Hike from Oberalp Pass to Nätschen near Andermatt

Saturday July 25th -- The area near Andermatt is a good starting point for lots of excursions in the Gotthard Region, and as it turns out, also a popular vacation retreat at the moment.... on our hike near the Oberalp Pass we encountered LOTS of people, many speaking languages other than Swiss-German! There are facilities for RV's up there, so that's an attraction, and the area is easily accessed by train. Furthermore, since the last time I was here in 2016, they have constructed two large Gondola Cable Cars, one starting at the Oberalp Pass and one in Andermatt itself, both primarily intended to increase the skiing area on the North side of the Valley (between Andermatt and Sedrun). As this was exactly the slope we had planned to hike today, unaware of the cable cars, it also increased the numbers of casual day hikers in the area, especially up at the beautiful little lake called the Lutersee.

But fewer people made the strenuous 450m climb (took us 1 hour 10 minutes, and it was very cold!) from the pass to the saddle which forms the crossing into the Northern Fellital Valley, and also fewer people took the lower trail below the lake (the higher trail which is the official one, called Senda Sursilvana, is actually a mountain road, and passes by a newly built exclusive and modern restaurant perched high above the valley), so we ended up avoiding most of the crowds. 

Highlight of the day was a detour to the Gütsch Wind Park, something not actually advertised, and which we did only because we saw some roads marked on the map, and thought we might get a view into the Reuss Valley to the North (which we did, and how magnificent). It was a wonderful experience to sit beneath the four spectacular wind turbines, with no noise far and wide except the swish-swish of the blades and small tinkle of sheep bells. What made this a particularly nice experience for us, besides being able to look into the Göscheneralp Valley where we had recently been, is that we could now see up close these four wind turbines which we always see when we are traveling by train in the Ursuren Valley below.

The descent to Nätschen (a stop on the Matterhorn-Gotthard Railway line) was a bit drawn-out for the end of this 5-hour hike, but we got more surprises when we got there: In the process of building the new Andermatt-Gütsch cable-way, they moved the entire railway line at this location! i.e. the train station is also no longer at the same place it was in winter 2013 when we previously came here to toboggan down the road to Andermatt!

Besides being very near to the Source of the Rhine River (Lake Tomasee), the Oberalppass forms the border between Cantons Grisons and Uri....

Heading up by train from Andermatt to the Oberalp Pass, this is the view down on Andermatt and the Ursuren Valley

Heading up toward the Oberalp Pass

VIDEO:

Riding the Gotthard-Matterhorn Railway 

from Andermatt to the Oberalp Pass

At the Oberalp Pass the sign says 1 hr. 20 Minutes to the ridge called Fellilücke. We made it in 1 hr. 10 minutes. The sun was mostly covered by clouds and then it got cold, so good for a steep ascent!

First we did the steep ascent to the Fellilücke, and then took the lower trail. With the detour to the Gütsch Wind Park, our hike took 1 hour longer than the "direct" route to Nätschen

The "Schneehühnerexpress" Cable Car is in operation only since end of 2018, so this is new for us (last time I was up here was in 2016). Most people take the cable car up. Few climb as we did 

Heading up to the ridge called Fellilücke

A look down at Lake Oberalpsee and the Oberalp Pass. That mountain is called Pazzolastock, and behind it is lake Tomasee, which is the source of the Rhine River

A view down the valley to the Urseren Valley

Lots of bare rock up here. The stream forms marshy areas, which are always pretty

A beautiful view past Mt. Pazzolastock South into the Maighels Valley

Proud to have reached the Fellilücke in just 1 hour 10 minutes! It was very cold and windy up here, so we had to find a good wind-free spot for our picnic lunch, tucked away behind some boulders

On the North side of the Fellilücke is the Fellital Valley, a long and arduous descent into the Reusstal Valley

We didn't head over the saddle into the Fellital Valley. We stayed here on the South flank of the mountain, and headed West

Even though there was a lot of cloud cover, what a spectacular view to the SE over the Bündner Alps (Grisons)

Only a handful of other people did this part of the hike

As we passed by the mid-station of the Schneehühner Cable-Way, we encountered many more people

The cable car continues higher. This is mainly a winter ski region

From here to the lake is an easy wide road. We were at first surprised at the number of people up here, but then it occurred to us that vacationers in the popular town of Andermatt now have easy access to this trail, only since barely a year.

First view of the lake called Lutersee, which ended up being quite the popular destination

On the trail called "Senda Sursilvana". The trail continues higher above the lake, but we took a lesser-used trail below the lake

After descending to the lake, we took the lower trail

Before descending to the lake, we sat and waited till the sun illuminated the water, for a better picture

Beautiful meadows full of daisies

Too many people here, we didn't stay long. We did walk to the back of the lake and watched as some VERY hardy young people went swimming!

Walking along the lake to get away from the people, before continuing down the hill below the lake

On the lower trail we had more flowers and interesting vegetation, probably nicer than the upper trail

Way up high behind me is the upper trail, the official "Senda Sursilvana", but we were glad we picked the lower, less-walked trail. It was not marked, and so most "new" people probably didn't know you could walk here. Also, the other trail is easier if you have children

 

The other cable car recently completed is called the Gütsch Express, and this one comes up directly from Andermatt. So it makes it easy for people to walk to the lake and then on to the other cable car.

Along with the new cable cars, they built this exclusive and modern restaurant

On our map we saw some roads, not far off the trail, so we followed those to a ridge where we were hoping to look into the Reusstal to the North. We didn't realize this would take us into the "Gütsch Wind Park"

Absolutely spectacular up here. This was my favourite part of the excursion

A fabulous place for a house. We descended onto this side for a bit to enjoy some spectacular views into the Reusstal Valley, where we could see the side valleys: Meiental and Göscheneralptal, and the railway between Wassen and Göschenen far below

Way below to the North is the Reusstal Valley, and the railway line between Wassen and Göschenen

A great place for a coffee break!

It was so peaceful up here, just the swish-swish of the turbine blades. (This is, by the way, a natural wind tunnel, so a good place to create wind energy)

This cute bird kept us company for a while. I looked it up, it's called a "white-winged snowfinch", common in the mountains above 1500m. (Schneesperling in German)

Directly to our West, across from the Schöllenen Gorge, is the Göscheneralp Valley where we recently did a hike. The large Damma Glacier forms the backdrop of the Göscheneralp Valley

There were all kinds of marmots whistling at us on the way down

The way down to Nätschen train station from the wind park took about an hour and 20 minutes, much longer than we expected. Some of it was on a wide road (we could have taken a trottinette, had we known!) and some through pastures where we had to navigate the cows. But all the time we had a view into the Ursuren Valley

Below in the right hand corner is the large new middle-station of the Gütsch-Express Cable Car coming up from Andermatt. We were a bit early for the train, so we had and expensive something cold to drink before heading to the train station.

As we finally arrived at the Nätschen train station, we were overly surprised to see how completely the region had been rebuilt. Originally, the railway track was higher up on the hill!

Until now, the only time we saw the wind turbines at the Gütsch Windpark was when traveling by train across the Ursuren Valley, the four poles visible at the top of the mountain. It was a treat to see them up close, finally:

Four wind-turbines just visible as you travel at the bottom of the Ursuren Valley

VIDEO:

On the descent from Andermatt to Göschenen

through the Schöllenen Gorge