Two-Day Trip to the Deepest Natural Lake in Canton Uri -- Seewlisee

Tuesday June 30 and Wednesday July 1  -- DAY 1

(Photos from Day 2 can be found HERE)

In the Uri Alps just 40 km from where we live is a little lake called Seewlisee surrounded by some very steep vertical rock walls, and a fairly steep ascent of 900m is the fastest and most often traveled way to reach it. This lake is the largest (9 ha.) and deepest (20m) natural lake in Canton Uri, and because it is so deep and cold, it was populated with Canadian Trout in 1880, as these fish do well in the cold waters. Because the Seewlialp is a popular destination for families and especially for fishermen, and because there is what appears to be an equally popular mountain hostel on the remote Alp, we decided to do a two-day trip with overnight in the dormitory there, now, during the week, before school holidays start.

We chose an unusual route to get there, starting at the Sittlisalp in the Brunnital Valley (we have been in this beautiful valley four times, with the largest North-Face of the Alps crowning the back end, requiring first a two kilometer hike into the valley to ride the 5-minute cable car to the upper alpine meadows of Sittlisalp at 1616m) and hiking via a series of small lakes to the top of the highest peak West of Sittlisalp -- i.e. Hoch Fulen = 2506m -- before descending across a tricky Karst landscape to the lake at 2031m. According to our map, this should have taken less than 5 hours, but having to cross many remaining fields of snow, plus the very loose and gravelly landscape near the peak..... we surely walked about 6.5 hours (not including the 30 minutes to reach the cable car)! With all the rest stops, we reached the Seewlialp at 6 p.m., 9 hours after starting at Sittlisalp....

What should have been a cloudless day turned out to be a series of thick fog clouds being blown in and away, giving us only small and always-changing view windows of the magnificent rocky formations up here, which has its own charm in a way, although I really had wished for a more far-reaching view of the Reuss Valley after the exertion of climbing almost 1000m for a 360-degree view.  

Once we arrived at the Seewli Alp, we found out that to reach the lake from the mountain hostel required another 15 minutes over a rise, and even after all that walking, we wanted to get in a quick peek at the lake before returning for the 6:30 p.m. dinner that we had pre-ordered when we reserved for the night. According to the Internet, the host of the alpine hostel is known for his alpine macaroni & cheese dish, and the "cozy" dormitory accommodates 20 people. Our overnight there was not quite what I expected, and will be an experience I won't soon forget, but not in a good way.....

The excursion starts at 08:00 after getting off the bus in Unterschächen (which is in the Schächental Valley). This side valley, called Brunnital, features the larges North Face of the Alps. We have to walk 2 km into this valley to the cable car

Heading into the Brunnital Valley, this is a look back toward the Schächental Valley

Up ahead more of the North Face comes into view. This whole valley is a large open pasture and the animals have the right-of-way

The Brunnital cable cars crossing on the way to Sittlisalp, over 500m higher than the valley bottom

We were lucky that there were no other people headed up to the Alpine Pasture at this time, because the cable car transports only four people at a time and takes about 7 minutes per run. And because cars can drive up to here, on a Sunday you might have to wait over an hour to go up.

Looking down into the Brunnital Valley and the Schächental Valley on our way up to Sittlisalp in the cable car

Another photo of a cable car to add to my collection

From the cable car station it takes about 45 minutes along the high trail across the Sittlisalp pastures, before ascending into the Griesstal Valley. From there it was another 750 m ascent to the top of Mt. Hoch Fulen, and then a complicated descent via karst landscape and snowy sections to the little Seewli Lake

Walking across Sittlisalp toward the North Face of the Gross Ruchen and Gross Windgällen mountains (on the other side is the popular Maderaner Valley)

The large alp has its own dairy where all the milk produced up here is immediately converted into cheese and joghurt. Unfortunately the farmers must have been out in the fields as no one was there to serve us

Baby cows, so cute. Drinking their morning milk....

Below is Brunnialp. The first time we were up here we hiked down to that alpine pasture, and up the opposite side.

