Swiss Via Alpina Day 5: Grindelwald to Hohtürli Pass (Blüemlisalphütte)
Wednesday 6/28/23
Grindelwald to Hohtürli Pass (Blüemlisalphütte), 35.3 miles, 14,816ft gain, 10,459ft loss, 4:04am start, 15 hrs 54 min (Strava Activity I | Strava Activity II | Strava Activity III)
I thought I'd feel amazing today after such a wonderful evening in Grindelwald, but I think the fatigue of the first half of the week was getting to me. I trudged through the morning in a pretty low mood, though I was accompanied by a fantastic view of the north face of the Eiger at sunrise as I climbed out of Grindelwald and up and over Kleine Scheidegg, my first pass of the day.
On the way down I stopped at a grocery store in Wengen treated myself to a couple pastries and orange juice and tried to snap myself out of the low I was in.
The next section was pretty easy walking along a gravel path next to a train route to Mürren, a mountain village at the foot of the Schilthorn peak, which is accessible by cable car, train, and foot.
I was still crashing and dragging, and about to tackle the next steep climb up to Sefinenfurgge. I also felt nervous as this would be my first pass over 8,000ft and I'd heard there would be some snowfields to navigate through on not only this pass, but the next one up Hohtürli at 9,114ft. On paper I thought I ought to get to Adelboden (the next town past Hohtürli pass) that evening, but feeling nervous about the difficult climbs, I emailed the Blüemlisalp Hut, situated at the top of the pass, to see if they had space for a hiker that night. Thankfully, they did! So I had my destination set for the day, but still felt nervous about the conditions getting there.
I stopped at a trendy little café in Mürren for a double espresso and a quick rest before continuing up to Sefinenfurgge. The espresso worked some magic, then as I continued on past the town and up the steep, winding trails with magnificent views of the mountains all around, I found myself in some kind of hiker ecstasy. The wildflowers, the dramatic drop offs, the unfathomable scale of the mountains around me.. my fatigue seemed to just melt away! I found myself chatting it up with day hikers from all over the world, who seemed to be equally entranced by the scenery.
I asked two hikers going the opposite direction about the passes ahead and if one could get through the snow okay without special equipment. They said they got through fine and that I would be just fine with what I had. They asked my destination, and similarly to the hosts of the inn last night, their eyes widened when I told them that not only was I going to Griesalp (the next town over), but continuing on up to Blüemlisalphütte. They cautioned that maybe I should settle for Griesalp, and that the way would be tough. I believed them about the difficulty, but they didn't know me, and I've gotten sort of used to being told by well-meaning men on hikes what I can or cannot do, so I nodded politely, assured them I’d heed their advice, and continued on with my plan.
As the hikers said, the snow fields up and over Sefinenfurgge were not bad and I breathed a sigh of relief. I made it to Griesalp in good time, and now in the latter part of the day it was time to tackle the big daddy of Swiss alpine passes and the highest point of the Swiss Via Alpina Trail: Hohtürli!
I spent the next few hours hiking up one of the gnarliest, sketchiest mountain trails I've been on (which isn't necessarily saying much as I'm not exactly a mountain climber to begin with). The trail went basically straight up, doing short little zig-zags up the spine of a foothill. I was glad I was going up this thing and not down, as much of it consisted of loose scree which would make it hard to put on the brakes going down. As I climbed higher I began taking enormous breaths as the air got thinner and the trail seemed to just get steeper. It was a slow climb, and I did hit a few small snow fields as I got closer to the top. Thankfully there were footprints stamped into the snow, and I took care to take big heavy stomps in the snow myself as to feel secure from sliding down. The trail then wound around below a very steep, almost cave-like ledge. I felt as if I were on a volcano in Iceland with hardly any vegetation to be found but for the occasional wildflower peaking out of the scree. The grand finale was a series of built in steps with rungs and ropes built in to hold onto. It was just before 8pm when I reached the pass. I had climbed over 3,000ft in the span of 2.4 miles. Unreal! It took a long time for my breathing to calm down. I felt so tired and proud of myself.
It was another hundred or so feet up to the hut. The caretakers knew I was coming, and they gave me a high five for making it, though I detected that they were a bit cross with me for my arriving after dinner time (sorry). They told me to go get settled in and clean up (there was no hot water or showers, and the lodging is bunk style, similar to the huts in the White Mountains... which were actually modeled after huts in the Alps!), then I made my way back up to the mess hall where they fed me a hearty dinner of soup, some kind of spam-looking meatloaf and grains, and bread. There were some other late arrivals so I had a bit of company and was glad I wasn't the only one shamefully late! I was so tired and out of it, and kept feeling like I was nodding off as I ate. I thanked the hut caretakers and stumbled my way back into the bunkroom to sleep, where we were lined up in bunks like sardines with a person directly on either side of me (though there was a divider on one side of me at least). The heat was cranked up, and with at least ten people in the room, it was a very toasty evening. I had a bit of a headache from the altitude, and was sweating all night in the heat.
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