From the Klausen Pass (Schächental Valley) to the Bisis Valley

30 June 2018 -- Weather forecast for the weekend: Very Very Hot. So guess what, we went to the mountains! I did scorn slightly, though, as my Other Half said "better take a good jacket along". Glad I listened, for two reasons: 1) leaving home at 6:15 is coolish even on a very hot day, and 2) clouds can come up very quickly in the mountains, and then it gets COLD!

Which is exactly what happened.

But at least the first hour and a half that we spent on the Balmer Ridge (including the 1-hour uphill climb) at the Klausen Pass were sunny, with clear skies, and a view to make the heart soar. This is one of my favourite places in the world and we have been in this area many times. Besides it being so close to our home!

But then thick dark clouds formed on the ridge and it got cold on the first half of our VERY long descent into the Bisis Valley to the North. I thought we'd never catch up to the sun, but eventually we did, and even though the trail was rough and hard to find, the slight breeze made our journey quite comfortable.

This one was a very long hike, took us almost 5 hours. On the map it measures 11 km, but with the steep uphill and very long downhill, calculates to about 17 km when you consider "performance km"!

Special Treat: As we came up the Schächen Valley with the PostBus from Flüelen (a treat in itself), just a short stretch before the Pass all cars had to stop at the hairpin turn as the mountain farmers were taking their herd of cows to pasture and needed to cross there. Our bus driver quipped "It's the Schächen Valley Street Parade!"

The bus ride up the Schächen Valley to the Klausen Pass is a treat in itself, with the narrow curving roads and the steep drop into the valley below.

At the last hairpin curve we had to wait for the cows to cross. Lots of people get out here to walk the Schächen Valley High Trail (where the cows are walking!!) Can't wait too long though... the stragglers have to make their way through the traffic.

We got out at the Klausen Pass Hotel, which is not actually at the Klausen Pass. But this is a great view westward into the Schächen Valley, where we came up from.

And far away, the "Schächen Valley Street Parade" continues.... the cow bells echoed across the valley for a very long time.

Hotel Klausen Pass is not actually at the pass, but this is where our trail starts. In the back, the right, is my favourite mountain, Mount Schärhorn. Looks like scissors, thus the name.

We still had early morning shade (9 a.m.) and cool early morning lighting for the 1 hour 10 mins. ascent.

Up, Up, Up

400m ascent in 1 hour 10 minutes. So proud!

On the other side of the ridge, looking North, is the Bisis Valley which ends at Muotothal. The large alpine meadow above is the popular Glattalp. A cable car goes up there, but can take only 8 people every 15 minutes, so you sometimes have to wait a couple of hours to get up or down!

Along the slope you can just barely see the zigzag path we climbed up, to the snows patch on the left. Now the trail follows the ridge for 30 minutes.

Here you can see how high we've come!

Walking the Balmer Grätli Ridge

Walking along the Balmer Grätli Ridge. On the next saddle past the rock tower is where we descent to the Ruosalp (to the right).

Looking backwards on the North side of the ridge. Our goal is the little lake called Waldisee, which you can barely see at the center of the photo. Above right is Glattalp, and the valley is called Bisistal.

Panorama Photo from the ridge looking East: Schächen Valley and Klausen Pass on the right, Bisis Valley on the left.

The Alpine Choughs are our accompaniment this time (no goats).

At the saddle called Ruosalper Chulm, you can descend to the South and go back to the Klausen Pass, or to the North as we did. This view is the South, with Mount Schärhorn at the back.

This is Ruosalper Chulm. We are now descending to the North. In the back is something pretty impressive: There is a road hewn out of the vertical cliff face to get to an alpine pasture, a single alpine pasture...

There is road hewn out of the cliff face to access the farm above. Last Autumn two people died when they were working on this road and a piece of the mountain broke and carried them off.

Last Autumn, three men lost their lives working on the upkeep of this road. You can see where the rock slide was.

Straight down below us, the ENTIRE mountainside was covered in little white flowers. It was a stunning tableau, looked like a dusting of snow or icing sugar.

Since this is an alpine pasture (the entire cauldron is called Ruosalp), there are cows!

Swiss Chocolate tastes special because the cows eat meadow flowers.

The trail was very hard to find, no trail really, just red-white markers every few meters.

This entire mountainside is a pasture, called Ruosalp. The farm below makes their own goat's cheese, which I don't like, so we didn't buy any.

From about the height of the Goat Farm we look over at Lake Waldisee, an easy 20-minute walk. The trail continues for another 40 minutes at the back of the lake and then another 200m steep down to the road where the bus stop is.