Fog clouds are already starting to move into the valley and across the alp

The second time we were up here we made it this far, to the junction that goes up to the Griesstal Valley. At that time we descended from here all the way back to Unterschächen via Brunnialp. This time we are going UP.

Lots of beautiful meadow flowers 

Just before a steep 100m ascent I said to Urs, I hope there is a fountain somewhere soon, because I need to fill up my water bottles. And then we saw this sign on a rock: "Water, 2 Minutes".

And sure enough there was water! Nothing better than fresh, cold, alpine water

First 300m ascent completed!

Always a thrill to catch sight of the marmots! 

On our way up to the lakes, we get a view of the back of the Griesstal Valley. We're headed up to the peak of Hoch Fulen, but from around the hills on the right. Afterwards, we have to descend that Karst section in the middle, and cross several snowy patches

This final little lake (after passing several others) was our goal for our lunch stop, the second 300m ascent. It is now 12:45

We caught sight of another chamois running across the rocky hillside

A well-deserved 1-hour rest at the little lake, before the final 250m ascent!

Heading up on the final ascent, leaving the little lake behind us.

Hard to believe that we can actually make it up there!

Some snowy patches to navigate first.

Looking back where we had come up (you can see the other people descending)

Not much to see to the North, unfortunately. Below is the high plateau called Haldigrat, which is our goal for the second day of the hike. We can only hope for a better view on Day 2!

A very interesting trail

Fog rolling in and out gives our hike a special eerie atmosphere!

And finally the first view of the Uri Alps in the Reusstal Valley, as I stand below the peak of Hoch Fulen. 

The last stretch across this heap of rocks is actually pretty easy

We sat up here for about 30 minutes watching the fog clouds open view windows. It was actually very impressive.

Below us to the South, Mount Bristen and the Reuss Valley toward the Gotthard Pass. Directly below is the karst section which we have to cross next

We were very lucky that to the North, the fog lifted for just a few seconds so that we could see Flüelen on Lake Uri, Eggbergen across, Mount Rigi behind on the left, and directly below: the Haldi Plateau that we want to descend to the next day

Directly below us to the West is where we plan to cross the next day (It's called the Bälmeter Crest)

Back down off Mount Hoch Fulen, to head North toward Seewli

The descent was a bit complicated, and took longer than we had planned!

It's always impressive to look behind us to see where we have come from

Now we are crossing the ridge at the back of the Griesstal Valley, which we had seen earlier on our way up. The mountains at the back of Brunnital are now completely hidden in fog, such a shame

A couple of snowy patches to cross

Definitely interesting to hike across!

Final section of snow before the descent to the lake (we'll be crossing this in the other direction again the next day)

In the background the majestic Gross and Klein Windgällen mountains, and way way below a tiny glimpse of Lake Seewlisee

A view down into the Reusstal Valley. The more popular trail ascends from there!

Below us is the dormitory at Seewli Alp, where we spent the night

We arrived at Seewlialp "Restaurant" (6 p.m.) which turned out to really be just an old fellow serving refreshments out of the kitchen in this small cabin? We decided to have a drink before heading to the lake

A view 1500m (!!!) down to the Reuss River

Again we were lucky to have a look at the lake before the fog came down about an hour later. This lake is the deepest and largest natural lake in Canton Uri, and very popular for fishing.

Heading back to the cabin for the dinner which we had arranged for... Alpine macaroni and cheese with apple sauce (that's basically all that gets served when you order dinner and breakfast with the overnighting, cooked on a wood stove).

Fog is now descending, which is too bad because we were hoping for a great sunset. By the way, the dormitory is actually in the little shed on the left. Trough with cold water for washing up is on this side of the cabin. And the toilet is just inside the front door....

Believe it or not, this is the dormitory at Seewlialp. There are 20 mattresses in there, and even though the bedding was comfortable, it smelled from machine oil and all the other stuff stored in there, and the floor was not at all sturdy, and vibrated every time someone got up to go pee (all three fishermen, several times during the night). 

Final view of the mountains across the Reuss Valley before we headed off to bed

Our hike for the day: Over 16 km including the 2 km at the bottom of the Brunnital Valley. But with the steep ascent and descent, this translates into many many more performance kilometers!