobshorn gondola station.

Quick trip the Coop to get drinks and food, then back to the hotel for a shower and a nap. Later we do a stroll through town, dinner, another "walk around the block" and then we hit the bed... there's more running to do tomorrow.

This was quite a good run; the parts we added to make the suggested route a loop were definitely work the extra km. 

Track to come

Stats: ~31km, 6:30, ~1530 up and down

Leukerbad to Kandersteg (2/2)

Today starts (fairly late, the hotel didn't start breakfast until 7:45) under a cloudless blue sky. We head out of town the same way we came in yesterday and then start heading up, up the trail to the Gemmi pass. This is a nicely maintained and surprisingly popular route. It also gets morning sun, which was a bit surprising. Fortunately it's not super hot yet and there is occasional shade from trees. Up, up we go, passing hikers, getting passed by one trail runner, until we get to the pass itself. Into the madness towards the gondola station to enjoy the views (oh the views!), and then we say goodbye to the Walliser mountains and turn towards the Berner Oberland. Down the trail through the crowd, a very very nice flowy bit of running along the lake, on the improvised trail around the end of the lake (the water is super high and the normal trail is under water), our first food break with views back towards the lake, and then onwards. Pretty shortly thereafter we opt to stop for coffee and tea (and to refill our water bottles) at the Hotel Schwarenbach before starting up, up on the trail to the Schwarzgraetli (we've were here more than 10 years ago). 

We're mostly alone on this piece of trail, but at the ridge we start seeing people again. After enjoying the views down to the Innere Ueschene and then continue along the trail towards Engstligenalp. Nice bit of trail under a big cliff. At a crossing point we run into a Swiss guy coming the other way who says something about a cave that neither of us understands, but that sounds interesting, so we decide to continue along to see what that looks like. Here the marked path is between the snow and the cliff. The snow gets higher and higher and the space gets narrower and narrower, but there are still markings, so we keep going. There's a bit of scrambling and some squeezing and then we hit a dead end (well, not a dead end, we probably could do some scrambling and continue, but it would be really tricky to come back), so we turn around and head back to a spot G had noticed where the snow wall was low enough to scramble over and there's a use trail. This shortly joins the marked trail, which we continue to follow, contouring under the snow field this time, across a bit more snow and then then up a bit to a trail junction (from here it's obvious that there was no good way out if we had continued between the snow and the cliff), where we turn and start heading down into the valley. This is steep at first, but steadily more and more runnable as we continue. Once things flatten out we stop to fill a water bottle (with the filters), continue a bit farther, do another food break, and then finish the last stretch down, down to Kandersteg.

Track:

Stats: 23.7km, 5:57, 1490m up, 1690m down

Crans-Montana to Leukerbad (1/2)

 We finally got a weekend with two good weather forecasts, so we decided to try something new: a multi-day trail run. The route for this first day is from Flowtrails fuer Geniesser. 

We get an early start from Basel and do train, train, funicular to get to Crans Montana. We start running in a cloud, so it's nice and cool as we head up and out of town.

The route mainly follows a stream/suone (the Bisse de Tsittoret) and is a nice mix of open and forest. We would have fantastic views of the Walliser 4000ers if it weren't for the clouds, but the running/hiking is still really good. We stop and do our first food break at Le Relais de Columbire after about an hour of running (those sandwiches aren't getting any better in the trail-running pack!) Continuing on, we start to encounter more people who are out enjoying the nice day, including a fair number of trail runners who, of course, pass us. We're generally among the fastest hikers, but we are also the slowest runners. ;-)

Onwards and around the corner at the Cave du Sex. We miss a planned diversion to follow the suone into the valley and instead follow the main trail and do a bit of extra up and down (ah well...). Onward and upward, along the nice trail. Another food break at Nueschelet, past the hut at Varneralp (our high point for the day), and then down, down and around the corner. Leukerbad is now in view. Instead of continuing along the marked path for Leukerbad, we continue with the recommendation from the book and stay up high for a bit longer, climbing a bit more and following a clear, but unmarked path that leads to the back of the valley. This bit would probably be pretty good running if it were dry, but it required some care after all the rain we've had in the past weeks. At the end we come out onto the trail that leads up to the Gemmi pass (that's for tomorrow) and follow that down into town.

