As you know from the Murren post, my husband and I were staying in a small, picturesque village Murren and our main reason for staying in that part of the Alps was hiking... Above Murren lies another small dwelling - Allmendhubel - with a few huts scattered around the North Face loop. The view from Allmendhubel is unbelievable!
Yet Allmendhubel is just the gates to the top of Schilthorn (2,971 m/9,748 ft).
We quickly learned that a trail to Allmendhubel is a relatively easy hike that takes about an hour, but there is also a funicular that runs uphill in just 5 minutes. On the first day of our hiking journey in Bernese Oberland, we took the funicular up to Allmendhubel where we were faced with choices - go left and enjoy the famous North Face Trail, go right and explore the scenic Mountain View Trail, or go straight ahead towards Schilthorn.
And without knowing much about the area or the level of hikes we were dealing with, I said, "Let's go there!" So we went straight into the foggy and mysterious unknown :)
We started our ascend, looking ahead at the serpentine trail which could have been it, or half of it, or maybe just 25% of it. I guess sooner or later we'll find out :)
This stretch of the hike wasn't so easy. Small pebbles turned into good-size rocks as we were getting higher...
... until we reached the point where the trail was curving left and it was impossible to see what's behind the massive cliff that did not look very friendly to us. So we gave up on this difficult hike and went on to explore the North Face instead. You can read about that in my Savoring the Swiss Alps post.
On the last day in Murren, we wanted to do a short hike from Murren to Allmendhubel, and so we did just that. It was a warm and sunny day and at one point we could see the Birg Station high up above us. Birg is the only cable car station located 3/4 of the way to the very top of Schilthorn, so it's sitting pretty high.
As we were approaching Allmendhubel, the scenery was truly majestic.
We could not get enough of the view, but the weather was so beautiful that we kept walking until we found ourselves at the old crossroads - North Face on the left, Mountain Trail on the right, and Birg/Schilthorn straight ahead.
The route we attempted before was right there, calling us. And this time, Andrew (not me) was the one who said, "Should we just do it?" I was not so sure it was a good idea, and even now I sometimes think that it probably wasn't, at least from the logical standpoint. But we followed a different kind of logic: we are there, the mountain is there, so why not?
The next thing we knew, we were on our way :)
So what? We decided to follow the path and keep going, even though now we were walking in the snow.
I have to say, I was proud that we made it past the point where we had to turn around the first time.
Ahead of us, the ground was still covered in snow, very deep snow in some cases. But no one could stop us now!
We kept pushing through!
We found a frozen glacier lake. Luckily, the snow had melted enough that we could see the water :)
There was no time to waste and enjoy the pretty views for too long... We kept going! The sun was strong and bright above our heads, but below our wet feet was the cold snow, still laying around since the winter.
The Birg Station where we were heading was clearly visible (off to the left) but it was still far away...
Okay! Coming!
The way to Birg. It looks like we have to walk on the ridge.
Bumpy road :)
Right behind me is not where we were going; that's the peak of the Schilthorn mountain :)
Now that's where we were going! The Birg Station.
Final stretch...
But I kept turning my head towards Schilthorn - so majestic!
Finally, after hours of climbing, we were almost there!
WE DID IT!!!
At the Birg Station
The Birg Station offers an amazing panoramic view of the famous trio, Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
The valley below looked stunning as well.
And, of course, the mysterious Schilthorn was so much closer than ever... Next time, we'll make it all the way to the top!
Andrew is showing the start and the finish of our marathon on the map :) Murren at 1,650 m/5,413 ft to Birg at 2,677 m/8,782 ft. We hiked an elevation of 1,000 meters!
Yet Allmendhubel is just the gates to the top of Schilthorn (2,971 m/9,748 ft).
We quickly learned that a trail to Allmendhubel is a relatively easy hike that takes about an hour, but there is also a funicular that runs uphill in just 5 minutes. On the first day of our hiking journey in Bernese Oberland, we took the funicular up to Allmendhubel where we were faced with choices - go left and enjoy the famous North Face Trail, go right and explore the scenic Mountain View Trail, or go straight ahead towards Schilthorn.
And without knowing much about the area or the level of hikes we were dealing with, I said, "Let's go there!" So we went straight into the foggy and mysterious unknown :)
We started our ascend, looking ahead at the serpentine trail which could have been it, or half of it, or maybe just 25% of it. I guess sooner or later we'll find out :)
This stretch of the hike wasn't so easy. Small pebbles turned into good-size rocks as we were getting higher...
... and closer to the snow...
... until we reached the point where the trail was curving left and it was impossible to see what's behind the massive cliff that did not look very friendly to us. So we gave up on this difficult hike and went on to explore the North Face instead. You can read about that in my Savoring the Swiss Alps post.
Later that day, when the clouds dissolved and the fog disappeared, we saw a station way up on the edge of the mountain. I guess that's what was ahead and we could have reached had we continued our climb up the Schilthorn. "Oh well, we said, we will just have to come back here another time when it's warmer and we are better hikers," admitting to ourselves that we are probably not in a very good shape, at least not good enough for Schilthorn.
On the last day in Murren, we wanted to do a short hike from Murren to Allmendhubel, and so we did just that. It was a warm and sunny day and at one point we could see the Birg Station high up above us. Birg is the only cable car station located 3/4 of the way to the very top of Schilthorn, so it's sitting pretty high.
As we were approaching Allmendhubel, the scenery was truly majestic.
We could not get enough of the view, but the weather was so beautiful that we kept walking until we found ourselves at the old crossroads - North Face on the left, Mountain Trail on the right, and Birg/Schilthorn straight ahead.
The route we attempted before was right there, calling us. And this time, Andrew (not me) was the one who said, "Should we just do it?" I was not so sure it was a good idea, and even now I sometimes think that it probably wasn't, at least from the logical standpoint. But we followed a different kind of logic: we are there, the mountain is there, so why not?
The next thing we knew, we were on our way :)
The backdrop was amazing as always! The three giants - Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau - were cheering us on! What a perfect hike!
And then we got to the spot where we stopped at our first attempt. There it was, the same turn, the same mountain cliff supported by the giant poles, but a lot less intimidating than on the first day.
So what? We decided to follow the path and keep going, even though now we were walking in the snow.
I have to say, I was proud that we made it past the point where we had to turn around the first time.
Ahead of us, the ground was still covered in snow, very deep snow in some cases. But no one could stop us now!
We kept pushing through!
We found a frozen glacier lake. Luckily, the snow had melted enough that we could see the water :)
There was no time to waste and enjoy the pretty views for too long... We kept going! The sun was strong and bright above our heads, but below our wet feet was the cold snow, still laying around since the winter.
The Birg Station where we were heading was clearly visible (off to the left) but it was still far away...
Okay! Coming!
The way to Birg. It looks like we have to walk on the ridge.
Bumpy road :)
Right behind me is not where we were going; that's the peak of the Schilthorn mountain :)
Now that's where we were going! The Birg Station.
Final stretch...
But I kept turning my head towards Schilthorn - so majestic!
Finally, after hours of climbing, we were almost there!
WE DID IT!!!
At the Birg Station
The Birg Station offers an amazing panoramic view of the famous trio, Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
The valley below looked stunning as well.
And, of course, the mysterious Schilthorn was so much closer than ever... Next time, we'll make it all the way to the top!
Andrew is showing the start and the finish of our marathon on the map :) Murren at 1,650 m/5,413 ft to Birg at 2,677 m/8,782 ft. We hiked an elevation of 1,000 meters!
The pictures look like postcards, amazing views.
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