Starting at the parking space and bus stop at Gschwandtenmaad last autumn, we headed up the side road towards Rufenenhubel, then along the farm track and across the meadows with magnificent views of the Läsisteck, Rosenlouwistock and the Engelhörner.
If you visit in September, as we did this time, many of the trees in this valley will be turning to autumn colour and you may well hear the red deer calling on the upper slopes of the surrounding mountains. We didn’t see any sign of them, but an occasional bellow echoing distantly amongst the high cliffs confirmed that they are up there, somewhere. We crossed paths with a woman carrying binoculars who had seen some animals near the tree line on the western side of the valley, but we, with our inferior non-amplified eyesight, weren’t so lucky.
After turning left and then immediately right when reaching the road and bridge at Broch, we took a short sandwich break to enjoy the views, before continuing along the river to Schwarzwaldalp. From here, which is the end of the public road and where there is a picturesque little hotel, restaurant and historic sawmill, we kept to the tree line and headed along the walking path through the woods. The path here quickly begins to gain altitude and there are some steeper sections, but we took our time and enjoyed the peace and quiet, stopping here and there for photos and to catch our breath.
The top end of the walk, near Schwandboden and Alpiglen, is pretty spectacular because it’s the northern run-off valley of the Wetterhorn; if you have a bit more energy than we did this time, you could push on to the saddle at Grosse Scheidegg and enjoy the panoramic views. Instead of getting the bus back down the valley, we chose to continue enjoying our walk and headed back down the path which criss-crosses the road a couple of times. We rejoined the tarmac for a while because of tired legs and a more easy-going return to Schwarzwaldalp. From there, we returned the way we’d come, along the forest track, and enjoyed the views across to the cliffs above the Rosenlaui gorge once more.