In town we grab snacks and protein drinks at the Migros, check into our hotel, brief nap, a very relaxing visit to the spa, dinner at a pizzeria (lucky to get a table... town is quite busy!), then some stretching and bed.

This was a really good day. It would have been super nice to actually have the amazing views, but the running was still good and the peeks we got of the peaks were fun. 

More running to come tomorrow.

Track:

Stats: 24km, 4:50, 1140m up, 1220m down

Maschgenkamm to Mels

The forecast for Saturday called for eastern Switzerland to be rain-free the longest, so we planned a run near Sargans. The idea is to do something fun where it's ok if it starts raining at 2 or 3.

We take the gondolas up to Maschgenkamm and start running under lovely blue skies along the trail to the Spitzmeilenühtte (been a while since we were here!). This ends up being a really nice and flowy trail that's runnable most of the way... super enjoyable. We stop at the hut and have coffee/tea and cake, top off our water bottles, and then continue. From the hut we climb gradually up to the Schönegg ridge and then contour around to the Schönbüelfurggel. This could also be nicely flowy, but there are still a bunch of snow patches that kind of require walking. More traversing around to the Fansfurggla, where we take another short food break. A bit more climbing and then along the ridge, some of it even runnable, down to the Siezfurggla. 

The trail here takes us across a good sized, and rather steep snow field (which is a bit nervewracking with trail shoes and no poles), and then further along, mostly maintaining the same height, to the Madchopf. It's still early in the year for this stretch, which hasn't been out from under the snow for long, so there are parts where finding/staying on the trail isn't super easy. More walking than planned. A bit below the Madfurggl on the other side we stop for a quick food break before starting the long descent. A look at the weather radar causes us to cut this a bit short and finish our sandwiches while walking. From this point on it's more or less entirely downhill for 2000m of vertical. The descent route is mostly runnable (we picked well!) except for a stretch above Vermol where the farmers have brought the cows up along the hiking path in the rain. One final food break after getting out of the cow chaos and then we're down in Mels. Here we only have to wait 10 minutes for the bus, so we opt for that instead of continuing a few more km along the road to Sargans.

This was a really nice run (though the descent at the end was long!), and we managed to do it without getting rained on. Good planning! ;-)

Track:

Stats: 31.9km, ~900m up, ~2400m down, 5:57

Gurnigelbad to Riffenmatt

Saturday was supposed to have at least halfway decent weather, so we went running in the Gantrisch.

We directly start climbing from the bus stop at Gurnigel and head up, up, mostly hiking, at times on forest roads, at times on trail, at times in the open, at times in the woods, until we come out onto the Zigerhubel and have our first views. Great views of the Gantrisch from here, but unfortunately the Alp views aren't there due to a combination of clouds and Sahara dust in the air. Onwards we go, past Gurnigelpass and then up some more to Selibüel. Here we do a food break and enjoy the views before continuing, now running more frequently, along the ridge. Past the high point for the day at Schüpfeflue, then slowly down along the ridge until we start the climb up to the Gägger. This has a fun bit along a really impressive wood boardwalk construction with cool wood sculptures hiding in the greenery below. Onwards past the Pfyffe, then gently down, with a food break, until we turn off the ridge at Obere Hellstaett. From here it's down, generally flowy until we get to Riffenmatt.

There's a very convenient fountain in the parking lot, and we have lots of time since G mis-read the bus schedule, so we drink loads of water, refill our bottles, rinse our legs and feet, eat, and relax until the next bus.

Despite the missing Alp views, this was a really enjoyable day out.

This is the first run that we've tried from a trailrunning book we just bought. It's full of great-sounding runs, with an emphasis on flow.

