Fantastic Hike above Lake Curnera, near the Source of the Rhine River

Friday September 17, 2021 -- Small windows of good weather lately means we have to try to remain very flexible (thus the Friday off for this excursion) and cross our fingers that the forecast is correct: In this case, it was showing the best weather either in the very South (we didn't feel like going there again), or in the region of the Oberalp Pass right in the center of the Alpine chain. But as we got to the Oberalp Pass in thick fog, we once again lost hope of a successful planned hike, which was to be about five hours long.

As this seems to happen often lately, we went into a restaurant for coffee and to wait for the fog to lift. After an hour it lifted just enough that it wasn't too cold to walk, so we headed out anyway. The first part of the trail is the same as the popular trail to Lake Tomasee, which is the source of one of the two main rivers which create the mighty Rhine River (the second longest river in Europe), namely the Vorderrhein (Anterior Rhine), and we have walked it a couple of times, so knew the landscape. As we then approached the upper Maighels plateau, the fog disappeared, and we had nothing but sunshine for the rest of the day!

(NOTE: Photos of a hike we did to Lake Tomasee almost exactly five years ago, no fog on that day! --> HERE)

A detour to the Maighels Alpine Hostel for refreshments (bio apple juice!) and then we headed into a lesser-traveled side valley where the Maighels Rhine flows into Lake Curnera (a dammed lake created at the confluence of two other streams which feed the Rhine, namely "Rein da Maighel" and "Rein da Curmera"). The ascent wasn't difficult, especially as we were treated with views of more and more of the fantastically blue-coloured lake! There was a short section at the highest point above the lake which would not have been suitable for people with fear of heights, but the rest of the trail, including the descent to Tschamut in the Surselva Valley, was not particularly difficult!

So, another spectacular hike for us, despite the foggy start, and best of all, we encountered not a single other hiker on this marvelous trail. The world, once again, belonged to us alone....

On the train from Andermatt toward the Oberalp Pass, it's not looking good. The clouds are VERY low up here. 

A sunny section along Lake Oberalpsee almost had me change my mind about the hike we had planned. Should we not just stay here? That bit of fog on the right is exactly where we are going to be walking.... 

We deliberated for about an hour while having coffee here in this little restaurant at the pass. But a look at the webcam from the Maighels Hostel showed pure sunshine where we wanted to go, so we decided to go ahead and risk it. 

The trail markers had two hours to the Maighels Hostel. We made it in 1 hour 45 minutes because we walked quickly through the first foggy section!

Looking down the Oberalp Pass Road coming up the Surselva Valley... it's still not looking good for us, as the end of our hike is down in that direction. 

This was a very long hike, five hours of pure walking, and a very long descent as well. (Ascents and steep descents equate to more than the direct number of kilometers). But as it turned out, the landscape was fascinating, and we didn't have to deal with other people on the trail, so we weren't tired at all!

For the first hour of our hike we traveled on the same trail that we've done twice before. But by now the fog had lifted and we were glad we had gone ahead with our plan.

We literally left the fog behind!

Some very pretty small lakes up here. There's still a lot of fog in the area of the Oberalp Pass to the North. 

In that small dip in the background is Lake Toma (Tomasee) which is the source of the mighty Rhine River, which flows from here 1320 kilometers to empty into the North Sea in the Netherlands.

At the Maighelshütte (Swiss Alpine Club Hostel) we stopped for something to drink before continuing on our hike. We were the only customers until shortly before we headed out. 

The view South from the Maighels Hostel is toward the Bornengo Pass, which Urs has walked before, but still remains for me to do! (In a different year!). 

The trails over the Bornengo or Maighels Passes are more popular and we saw a few people headed that way, but we were the only ones going East to Lake Curnera. 

A look back to the Maighels Hostel. We're heading into the valley on the right, and are basically walking around this mountain. (Piz Cavradi)

The marmots are getting fat!

Heading down along the Maighels Rhine River ("Rein da Maighels" in the local dialect). This is one of the source streams for the Vorderrhein River. Our trail ascends on the left. 

The Rein da Maighels flows into Lake Curnera. 

As we ascend, we see more and more of the beautiful Lake Curnera

A look back at the valley we've descended

The valley to the South of Lake Curnera is unfortunately not accessible on foot (well, no official trail anyway). The river that flows into the lake from the back is called Rein da Curnera, and continues under the dam until it reaches the Rhine River further below. 

A panorama view of the dam end of the lake

VIDEO:

Panorama of Lake Curnera ("Lai da Curnera" in local Romansch language)

So high above the lake! The colour was fantastic. 

We still had to go higher, and for this section you had to be vertigo-free!

At the highest point of our hike we can now look down into the Surselva Valley, to the goal of our hike (near that village below). The fog is gone!

Now this is a fun part of the trail!

A look South along the entire length of the lake before we head down toward the dam. 

Panorama view of the entire lake Curnera. Our trail was along the right side, which is a relatively steep incline!

On our way back down toward the dam

The magnificent Curnera Dam. 

On the dam road, heading down into the Surselva Valley

Down below is the village of Tschamut, which is the end of our hike. Unfortunately the train station is another steep climb above the village!

Rounding the mountain we can see where we started at the Oberalp Pass, heading toward the left. 

Across the valley is the railway line

The famous Glacier Express passes by here on its way from St.Moritz to Zermatt (across the entire country from East to West)

A look back at the dam as we descend to the valley bottom. 

And here we are crossing the Rhine River (the Anterior Rhine = Vorderrhein), just 4 kilometers into its 1320-kilometer journey to the North Sea!

We did walk through the village of Tschamut before ascending to the train station. But it looks prettier from above. 

A good look at the mountain called Piz Cavradi, which we basically encircled!

How our hike looks on Google Satellite maps

Heading back up to the Oberalp Pass by train (17:45), this is a view we have seen many times when passing through here, and one of the reasons I wanted to see what was behind that dam!

What a surprise as we head back down to Andermatt to see that down there, there was fog all day, and where we were, it had lifted!

Zig-zagging our way down to Andermatt, we are at the same level as the clouds!

From Andermatt you get back into the Reuss Valley via the Schöllenen Gorge, also one of my favourite sights out the train window, before the train disappears into the cliff on the left! (This, by the way, is the Reuss River, another one of Switzerland's major rivers, also fairly near its origin).

The region to the left of the Oberalp Pass is Canton Uri, and to the right is Canton Graubünden. This is a good region for us to hike, as we can access it easily by train. 

The Oberalp Pass Region in the center of the alpine range.