Hiking in Switzerland – Gabrielle and Urs: October 2015

October 30, 2015

A Walk to Lake Cauma near Flims, and a look into the Rhine Canyon

(This post was created on January 25, 2025)

Friday October 30, 2015 -- We are having some very beautiful late October weather here and lots of opportunities for some sunny fall hikes with all the lovely lighting and colors.

On this Friday we hiked from Flims (a popular winter ski area) to Tamins in the canton of Grisons/Graubünden, first to the magical turquoise lake called Caumasee, and then along the ridge above the Rhine Canyon. (We walked at the bottom of this same Canyon back in April, photos HERE). The views down into this canyon, where the Rhine River has carved out some fantastic cliffs after one of the largest rock falls in the world 10,000 years ago, were spectacular.

In all, it was a fairly easy 14 kilometer, four-hour hike, and almost too warm for the end of October!

A view of the bell tower of the Evangelical Church in Trin, as the bus heads from Chur to Flims.

And now, as the bus rounds a corner, a view over the village of Trin Mulin, another little village between Trin and Flims.

Castle in Flims Waldhaus, the starting point of our hike. (This is a hotel offering vacation rentals).

The signs indicate a viewing platform called Conn, 50 minutes from here. Lake Cauma is a 15-minute walk. We started our hike here at 10:50.

The beautiful colours of Lake Cauma (Caumasee).

The water is so still, and the reflection is perfect.

Lake Caumasee

Starting at 10:45 in Flims Waldhaus, we first walked around Lake Caumasee, then went to the look-out tower above the Rhine Gorge, and then continued along Trail no.43: "St.James Trail Graubünden" to Tamins, where we caught a bus to Chur at about 4 p.m. In all, about 4 hours and almost 15 km walk.

Near the look-out point, a good place for lunch break at noon.

Down below, the Glacier Express Panorama Train passes through the beautiful Rhine Canyon. This is the section of the canyon which you cannot pass through on foot, only by boat or by train!

A look-out point where we can see down into the canyon.

This is the large viewing platform at a point called "Il Spir". We got here at 12:40.

The view from the platform

Down below, the Rhine River makes a loop. This is 10,000 years' worth of carving...

Fantastic view into the Rhine Canyon, and into the Safien Valley

Continuing now parallel to but further away from the canyon, we are enjoying the fall colours and the great visibility.

We run into lots of cats on our hikes, but this was probably the prettiest!

Along the way, we get this view to the north to an interesting massif called the Flimserstein (Flimser Rock).

Beautiful fall colours!

It was too warm for pants, so I put on these little shorts I had along, which are actually just a pair of undershorts!

The trail we are following is part of Trail no.43: "St. James Trail, Graubünden", and also Trail no.85: "Senda Sursilvana", both trails that go along the entire Surselva Valley from Chur to the Oberalp Pass.

Those concrete blocks are all over the Alps, remainders from the war, to prevent tanks from crossing.

Up above us is the village of Trin, which we passed by bus on the way from Chur to Flims on the main road above. There is also a tower of a fortress ruins.

As we get closer to the village of Tamins we crossed another ravine (a side river which enters the Rhine River from the north), and saw this fabulous concrete arch bridge for the Autobahn.

Entering the village of Tamins, where we had a quick look around before catching a bus nearby.

Heart of the village of Tamins

14 km, 4 hours, walk from Flims to Tamins along the top of the Rhine Canyon.

October 25, 2015

Meringue Dessert in Kemmeriboden Bad in the Entlebuch Region

(This post created on January 2, 2025)

Sunday, October 25, 2015 -- Of course we can't just go out for dessert, we have to walk about 10 kilometers to get there first!

There is a popular restaurant/hotel called Kemmeriboden Bad in the Emmental, famous for its meringue & ice cream & whipped cream dessert. You can get there by regular Post Bus but we included a 2½ hour hike starting at the ski resort called Marbachegg and walking down from there into the Bumbach Valley.

We walked most of the way with views of the massif called Schrattenfluh, which is a pretty impressive-looking mountain!

The dessert was good, but shouldn't be too hard to make at home. I will give this a try!

After traveling by train to Escholzmatt and then by bus southwards to Marbach, we take a gondola cable-car ride up to Marbachegg, a popular family ski resort. This view is of the village of Marbach from the gondola. This is the Entlebuch region of Canton Luzern, but just north of the Canton border with Bern.

At the summit station of the gondola is a starting platform for paragliders, and a nice look down over the village of Marbach and the very pretty Entlebuch region.

And on the other side we have a view to the south to the Bumbach Valley. That would be Canton Bern. Kemmeribodenbad is on the far left at the end of that valley.

Heading off our our hike now, with views to the south of the Hohgant Massif.

The walk from Marbachegg down to Kemmeriboden Bad takes under three hours, and follows Regional Trail no.65: "Grenzpfad Napfbergerland". We started at Marbachegg at about 1 p.m., and got to the restaurant at just over 4 p.m.

Up ahead is the massif called the Schrattenfluh. We are headed toward the base of that and will descend into the valley toward the right.

Always fun to see highland cattle

We are following Trail no.65: "Grenzpfad Napfbergerland". It's a little over 2½ hours to Kemmeriboden Bad.

Heading toward the base of the Schrattenfluh

A cute chapel along the way, and some pretty farmhouses.

A look behind us at the summit of Marbachegg, where we started our hike.

To the south we can see the summits of Mts. Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, and even the Sphinx observatory is visible on the saddle called Jungfraujoch. All those mountains are in the Bernese Oberland.

Passing by a farm called Ober Hapegg.

All the time we are headed slightly downhill.

A look behind us at the west flank of the Schrattenfluh Massif.

A look to the west into a valley that you can reach by bus from Thun. That is all in Canton Bern.

A section along some cliffs before the final steep descent of 300 meters. It's right about here that you cross the Canton border from Canton Luzern to Canton Bern.

We are being observed by some Simmental cows! In the background is Mt. Brienzer Rothorn, and the range of mountains which separates us here from Lake Brienz. All in the Bernese Oberland Region, as we have now crossed into Canton Bern.

We got down to the wooden bridge over the Emme River at just after 4 p.m., and headed across to the popular restaurant, known for its meringue desserts.

Advertising for the Kemmeriboden Meringues! The size of this meringue is vastly misleading....

Several interesting old buildings at the site of Kemmeriboden Bad.

Sharing a meringue dessert, made with lots of whipped cream, and ice cream if you like! It's a specialty of the Hotel/Restaurant Kemmeribodenbad. Very popular!

We had found a nice table next to the Gasthaus.

Time to catch the bus back home shortly before 4 p.m. This is a look up at the south end of the Schrattenfluh. The prominent rock at the top is called Schibegütsch.

This is what our walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps. First a cable-car ride from Marbach to Marbachegg, and then a 9-km walk down to Kemmeriboden Bad.

The rest of these photos is from the bus trip back to Escholzmatt from Kemmeriboden Bad. We had some nice late afternoon sunshine for that trip back home!