The track:

Stats: 24.9km, ~1000m up, ~1100m down, 4:45

Muelenen to Oey-Diemtigen via the Niesen

 Text to come

Ridges between Olten and Waldenburg

 text and track to come

Glamaig and the northern Red Hills circuit

 based on Glamaig and the northern Red Hills circuit (Walkhighlands)

Ascent to The Storr

 based on The Storr - ascent (Walkhighlands)

Dun Ardtreck and Ardtreck Point from Portnalong

 based on Dun Ardtreck and Ardtreck Point, Fiskavaig (Walkhighlands)

Into Glen Sligachan

 short part of the Skye-Trail, stage 5: Sligachan to Elgol (Skye Trail 5: Sligachan to Elgol (Walkhighlands))

Talisker Bay to Biod Ruadh & Preshal Beg

 based on Preshal Beg & More with Biod Ruadh, Talisker (Walkhighlands)

Trip to the Isle of Skye

Trip to the Isle of Skye according to plan B (shorter and Skye only) due to Andrea's elbow injury and operation few weeks before; changed to plan C or D or E while there due to persistent stomach bug

• Friday: fly to Edinburgh, drive to Carbost on Skye
• Saturday: Talisker Bay to Biod Ruadh & Preshal Beg
• Sunday: sick on the couch
• Monday: sick on the couch
• Tuesday: sick on the couch
• Wednesday: Into Glen Sligachan
• Thursday: Dun Ardtreck and Ardtreck Point from Portnalong
• Friday: Ascent to The Storr
• Saturday: Glamaig and the northern Red Hills circuit, stay the night in Kyle of Lochalsh
• Sunday: drive to Edinburgh and flight back to Basel

Aesch to Arlesheim via Gempen

La Roche St-Jean climb and scramble

Dos d'Ane climb and scramble

Hiking in the Zingaro nature reserve

Climbing trip to Sicily

 

