Circular Hike to Albert-Heim Hostel near the Furka Pass

Wednesday August 28, 2024 -- Hiking week is over now, so we are back to doing Wednesday hikes when the weather is nice, which it was this day. 

As the lowlands are seeing temperatures of 30 degrees again, we went back into the mountains to the region of the Gotthard Massif, but heading up the Furka Pass Road this time to do a relatively short hike (3 hours) to a Swiss Alpine Hostel called Albert-Heim-Hütte.

This is a favourite region of ours to hike in, but there are only two buses running over the pass each day, and if we want to catch a bus back (the shortest way home), then we have to fit our hike into a four-hour time-frame (or wait an additional five hours). As our bus up toward the pass was running 20 minutes late, this didn't give us much leeway for the 3-hour hike. We would have wanted to sit on the terrace at the Hostel with the wonderful view of the jagged, stony mountain peaks here, but we had to leave soon after we got there. And we would have preferred to enjoy the Tiefenbach stream with more leisure instead of rushing back down to the road to catch the 1 p.m. bus back to Andermatt. It's a circular hike best done if you have a car which you can park near the Tiefenbach hotel along the pass road.

But it's a barren landscape we really love, and it was not a strenuous nor long hike for us, so we were back home by four p.m., even though we left at 6 a.m. in the morning. 

Early morning train trip across the Ursern Valley from Andermatt to Realp where we are joining the others already on the bus from Andermatt for the rest of the trip up the Furka Pass road. We left home at shortly after 6 a.m., and were headed out of Andermatt at 8:10.

The train passes this little hamlet called Zumdorf, which claims to be the smallest "town" in Switzerland. Three people from one family live here all year round. 50 people used to live here, but the village was destroyed by an avalanche in 1851.

Shortly before Realp, you can see the Furka Pass Road, one of many such curving roads in Switzerland (many motorbikes of course). The train now goes through the Furka Basis Tunnel (car transport as well) to Oberwald in Canton Valais. 

Officially we had 20 minutes to wait in Realp (but it turned into 40 minutes, as the bus was 20 minutes late leaving Andermatt!). A short walk down a side alley and I discovered this house with a sign that claims this was the station of the former Furka Stagecoach.

8:25 at the main square in Realp, we waited for the bus (supposed to come at 8:42). We had plenty of time to look into the church as well. 

The church looks like it might be neo-gothic. It was dedicated in 1881. 

The bus finally showed up at 9 a.m. (which was the time we should have been at the start of our hike already!!!). This is the view east across Realp and the Ursern Valley as we head up the Furka Pass road. 

At 9:17 we were at the hotel in Tiefenbach, 20 minutes later than according to schedule. We had to be back here by 1 p.m, so that is a large time loss. Our plan is the longest of the three paths to the Albert-Heim-Hütte, because we are walking over a mountain called Schafberg on the way there. 

The circular tour via Schafberg, and returning along the Tiefenbach River, is about three hours, which gave us only about 40 minutes extra to enjoy the hike. We did actually make it back by 12:55, and the bus was late coming down from the pass as well. Altogether it was over 500 meters of ascent. 

Starting on our hike above the Tiefenbach Hotel along the Furka Pass road. 

The view up the Furkareuss Valley and the road that goes all the way to the pass in the center back. 

There are still a few cows up in these high alpine pastures, but they will soon be heading further down.

Another look up the Furkareuss Valley from higher up, with the Tiefenbach hotel and bus stop below. Before they built the Furka Basis Tunnel at Realp, the railway (steam train) passed up this valley and through a shorter tunnel near the pass. But the train could not run in winter, and nowadays the train still runs as a tourist attraction in summer. 

The marmots are probably preparing for winter sleep now. The summers are short up here. 

Our first view of the Tiefen Glacier on the left, and the hostel on the right at the back, tiny in this huge barren landscape. The weather is perfect for this hike!

From here we have two options to get to the hostel: 45 minutes on the lower trail (a fairly wide road), or one hour via Schafberg, which is the path we are taking. 

On a rock near the sign someone painted some helpful instructions: Going via Schafberg to the hostel actually takes 75 minutes, not only 60 minutes from here! (This was indeed the case, as the final stretch took 50% longer, due to huge boulders to navigate). 

It was actually a very good trail and very easy to walk up. And the landscape is stunning. (You can see the hostel on the right). 

A zoomed view of the hostel, the "goal" of this day's hike.

A cute little pond along the way. In the back are the mountains which form the north side of the Ursern Valley. We walked below those cliffs on the Ursern High Trail from Tiefenbach to Hospental in 2014.

Another cute pond... and the clouds move in quickly in the mountains!

This is the only view we got down the Ursern Valley to the east. It's hazy because of the morning light, although it's 10:50 now. 

We didn't take the short detour to the cross on the summit of the Schafberg, as the view from here was just as good!

