Walking through the Tüfelsschlucht (Devil's Gorge) on a Very Hot Day

July 4, 2018 -- Not all our excursions meet up to our expectations, and this was one such one. Maybe the weather was simply too hot, or it was because we had read rave reviews about this gorge in the NW part of Switzerland (between Olten and Balsthal) which was supposed to be spectacular (and specifically picked by us in the hopes of doing a cool hike on a hot day)..... but having been spoiled by our ability to go to all corners of the country and having been in really magnificent gorges, this turned out to be a tame, made-for-local-families-with-small-children type of gorge. (several places to make campfires along the way).

The entire walk through the gorge took 30 minutes, and the really interesting sections even less. But still, I am always amazed that such passages are created and maintained to provide "us" with access to wonderful landscapes we might otherwise never see.

The particularly interesting thing about this gorge is the Warning/Danger sign at its entrance, that the steep cliff walls are continually releasing rocks and therefore the passage through the gorge is "at great risk and own responsibility". Apparently this was recently the case as we found out later that the gorge passage had been closed for three weeks due to a massive slide, and only just reopened the week before. Good luck for us, as the (5.5 km, 1.5-hour) walk to get there was pretty hot, and I would have been disappointed to not have been able to walk through as planned, as short as the gorge passage turned out to be.

The total hike we did was 8.5 km / 2.5 hours, of which the actually passage through the gorge (Tüfelsschlucht) was only 30 minutes.

The villages in this part of the country have their own particular charm. this is our starting point in Langenbruck

Many of the old houses have been renovated, and the original barn entrances (some with very lovely doors) converted to fit into the living space

Stables used to be built onto the living quarters, and often now restored / renovated into new living quarters. The palm tree was a surprise, and the stone fountains are always welcoming!

This is a typical landscape for this northwestern part of Switzerland

These cows were probably thinking: "Why are those idiots walking on such a hot day?"

And there are always plentiful butterflies, and buzzards looking for mice

Along the way we passed through one single village called Bärenwil (Bear Hamlet). Appropriate.

The only restaurant far and wide was closed for holidays (although they would have been closed on Wednesday anyway). So we "borrowed" the bench for our picnic lunch.

We are always glad when there is a fountain where we can fill up our bottles

Also appropriate: We found a bear in "Bear Hamlet" (or two)

Finally arrived in the gorge. Well actually, this is a small stretch called the "Upper Gorge"

I liked this little piece of the Upper Gorge the best

At the entrance to the actual Tüfelsschlucht Gorge, a sign warns of the great risk of rocks breaking off here, especially during storms and spring thaws. Oh, and bikes are NOT allowed.