The climbing

• Friday 22 March, morning. Sector Central bunker
• Vai a Sinistra 5a
• Via Kuchenclub 5b
• Il Ritorno 5c
• Arrivederci Ingrid 6a (both lead with one fall)
• Il Nonno 5c
• Friday 22 March, afternoon. Sector South amphitheatre
• Burning fat 5a (felt harder than 5a)
• El Bahira 5b (A only)
• Just for fun 4c (A only)
• Saturday 23 March, morning. Sector North Campo Base
• Maria 5a
• Eliza 5c (this was our project back on the first visit 12 years ago)
• Chiara O 5c
• No Drill No Party 5b
• Mannara 6a
• Scorpione In Letargo 6a (G top-rope first 1/2, then down, A top-rope first 1/2, then lead, G lead the whole way, “accidentally” since the planned setup to allow him to top-rope the first 1/2 didn’t work)
• Calze Nere 6a+, both top-rope the first 3/4 to the head wall (from the stand of Scorpione), which looked easy and uninteresting
• Saturday 23 March, afternoon. Sector Central For Snails
• For snails 5a
• Autonella 5c
• Stay straight 5c
• Fay is the boss 6a (top rope, very nice climbing)
• Sunday 24 March. Sector North Orange Wall
• Gracie Josef 5c (A kicked loose a big rock on this one and that changed the character of the day for her)
• Gracie Maria 5c (A to 2nd to last bolt)
• Pray al Vento 5c (G only)
• Sunday 24 March. Sector North Campo Base
• Cimitero della Lumache 6a (A in top rope)
• Mezzo Crucchi 6a+ (A in top rope)
• Dolores 6b (G in top rope, A attempts)
• Monday 25 March. Sector Center Bunker
• Colazione Piu 5b
• Pilastrino 5c
• Strapiombino 5c
• New Years Greetings 6a
• Classic Delux 6a+ (A top-rope with some pulling through the very physical crux)
• Silvester 6a (A top-rope, but it was easy for her)
• Tuesday 26 March, morning: we tried, but it was super windy, so we went home
• Tuesday 26 March, afternoon: Sector Far South Cocodrillo
• King for a day 5b
• Tuesday 26 March, afternoon: Sector Far South Isulidda tower (we changed sectors because it seemed like the entire German speaking world wanted to climb the four routes we were interested in in Cocodrillo)
• Tower pillar 6a
• Luigi 6a
• Skywalk 6b
• Anton aus Tirol 6a+ (G only)
• Wednesday 27 March, morning, Sector Central, Il Paese Piccolo. We ended up leaving early because it was raining
• Via Giuliano 5b
• Tibi 5c
• Don Pedro 6a
• Wednesday 27 March, afternoon, Sector Central, Il Paese Piccolo
• A Passatempto 6a
• Espresso 6a (A 3/4 lead, then top rope over the bulge, but the final beta for this was doable in lead)
• Sono In Fuga 6a (A couldn’t get over the bulge, which was super physical)
• Eselparty 6a+ (G only, again super physical over the bulge)
• Thursday 28 March. Sector South Scomparto Rifiuti
  • Happy Birthday 5b
  • Tre Fratelli 5c
  • Diedro Giallo 6a (A toprope because she wasn’t sure about the physical last bit, but she found a good solution to it and it would have been no problem)
  • Chris 6a (A did 85% of it and then took a bad fall. Finished the route later in toprope)
• Saturday 30 March. Sector Central, Bunker. Today was super windy, so the climbing was a bit challenging at times and the rope handling required care.
  • La Femmina 5b
  • Fur Christian 5c (A toprope to get her head back in it)
  • Lavoro di Domenica 6a
  • Per Giorgio il mio Amico 6a
  • Happy Otzis 6a
  • Due Giganti sulla Roccia 6a+ (G only, pretty good fall in the crux on the first try)
• Sunday 31 March. Sector North, Campo Base. A's head wasn't in it for the last half
  • Nini 5c
  • Chiara O 5c
  • Via Della Zanzare 6a+ (A halfway, G the second half but with a PA, A toprope, G toprope)
  • Molloblocco 6b (G in toprope with a couple of rests, this felt like the absolute limit of what was doable. A did some good tries, but couldn’t get through the very thin crux)
  • Mezzi Cruchi 6a+ (G, this was a repeat from last Sunday)
  • Calze Neri 6a+ (G, last week he just top roped the first 80% or so)
• Monday 1 April. Sector Central, Fakiros Wall. By the end, it was hot and both of us were feeling a bit tired in the head (but A wants to be clear that she felt better today than yesterday)
  • Flic 5b
  • Nives Rosa Tiss 5b
  • Ildefonso 5c
  • Swiss Friends 6a+ (toprope, G did it two times)
  • Il Mano di Fadri 6a
  • La Formica 5b (A only)

Other stuff:

• Hiking in the Zingaro nature reserve on Friday the 29th and then a trail run/hike up to the Monte Monaco to watch the sun-set

Kleinluetzel trail run

Gerstelgrat

Wasserflue East ridge

 It's been eight years since we last did the East ridge of the Wasserflue; today it was time to go back. :-)

We took the bus to Fischbach (more direct than getting off at Benkerjoch Passhoehe) and the follow the trail very briefly before turning right at the first sign of a stream (G was actually suggesting it may not be the right place to turn, but then the guy behind us went up that way, so that made it clear) and following a very slight use trail up towards the ridge. The use trail gets more obvious the further we go and eventually blue markings show up. Once on the ridge there's no way to do anything wrong. ;-)

Up up we go until we get to the scrambling bits. This is apparently now a Klettersteig, so there's a cable the whole way, much of it pretty new. That's suboptimal today, but could be useful in bad conditions (today it's a bit muddy, but not too bad) or with people with less experience. Some fun scrambling and then we are, all to quickly, up top. Break to have a snack and enjoy the views, and then we follow the ridge towards the Geissflue. 

The ridge is a fun walk and would be a very nice flowy one to run (keep this in mind for later). Onwards we go, past Saalhoehe, onward and onward until we get to the Geissflue. The bench is free, so we have lunch and enjoy the views out to the North. It's a short bit down to the Schafmatt (we had our lunch outside here back in December) and then onwards further to wrap things up in Gelterkinden.

