Panorama Views on the Blueme Look-out Tower above Lake Thun

October 25, 2017 --  Wednesday's hike was a bit of a basic one for us this time, no walking on glaciers or glacier moraines, just through pleasant fall forest trails and meadows to a look-out tower on the hills above the North side of Lake Thun.

This area near Interlaken gets a lot of sun and so we didn't risk any snow this time. And descending through open meadows we got satisfying views of the pyramid-shaped Mount Niesen and the Bernese Trio. In fact, the snowy peaks made a lovely contrast with the fall colours and the late afternoon sun cast interesting shadows on those snowy peaks, creating a depth of field you don't usually get in summer.

Still, it was 12 km and a 4-hour hike but warm and sunny so also another great "Day-Off" hike for us.

From Goldiwil near Thun it took us 2 hours to walk up to the tower, then from there another two hours to walk to Sigriswil

Below us is the village of Goldiwil where we started our hike. All the way in the valley bottom on the left is the city of Thun on Lake Thun.

This cute and very old barn loft has its own address!

To our North, several such Emmental farmsteads dot the countryside

These aren't the usual babies we see in the meadows, but also cute!

This is perfect fall weather for hiking.

Uphill hikes are not strenuous when the trails are through soft pastures.

The lighting is interesting at this time of year.

It's all relative

Simmental cow in the pasture, they love company

That is a backscratcher, in case one is needed...

We found some more Toblerones, it looks like there might have been a fortification line here as well. I stepped in the stinging nettles.

This oak tree is 122 years old

This 122-year-old oak tree is a natural monument. It was planted in 1895 to commemorate the opening of the Rehabilitation Clinic in Heiligenschwendi nearby.

This was our view for lunch, before the final ascent to the look-out tower

The Blueme look-out tower. It is 16m high

On top of the 16m-high Blueme look-out tower (highest point in the community of Thun)

The 16m-high Blueme look-out tower (highest point in the community of Thun)

From the tower, it was another 2-hour descent to Sigriswil. We walked along a light ridge with views in three directions.

From the tower, it was another 2-hour descent to Sigriswil. We walked along a light ridge with views in three directions.

We were rewarded with clear views of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau peaks

There is a gorge between us and our destination of Sigriswil, so we had to back-track a bit.

At the back of the gorge was this old mill (Grabenmühle), converted to a restaurant called "Funky Fish"

This is the 5-year-old suspension bridge (pedestrian only) in Sigriswil, it is 350m long and hangs 180m over the gorge. 

The Information Center in Sigriswil

From Sigriswil we took the bus back to Thun, from where you get a magnificent view of the Eiger North Wall.

12-km hike from Goldiwil to Sigriswil near Thun (Lake Thun)

We haven't spent a lot of time in this area, not as much as other areas in Switzerland.