Along the "Emme Riverbank Trail" from Flühli to Schüpfheim and Escholzmatt

Saturday April 24, 2021 -- Keeping it close to home again, we traveled to the Entlebuch this time, which is a UNESCO-designated biosphere encompassing 39,000 hectares of farms, peat bogs, karst geography, and wild rivers west of Luzern. This region is nicknamed the "Wild West" of Luzern.

In one of the valleys here called the "Waldemmental", the Waldemme River has its source on the flanks of Mt. Brienzer Rothorn, and flows north past the popular vacation town of Sörenberg, joining the "Wissemme" river near Schüpfheim, and continuing as the "Kleine Emme" (or "Small Emme" -- as opposed to the "real" Emme river which gives its name to the Emmental region) to flow into the Reuss River near Lucerne. All along these various "Emme" rivers are walking trails, in particular one such trail called the "Emmenuferweg" or "Emme Riverbank Trail". 

A year ago almost at this exact time, I walked a section of this trail starting in Sörenberg and ending in Flühli. 

(That blog entry can be found HERE)

It now seemed like a good idea to continue this trail, starting in Flühli (which by the way is the birthplace of glass manufacturing here in Switzerland: The early glass craftsmen came from Germany in 1723, and basically decimated the forests around here in their need for wood for their furnaces) and heading out of the valley at the top of a ravine formed by the Waldemme River.

Generally, the "Emmenuferweg" trail continues along the Kleine Emme River north past Schüpfheim to Wolhusen, but we turned west and followed the Wisse Emme tributary all the way to Escholzmatt. The train line between Luzern and Bern runs along this stretch, and we have traveled through here many times. It is a nice change to look at the area from outside the train. 

Aside of a monotonous 2.5-km stretch along this canal, the rest of total 16-km stretch we did this day was enjoyable... 

We started at the church in Flühli at shortly before 11 a.m.. This is a view to the south, to Mt. Brienzer Rothorn, where the source of the Waldemme River is. We're heading away from the mountains, northwards.

The sign says 2 hours to Schüpfheim (although it would have been more). Too short for us, so we decided to walk to Escholzmatt, although the trail we took was a different one, so 20 minutes less than indicated. The "Emmenuferweg" is Trail no.527

Following the Waldemme River, here's another look South to the mountains, which actually form the border with Canton Bern.

At first I thought cows were grazing on this hillside, but a closer look showed four deer, which was quite a surprise as this is close to a busy road. The traffic didn't seem to bother them.

These young deer were just shedding their winter coats. We observed them for a long time before this one noticed us and ran off to his mama.

Usually walks along a river are boring for me, but the trails here and the landscape were very nice. 

Another look up the Waldemme Valley to Mt. Brienzer Rothorn

Walking along the Waldemme River in the Entlebuch region of Canton Luzern.

One of the particularities of the Entlebuch region are these stretches of karst massifs called "Flue". This one is called Schwandiliflue

An interesting pothole created by the river shortly before it drops into the ravine

VIDEO:

The Waldemme River getting "wilder" as it heads into the ravine

We just crossed the "wild" part of the Waldemme River as it descends into the ravine. Now looking for a good place to have lunch!

One of many farms in this region

We came 1 hour 10 minutes to here, and it would be another 1 hour 25 minutes to Schüpfheim, so definitely longer than the two hours claimed in Flühli! Trail no.527 is the "Emmenuferweg" or "Emme Riverbank Trail

After a picnic lunch, we resumed walking along the ravine, and got a glimpse once in a while to the river below. 

We often see collections of old tools mounted on the side of the barns. This farmer also won many prizes for his cows and goats.

Out of the ravine now, and we're headed down to the river again on the left, but first a visit to a dairy shop, the white house in the middle. I said to Urs: "If they have Sörenberg Cheese, let's get some of that!"

It turns out the Sörenberg cheese (which is specific to this valley) was on special, so Urs bought a big chunk

The sign says "Specialty Cheeses of the Entlebuch". We bought Sörenberger and Sbrinz. Should have tried the "Entlebucher" as well. 

Here at the wooden bridge, the Waldemme River heads North, but we're going West now. Two more hours till Escholzmatt (having come just over two hours down the valley). 

Cool building!

Here is where the "Wisse Emme" (or "White Emme") River joins the Waldemme River. In the background is the town of Schüpfheim.

The first 2.5 kilometers along the Wisse Emme River were a bit monotonous, as it is obviously "manmade" here and totally straight.... After that the river's course was more of a meandering, which is much more interesting

At least there were interesting farms to look at, and once in a while the local train (BLS-Line: "Bern-Lötschtal-Simplon") would pass by. Actually, we have traveled with this train through this landscape DOZENS of times, so it gives a new perspective to have walked in the region

VIDEO:
Cows are now finally in the pastures

Shortly before the end of our hike we had a small uphill section, which then gave us the first view of the peaks and massifs to our South, since starting in the Waldemme Valley. (Not sure if this is the Schrattenflue, or Hohgant Massif)

Some more Entlebuch landscape

A particularly nice building that caught our eye.

A look at Escholzmatt before our descent to the train station.

And another look South. If I'm not wrong, that U-shaped saddle is the passage into the Justiz Valley and Lake Thun in Canton Bern, also something we would want to do...

It was a long hike after all! 16 km! There are no buses between Schüpfheim and Escholzmatt, so we basically were committed, once we headed West.