Really nice to be outside and moving. And the scrambling bits could have been a lot longer. :-)

Map and stats to come

Climbing Ponte Brolla

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Three scrambling ridges to the Rigi Hochflue

 Plenty of sun and warm in the forecast, so off we went to do some hiking and scrambling. We've done the Rigi Hochflue a few times, both scrambling and climbing, but we've never combined the scramble with the logical addition of the Buetzli and Stockflue. Today was the day for that.

Start in Brunnen and head up, up out of town to Kraehen. Up, up a bit more, then on the blue-white path (well marked, easy to follow) towards the Buetzli and Stockflue. Once we get in the sun it's nice and warm, T-shirt weather. Up, up we go in the sun with things getting progressively steeper and a bit scrambly until we hit the Buetzli. Here a quick break to enjoy the views and sun and then further along the path. The route down has a cable which we're actually grateful for, then more up, up through the woods, with a bit of scrambling until we get to the small hut below the Stockflue. Here we leave the path and follow the logical scrambling line which takes us to the top (this is nicely described in the SAC Tourenportal). Up top we are alone and get the bench, where we have a nice food break and enjoy the spectacular views. 

After a good break we continue along the blue-white path towards the top of the gondola at Timpel, but we stay on the path towards Egg and the Hochflue. Up top here, particularly on the North side, there some snow, but the going is still easy. We can see the route up the Hochflue, including what looks like a traverse of some steep snow. g is skeptical about that (and we stupidly don't have the ice axes with us), but we continue along the ridge and up, up to check it out. Leave the red-white trail for the blue-white, up up, to the ridge itself, then along the ridge for a bit towards the big snow field. As we're almost there we catch up to another hiker on his own. As the snow amount increases g gets more and more skeptical, but A encourages us to continue as long as we can. When the guy in front of us heads into the snow it's clear that after a few not-so-great steps there are really good, deep, solid tracks to follow up, so we continue. Up, up through the cement-hard snow (you can actually use the ice axe holes from whoever first did this as hand holds!), up, up until we get back to the rock. A steep bit with rock and snow and a bit of ice, but also with a cable and some steps to make it safe, and we're on the final ridge. Here along the ridge, still in snow for a bit. Quick food break in the sun and then the last few minutes to the peak. Good second lunch in the sun at the cross, again with amazing views, and then we take the route down the south face. This is pretty straightforward despite a bit of snow at the top and plenty of mud throughout, but we make it down to Ochsenboden without trouble.

Here we decide to take another new line and follow the path that traverses and descends back to Brunnen. This turns out to be a really nice, not frequently used trail, with great views all along and some interesting steep bits through the woods. We make it back to Brunnen in time to get a yogurt drink before starting the trip back home.

Really nice scrambling day in spring-like conditions, despite the fact that it's January. It's amazing that we haven't done the Buetzi and Stockflue before... they were super fun and I'm sure we'll be back and do them again!

Track and stats to come.

Winter hike: Reigoldswil to Waldenburg

Good weather forecast for the Jura, so off we go for a snow hike.

We start in Reigoldswil with a bunch of other people who are going to the gondola. Things quiet down a lot once we're past the gondola station. Up we go along the road until we hit the Jägerwegli, then up, up along the nice trail. There's plenty of snow, but the footing is generally good (a few icy patches, but it's not bad). Up, up, past a couple of really cool patches of icicles (including one huge one which A accidentally detaches), up, up until we get to the sun and then the top of the gondola and the masses of people.

Past the gondola and up to the ridge (great views!) then along the path to the Chellenchöpfli. Here there's a good place to sit, so we have some lunch and enjoy the views (good timing on that... 10 minutes after we sit down loads of people start showing up). After a good lunch we continue along the trail, past the Beiz at Waldweid (BUSY!) and then down, down (the parts of the north side where the sun doesn't make it are still very much winter wonderland) until we get to Waldenburg and the train back home.

This was a really nice (though a bit short) winter hike.

Track:

Stats: 11.5km, 650m up and down, 3:45