Hike above the Fog on Trail no.5: "Jura Crest Trail" in Western Switzerland

Sunday November 13, 2022 -- We hadn't been to the Jura mountains in Western Switzerland for a long time, but hadn't reckoned with fog in the lowlands to 1000 meters! On the way we had to change plans quickly, because what we originally came for -- the new CHF 600K "rope" bridge recently opened -- was just at the fog level.

So starting at Grenchenberg with a really thick sea of fog just below us, we walked for about three hours along the Jura Crest, mostly on Trail no.5 (aptly named "Jura Crest Trail") and had sunshine and the view of the alpine peaks above the lake of fog. For the final section of the hike, we could have taken the cable-car down from Mt. Weissenstein, but it would have meant 45 additional minutes uphill on a wide road (the hardest type of hiking for me) and we could see many people heading that way, as this is a popular mountain for Sunday hikers from the cities of Western Switzerland. So we chose rather to descend the mountain for 45 minutes through the foggy forest, hoping we'd get below the fog eventually, which was unfortunately not the case.

In all, it was an almost 4-hour hike, 12.5 kilometers. The descent was a bit tough in the legs, and it was unfortunate that we saw nothing of the beautiful Aare River and valley below, but the walk along the ridge with the steep drop to the east (these types of mountains are called "Flue") was pretty good. I found out later that we had walked around the highest mountain in Canton Solothurn, the Hasenmatt, instead of over it. Had I known it was the highest, I might have made the extra effort, but we figured the view of the fog wasn't any different from there than from any other section of the trail!

(As a side-note, the last time we were in this area was also in the fall, in 2019, and not only did we have fog and no view into the valley, we also had a strong cold wind! Those photos are HERE)

Starting at the final bus stop at the restaurant in Untergrenchenberg, this is a view to Mt. Chasseral to the South, where we had started on a hike in October 2019, also with fog in the valley at the time. (Photos HERE)

The hike we did was mostly along Trail no.5 "Jura Crest Trail", with a detour via "Wandflue", a long cliff section with a narrow trail near the edge. Direction Weissenstein

This is the view we had all day (this in particular are the Bernese Alps). The fog was thick and very high (up to at least 1000m)

Instead of continuing to the cablecar station at Weissenstein, we walked the 45 minutes through the fog down the mountain (530m) to the train station at Oberdorf. Other deviations from Trail no.5 were the more interesting section along the Wandflue at Obergrenchenberg, and we walked around Hasenmatt instead of over it. 

This is the detour we took along Wandflue (the cliff on the left). It was a narrow, although popular trail near the cliff edge. Up ahead are Stallflue and Hasenmatt peaks. The trail crosses both peaks, but we walked around Hasenmatt on its West side. This is apparently the tallest peak in Canton Solothurn

The fog is very high. The farm below, a mountain restaurant called Bettlachberg, is at 1072 meters, so the weather forecast of fog up to 1000m is pretty accurate. 

Fog from the Aar Valley climbing up to 1100 m! Had we gone with our original plan, we would have been in the fog the whole time. 

The popular narrow trail along Wandflue was a good choice, with constant view of the sea of fog and the entire stretch of the Alps to the south

Here is where we stopped for our picnic lunch

A look back at the cliffs called Wandflue. The "unofficial" trail started at the arrow, and was often pretty close to the edge. The official "Trail no.5" is on the right. This is where we had our picnic lunch. 

This 2-km stretch was on the cliff side of an old stone wall, built ages ago to prevent livestock from falling over the cliff

The next ca. 2 km were through the forest on the left, to the summit of Stallflue, dead ahead. We weren't on the cliff side this time. 

The full view of the Alps, from Mt.Säntis on the far left, to the Gantrisch Mountains on the right. The Bernese Alps in the center. 

Our view to the West. This upper area had no fog! 

Now we are on the Stallflue summit, looking back at both sets of cliffs that we walked along. The fog is staying at about 1000m below. 

The sea of fog has its charm, but I'd rather see what is in the valley!

Those are our favourite Alps, the Uri and Glarus Alps toward Eastern Switzerland!

After descending from Stallflue, the next peak along the trail is the Hasenmatt, tallest mountain in Canton Switzerland. We didn't feel like climbing over it, as there was an alterative road to the West, which we took. We figured the view was about the same as what we had already seen till then....

At the Althüsli Restaurant, the cows were also enjoying the sunshine and a good scratch. 

Althüsli mountain restaurant. It is actually nice that there are so many such places to stop for a drink along the way, which we sometimes do. But not today. 

Up ahead is Mt. Weissenstein, and the cable-car station top right. I could see right away that it was an ascent I wasn't going to like. And even from here we could see the road was full of other hikers. This is when we decided we would probably walk down the mountain. 

To the northeast the fog is also sitting in the Jura lowlands. 

Just a sample of the many forest sections we walked along the ridge. As long as the sun shines, it is a pleasant walk. 

From here it would be another 40 minutes always slightly uphill along this kind of road. We decided to descend through the forest here, hoping to soon get BELOW the fog, which wasn't the case. 

For about 15 minutes we still had sunshine before hitting fog level. 

Hitting the fog at about 1050m, so it didn't recede all day. 

Walking through the fog wasn't too bad, it wasn't too wet!

You can really see the spider webs in the fog!

Except for the steep downhill sections, it was kind of an interesting walk. We were surprised at the number of other people also descending here. 

In all we spent 35 minutes walking in the fog, but never got "beneath" it by the time we got to the train station. (Urs figured it was a 200m-thick blanket, but we descended 400m through the fog). 

This is what our hike looks like on Google satellite maps

Location of the Solothurn Jura in Switzerland.