Ridge Hike on Mount Rinderberg near Zweisimmen, Bernese Highlands

Saturday and Sunday Aug.24th and 25th:  Whereas 400,000 people were streaming into our city for the weekend, we were heading out early to get away from these crowds, fans of Switzerland's favourite sport, a special kind of wrestling called Schwingen. The Federal Championships take place every three years, and this year it was in our town, very near where we live, and we did not want to be here. 

We checked the weather map: Where is the weather nice, and where can we find accommodation short notice? That's how we ended up in the Simmental Valley in the Bernese Highlands, an area we rarely ever get to and don't know at all. We rented a room for two nights with a young couple in a large typical Bernese chalet home, which turned out to be the "parsonage" because the lovely young LADY was the pastor of the Lutheran Church next door, a historical building which we also had a look at. The little town called Ried is part of St.Stephan in the Simmental Valley, known for its decorated and carved wooden houses.

When we got there on Saturday, we dumped our stuff and headed up the local mountain called the Rinderberg (cable car from Zweisimmen, very near our apartment), for a ridge hike and Rösti Lunch, and even got caught in a sudden and very unexpected rain shower....

The Rinderberg is a popular ski area, so there were many ski lifts and towers, and it is also a popular family destination, so there were lots of people on the trail with kids, and especially at the restaurants. We walked down the mountain to Saanenmöser on the West side of the mountain, and had to sit out the rain for ten minutes under some trees. From there it was a short ride back to Zweisimmen and to our room in St.Stephan. 

Before heading to the cable-car station we first walked around Zweisimmen for a bit, so when we got here, there were no other people, all the others from the train having gotten here earlier.

Cable car ride up Mount Rinderberg. This is a view North over Zweisimmen (the name Zweisimmen probably comes from the joining of the two Simmen Rivers here, i.e. Zwei = Two)

Another posed photo with a cable car!

From here we are walking to Hornberg (where we had lunch), then Horneggli, and from there to Saanenmöser instead of Schönried, one town over but about the same distance.  

View North down the Simmental Valley. This is the Rinderberg Mountain Restaurant

View East into the Simmental Valley (Lenk is to the right). Below is the little village of Ried where we rented a room for two nights. In the next valley over is Adelboden

View South to a Valley we considered hiking the next day, but we ended up going further South, to the higher mountains in the background

View Southwest to the peaks called Gummfluh and Le Rubli (the very ritzy town of Gstaad is just below there). In the very center of the photo, on the nearer ridge, is our restaurant and the little hill called Horeflue which we later climbed.  

A pretty nice ridge hike for a Saturday afternoon. We started late, it was already 11:30

By 1 p.m. we reached the two restaurants at Hornberg. There were many people here as you can come up by car, but lots of space, so we had a nice Rösti lunch, their specialty

After lunch we decided to climb over the hill called Horeflue (just past the restaurants), instead of going around it, which is what everyone else did. It was a tough steep climb, but some nice views, including this one into the "Pays d'En Haut" (Saanen and Gstaad) which is the Valley on the West side of the Rinderberg

And looking eastward to where we had come from. On the right are the restaurants called "Hornberg" where we had lunch. The regular trail goes to the lake and then around this hill on the left.

This beautiful mountain to the West is called "Dent de Ruth", (Ruth's Tooth). The red rock shows a different layer of Earth's crust pushed to the surface

After we got back off the Horeflue which we walked over, when we could have gone around it on either side. It doesn't look that high, but it was a steep ascent and descent. 

There were a few people with baskets collecting mushrooms, but not these pretty ones!

Another hour and 10 minutes to our destination in Saanenmöser, and suddenly thick dark clouds came up. About 15 minutes before the end, the rain came, and we had to wait it out under the trees in the forest

This is just one example of hundreds of beautiful old chalets in this area. Many of them are decorated with carvings. Most of them are from the 17th Century.

At Saanenmöser train station, waiting for the train back to Zweisimmen. This is the best fountain I have yet seen in Switzerland. 

The town of Zweisimmen is at the junction where two rivers meet (Simme and Little Simme) and where we took the cable car up the Rinderberg Mountain. It was easy to get back to Ried where we spent the night. This ended up being a 10 km hike, standard for us. 

Here are some photos from the little town called Ried, between Zweisimmen and St.Stephan on the train line to Lenk. Just a 5-minute walk to the little train station which is perfect for us. 

The little town called Ried, with its historical church (one part of it dates from the 8th Century according to our host, who is the pastor of this church). Our accommodation is under the arrow on the left. 

Our home for two nights, our room was the one nearest the entrance on the left. 

A variety of beautiful wooden buildings in the town of Ried, many from the 17th Century)

The Church in Ried

Various tasteful details on this pretty little church

View South into the Simmental Valley. This was very much like the view from our bedroom window, except for the gravestones. (We had decided to head toward the mountain at the back for the hike the next day)