The remaining stretch to the hostel was the part that took the longest as we had to do some "rock climbing" and weaving through boulders along a small crest. Barely visible from here below the Tiefen Glacier is the glacier tongue and a small lake that we would love to walk up to some other time. 

Close-up look at the glacier tongue and the small lake created by the melting waters, which then descend as the Tiefenbach river. You can see caves in the glacier ice 

The Tiefenbach River flows from the glacier down into the valley. The wide road is the alternate trail with less elevation than what we did, but on the way down we followed a third, smaller path nearer the river. 

Panorama View

It took longer than expected for the last section to the hostel (20 minutes instead of 10, according to the map) as we had to weave through boulders.

A narrow trail along the crest on the last stretch to the hostel. On the way back we took the narrow trail right next to the river. 

These are the boulders we had to navigate on the last stretch to the hostel. 

The hostel sits on a small stone hill just like a fortress. It looks pretty impressive. 

There I am, way down there, just a minute or so away. 

We got to the Albert-Heim Hostel at 11:20, two hours after starting at the Tiefenbach Hotel on the Furka Pass road. 

This floor-plan made us chuckle, as this is exactly what you would find when visiting fortress ruins. It's just like a fortress!

Looking at the glacier from the west side of the hostel grounds, and figuring out where our trail continues. 

Urs really would have liked to stay a while, enjoy something to drink on the terrace here, but it's 11:30 now, and the trail markers indicate an hour and 10 minutes back to the road. Had the bus not been so late, we could have sat here for about half an hour or longer. Such a shame. I did sit at nearby picnic table to eat something I had brought along. 

Back at the base of the "fortress hill" now at 11:45, and the trail markers indicate that it would take an hour and 10 minutes to get back to the bus. That's cutting it really close. So we walked quickly and made it with five minutes to spare. 

There is always time for a few more posed photos!

A rock-strewn landscape to cross

We didn't actually need to cross this bridge (the trail continues from here as a blue/white alpine trail to the next hostel to the west, the Sidelen Hostel), but I wanted a nice photo below the glacier. We continued down hill on the east side of the river. 

It was a very good trail to follow. 

Wide open plain with a meandering river... it's always a pleasure to see large swaths of cotton grass. 

Heading down to the Furka Pass Road. 

Looking behind us as we descend. There are several waterfalls along the way. 

Waterfalls

VIDEO:

There is nothing more satisfying than the sound of waterfalls in the mountains.

Back near the start of our hike, looking up the Furkareuss Valley again. 

Back at the hotel at 12:50, so there is enough time to detour to the little chapel. 

Cute little chapel

Back down on the road at 1 p.m. and no bus to be seen. We checked the schedule and it was running late again, coming down from the pass. So we didn't have to hurry! (The next bus isn't till 17:50, and that's too long for us to wait around.) 

Down below you can see the old railway line. Before the Furka Basis Tunnel was built from Realp further east, the train traveled here and passed through a shorter tunnel below the Furka Pass. But it was not possible to run the train in winter. Now the steam train runs in summer for tourists. We walked down this valley in JULY 2023

Here comes our bus at 13:06, only five minutes late, and not too full (lots of seats left). Usually these buses over the passes are quite full, because they only run every four hours or so. From here it's just over 2½ hours to get back home.  

The rest of these photos are from the bus ride back down from the Furkapass road to Realp, where we boarded the train to Andermatt. (We could have stayed on the bus to Andermatt, but riding the train is more fun as you can lean out the windows). From Andermatt the little cogwheel train takes you down into the Reuss Valley to Göschenen, from where we then took the regular train back to Zug through the Reuss Valley. It is a trip we have done very often! And it only took about 2½ hours to get home from the Tiefenbach Hotel. 

Heading back down the winding Furka Pass Road toward Realp. The view down the Ursern Valley is clearer now. 

Back in Realp we transferred to the train back to Andermatt, even though we could have stayed on the bus. That way we didn't have to transfer, as this train continued down the Schöllenen Gorge to Göschenen. 

Boarding the Gotthard-Matterhorn Train to Göschenen

Passing by Zumdorf again, the smallest "town" in Switzerland. 

A lovely train ride down the Ursern Valley. This trip also never gets boring, and we have done it so many times. 

Crossing the Furkareuss River again; this is the same view as the first photo in this album!

Old stone bridges are always pretty

Trains crossing at Hospental, where we boarded a train after our Gotthard-Hospental hike from a week earlier (Photos HERE)

And here we are entering Göschenen, after descending the steep Schöllenen Gorge (the train has to activate the cogwheels). 

Now we are heading down the Reuss Valley on a different train, and I always take a photo of the church on the hill in Wassen. 

The train passes the church in Wassen three times as it loops its way down the valley. The mountains at the back is where we did that 900-meter ascent the weekend before on our hike to Lake Seewlisee (photos HERE)

These are all the hikes we have done in the area around the Ursern Valley and the Furka Pass

Where the Furka Pass is located in Switzerland.