Walking from the Klausen Pass across the Urnerboden Alp

Sunday October 10, 2021 -- Soon the buses won't be running up to the mountain passes any more, so we took the opportunity to go up to one of our favourite passes, where we hadn't been to yet this year: The Klausen Pass. 

The buses weren't nearly as full as they apparently were the day before (even though they did have to send two buses), and most of the people got out to walk the popular Schächental High Trail westward. What we did though was start from the pass and walk eastward into the Urnerboden Valley, which is the largest alpine meadow in Switzerland, where over 1200 cows spend each summer (unfortunately they weren't on the meadow any more). There is so much milk produced here in summer, that it is all processed in the local dairy in the village of Urnerboden.

We have been in this region many times, but have never walked down from the pass. It was colder than expected, and partly shady, and then the fog rolled in (always the fog!), but generally we had enough sunshine to make the 3-hour hike enjoyable enough. In any case, this is a favourite East-West passage of ours, and the landscape is impressive. In particular it is nostalgic for Urs, as an uncle of his owned two small houses here, and Urs spent a lot of his early teen years here, even helping to build some of the farm structures. 

Our hike ended at the Canton Border of Uri and Glarus before the road descends to Linthal, and to get back home we had to ride the bus BACK over the Klausen Pass the way we had come, which was a LONG bus ride. In all, we spent over 2.5 hours in the bus for both ways!

Interesting Historical Facts provided by our really fun bus driver: The road from Altdorf in Canton Uri to Linthal in Canton Glarus was built between 1889 and 1900, but took 50 years of discussions until it was actually agreed to be built. The cost at the time was supposed to be 2 Million, but with the large amount of blasting in the steep terrain, it ended up costing double that. At a standard wage of 3 Fr. per day at the time, that is a huge amount of money. A stage-coach ride across the new pass road cost 15 SFr., so an entire 5-day week's wages. 

Also, in summer, when the cows are up on the Urnerboden Alp, they have the right of way. It is a wide open pasture and the cows meander on the roads, and the vehicles have to wait until the cows decide to go out of the way. I have experienced this on a previous trip, and it was an adventure!!

UPDATE: Three days later it snowed here

On the bus ride up to the Klausen Pass, this is a view into a side valley called Brunnital. There is a lot of shade here in winter. The village is called Unterschächen

On the curving road as we ascend toward the pass, we reach the old Posthaus Urigen, which was a stopping point for the coaches which crossed the pass in the early 1900's, as the trip from one valley to the other could not be done in one day. (Sometimes they had to exchange here for fresh horses) 

This amazing road was built over a period of about 10 years and cost double what was originally expected (4 Million instead of 2 Million) due to the amount of blasting required

VIDEO:

(My own video uploaded to YouTube. Can be watched in YouTube by clicking on the link)

I was able to sit at the very front of the bus near the driver and got a good view as to how it feels to drive along this narrow road. The drop on the right hand side is 600 meters straight down!

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Near the Klausen Pass now, looking back into the Schächental Valley where we came up from. For a large part of the way we rode in the fog, but our bus driver assured us it was fantastic weather here at the pass!

One of my favourite mountains: Mt. Schärhorn

Starting at the pass, we descended via Vorfrutt (where Urs' uncle had a summer cottage) next to the winding road, and then followed the river from Urnerboden to the Canton border, where we caught the bus back up to the pass and back down the way we had come. 

Some wonderful geological features at the Klausen Pass. You can just see a car on the pass road at the left. 

Heading East toward the Urnerboden Valley. It was very cold up here at the pass, and the shade down below on the valley bottom was a bit disconcerting. I was wondering if we hadn't been better off staying on the West side of the Pass! (Way in the back are the Glarner Alps)

Just below the Pass on the east side is a small cluster of houses called Vorfrutt. It is here where the farmers spend the summer with their cows, which graze both here and on the mountainside on the right (in high summer)

Urs' Uncle has two houses below in Vorfrutt

Urs says that as a teenager, he helped build the house on the left, while living in the house on the right. The roof has to be supported with metal poles so that it doesn't cave in from the winter snow (These buildings are totally buried here by snow in winter)

Here's the Post Bus heading down the Klausen Pass road. It requires some clever navigating for the traffic to cross, especially in the "corners"

VIDEO:

Watching the Postbus navigate the tight corners

Heading down past the Klausen Pass Road, with all its curves. There is still a lot of shade along the river below, where we are supposed to walk later! Also, what is with the fog coming up from the Linthal Valley? That's almost more of a concern.... 

