Hauenstein Pass near Olten and a visit to Frohburg Fortress Ruins

Friday February 23, 2024 -- Still taking advantage of any nice weather, I went looking for a place for an easy walk in the sunshine, which this time was a forecast for more in the western part of the country. As I was going to be walking alone, I chose an easy (although not very exciting) section of the "National Trail no.7: Via Gottardo" on the stretch between Olten and Luzern, namely from Brittnau/Wikon to Dagmersellen in the Wiggertal, which was going to be a 9-km (2½-hour) stretch, plenty long enough for a rather uninteresting walk. But at least I would have three hours in the sun.

As it turns out, shortly after I started on my walk at 10 a.m., clouds covered the sun, and without the warmth of the sun, I wasn't interested in completing the stretch. So I caught the next train north after just an hour (4 km), not knowing exactly what I was going to do, except to try to find a place with sunshine!

In Olten there were blue skies, so I figured I'd tackle another less-interesting stretch of the Via Gottardo (one we would not otherwise have done), from the Hauenstein Pass back down into the city of Olten. This would have been another 1½ hours of walking (to make the full 2½ hours I had originally planned on) and an additional approx. 5 kilometers. But when I got to the pass, I changed plans again, and decided to go look at the ruins of the Frohburg fortress, which we had passed on a previous hike in 2018 but not had gone to look at.

So the second hike I did ended up being 7½ kilometers and 2¼ hours of additional walking, for a total of almost 12 km and 3½ hours! The fortress ruins were definitely worth seeing (ancestral seat of the Counts of Frohburg from the 11th to 14th Centuries), although a better view of the Alps would have been preferred... and it ended up becoming overcast as well. But I saw a young stag walk across my trail, which was a lovely surprise!

The first plan for this day, i.e. a 9-km stretch from Brittnau/Wikon train station and along National Trail no.7: Via Gottardo, started with the sighting of a castle on the hill, once one of the largest medieval defence structures of the Luzern area. I started at the Brittnau/Wikon train station at 10:09.

The Wikon Castle was once one of the largest medieval defence structures in Canton Luzern, consisting of four castles side by side. Currently only the one tower remains of the 14th (?) Century complex, and someone thought it would be cool to build all the ugly 20th-Century cement structures around it. Most recently it functioned as a Benedictine Monastery, and apparently is now used as a refugee facility for Ukrainian refugees. 

Now that is quite a fantastic roof!

The Via Gottardo trail passes directly below the castle on the north side. 

Proof that I'm walking on National Trail no.7: Via Gottardo from Wikon to Reiden. 

The trail passed right by the church in Reiden, so of course I walked right in the first open door to look at the inside, and even though it was Friday morning, there seemed to be a service in progress... many heads turned my way, so I closed the door quite quickly!

From the church I headed through the town directly to the train station (the nearest one to the south of where I started) and just managed to catch the next train (11:07) heading north. By this time I had walked 4 km / one hour. This Gasthaus and Restaurant is called "Schwanen", or "The Swan". 

As is typical for most inns in Switzerland, the sign reflects the name of the enterprise

The 4-km section I walked on the Via Gottardo Trail, starting at the Brittnau/Wikon station at 10:10. The plan was to walk about 10 km to the train station in Dagmersellen, but the clouds covered the sun and it got cold, so I hopped the next train and headed north again. 

By the time I reached Olten (a 15-minute train ride), I had decided to take the bus to the Hauenstein Pass, but had to wait 25 minutes here. So I got something for lunch and went to look at the wooden covered bridge (built in 1803) over the Aare River. 

Heading up to the Hauenstein Pass from Olten, a 15-minute bus ride. At first I thought I might walk to the summit of that cliff (called Geissfluh) but I ended up not going there. The castle ruins which I went to see were right on the far side of that cliff. 

Although Olten and the village of Hauenstein where I got off the bus are in Canton Solothurn, only a few meters to the north is the Hauenstein Pass, which is the passage from Canton Solothurn to Canton Basel-Land. 

Starting in Hauenstein shortly after noon, I walked over the pass for a short piece in Canton Baselland, before crossing back to Canton Solothurn. I ended in Trimbach and caught a bus back to the Olten train station. I didn't feel like walking all the way there. The ruins are in that circled area. 

Every farm has a cat!

The trail passed right through the farm called Reisen

These newborn calves are just the cutest!

Further up ahead along the trail I spotted a deer! This is a young buck of the type of deer called "Hirsch", which is a larger species than the regular red deer we often see in the forests. 

VIDEO:

Watching the young stag walk across my hiking trail.

Looking westward to the Hauenstein Pass (on the left). This whole mountain range is part of the Jura foothills. 

And here I am looking eastward to a peak called the Flueberg

A little to the north is the village called Wiesen (back in Canton Solothurn here), a village where we started one of our hikes in March 2022, those photos are HERE. 

Just to the south now is a large "rock", part of the Frohburg Castle site. 

The view from my lunch bench at 1 p.m. The fortress ruins are hidded by the trees on that hill ahead. 

I arrived at the site of the ruins at 1:20 p.m. I saw immediately it would be exciting to walk up to that look-out platform!

First a quick walk around the site with the many remaining pieces of the castle. 

The placard indicates that some remaining parts of the castle were built as early as the 11th Century, with some older wooden sections (no longer existing) from even earlier than that!

Heading up to the top of the hill on the north side! The buildings originally built up here are the youngest of the complex, from the early 14th Century!

A look eastward to the Gösgen nuclear power plant (produces 8 billion KW of electricity per year). What a juxtaposition to the 11th century round structure on the left!

Panorama view across the complex. This was once the ancestral headquarters of the Counts of Frohburg, a noble family attested from the 11th Century, but who died out in 1367. They founded the cities of Zofingen and Aarburg, but sold most of their holdings to the Counts of Habsburg in the 14th Century. (Information from Wikipedia). 

Another set of stairs to the south

View south past the city of Olten all the way to the Alps. On a clearer day, you would have a very nice view of the mountains. 

Carefully making my way down again. 

Another look at the left-over walls of the castle.. 

Making my way down from the mountain. We prefer these kinds of trails, but at this time of year these trails are often quite muddy (it had rained the day before) and sometimes it is preferable to walk on the wider paved or forest roads. 

This farm is called Marenacker. 

Down below is that part of Olten called "Trimbach", where I passed through with the bus on the way to the Hauenstein Pass (toward the right). 

Looking past Trimbach to the city of Olten. By now it has become quite overcast. 

As I cross the railway line (which passes beneath the Hauenstein Pass on the way to Basel), I look up the valley where I traveled earlier by bus. 

A final historical building before getting to the bus stop: This is a Trinity chapel, probably built by the Counts of Frohburg (first mentioned in 1469 although the current building is from 1604) and serving as an important stop to pray before heading out on the challenging crossing of the Hauenstein Pass. The chapel was locked. I got here at 2:30 p.m.  

We have done a few hikes in the region of the Hauenstein Pass. The pink trail is the one I did this day. It ended up being over 7 km. (In addition to the 4 km I had walked before noon). The orange and red trails are part of the Jura Crest Trail, another national trail (no.5)

Another look at the wooden bridge of Olten as the bus crosses the bridge over the Aare River (In March of 2018, the bridge suffered much damage from a fire caused by a discarded cigarette). 

Location of the Hauenstein Pass and the Wigger Valley in Switzerland.