After leaving the pass, it was warm in the sunshine. Above the vertical cliffs on the left is a glacier and a small lake, accessible from the Klausen Pass and one we have visited a few times already. 

It took about 90 minutes to walk down from the pass, through a shady section of forest on the left, to finally reach valley bottom. We had surprisingly more sunshine than we expected!

Heading toward Urnerboden village along the river, with much more sun exposure than we had expected!

The river, which actually flows out of the glacier lake above the cliffs, is called Fästschbach

A collection of farmhouses called Hegersboden. We found a bench here to have our picnic lunch

Sitting on the bench, eating our picnic lunch, and looking westward to the Klausen Pass where we descended from... 

The Uri flag, proudly flying here on the Urnerboden Alp, graced by fantastic geological formations in the background. 

The little church at Urnerboden Village

Standing at the church, looking East over the vast Urnerboden Alp, where 1200 cows have free range in summer, our fears become reality: The fog has moved up from the Linthal Valley on the other side. 

In just a few minutes, the fog reached the village of Urnerboden...

We were lucky because the fog was just a long trail which didn't block the sun, of which we still had quite a bit for the rest of our hike down the valley. 

The beautiful mountains of the Urnerboden Valley. That hamlet is called Mättenwang, and Urs' Uncle also has a house there. We visited him there in September of 2014, and at that time walked the same stretch along the river which we are doing now. 

Walking down the Urnerboden Valley along the Fätschbach River. This again is the view behind us, toward the village of Urnerboden. 

It was really nice walking along the river. No more shade here, and no fog!

When we got near the bus stop at the Canton Border, we still had about 45 minutes to wait, so we crossed the river and descended for another 15 minutes before doubling back along the road. The forest trail was very muddy. 

Back down at the Canton street. This is where the road comes up from the Linthal Valley to the East. The view is to the West again. By now the fog had disappeared.

Standing at the Canton border between Uri on the left, and Glarus on the right. 

The border stone commemorates the building of the pass road from approx. 1890 to 1900. 

A few more minutes in the sun before returning by bus over the Klausen Pass

This sign reminds drivers that in summer, the cows have free range over the entire 16-km long Urnerboden Valley. 

The mint-green trail is the one we did this day, from Klausen Pass to the Canton borders. We've walked the higher trail to the little glacier lake a couple of times already, and on the West side of the pass we have done many, many hikes. 

As an aside: Here is a photo of a cow on the road when the cows are up here on the alpine meadows. That was when we took the bus from Klausen Pass to Urnerboden to visit Urs' Uncle. The vehicles simply have to wait until the cows decide to get out of the way. 

The following photos are snapshots out of the bus window on our way back up to the Klausen Pass, and down the other side back to Flüelen in the Reuss Valley. When we got to the Pass, the entire West side of the Schächental Valley was completely filled with fog, and we barely had a view on the way down. So in the end, we did choose the better side of the pass to walk along!

Heading back up to the Klausen Pass by bus from the Canton Border (at the very back, where another batch of fog is coming up from the Linthal Valley)

Here you can see how narrow the road is in the curve. That car will have to back up to let the bus pass. 

That is the trail we walked on when we started from the Pass. And below the snow line lies the little glacier lake. 

Having just crossed the pass, this look is behind us to the new Klausen Pass Hotel (the old one was literally sinking into the ground)

A final view of Mt. Schärhorn before it completely disappears in the fog. 

This was the view for most of the way down!

Back in Unterschächen where we look directly into the Brunnital Valley. 

Location of the Klausen Pass in relation to where we live in Zug. West of the Pass the valley is called Schächental Valley, and East of the Pass it's the Urnerboden Valley.