Over the Resti Pass from Leukerbad to Lötschental in Canton Valais

Sunday August 4, 2024 -- Breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Backpacker's Hostel in Leukerbad, and then we had a 20-minute walk back through the town and along the promenade to the large-cabin cable-car that would take us 1000 meters up to the summit station called Rinderhütte, from where our plan was to walk over a mountain pass called Restipass and into the next valley called Lötschental.

The 8:50 run was the second of the day, and we were up in the mountains before the crowds. The hike was the kind we really like, narrow mountain paths, above the tree-line but still with lots of green pastures and lovely alpine flowers. There was enough breeze that it wasn't too hot, and in general, there were not too many hikers here (although on the west side of the pass there were more than expected, and we had to let a few pass as we don't like all the chatting in the mountains when other hikers walk behind us).

The full plan was to walk to the cable-car station at Laucheneralp in the Lötschen Valley, which would have been a 5-hour hike, but our muscles were very sore from the Albinen Ladders from the day before (see HERE for the photos), and it took us much longer to get over the pass than we had planned (and it wasn't even so much of an ascent as we often do). Even though we had started at 9:15 on the hike, it was already 3 p.m. by the time we got to Restialp (a small mountain hamlet in the Lötschen Valley), and we still had almost two hours to walk to the cable-car station at Laucheneralp. It would not have been a strenuous hike, but we had already done that stretch and it was a bit monotonous, so we were actually quite glad that some local people were heading down the mountain in their private vehicle, and took us along when we asked them for a ride. That way we got home at 7:15 p.m. after a 3½-hour trip, instead of at 9:15 p.m.    

I went out early from the hostel to photograph the massif to the west of the town of Leukerbad at 7:30 in the morning. We were ready to leave, actually, but breakfast was included in the cost of the accommodation, and it was served only after 8 a.m. 

The hostel where we spent the night. It's 7:40 and others are also waiting for breakfast. We got the last room available, next to the entrance door (on the left). I slept OK with my earplugs and did not hear the young people come in quite late. Urs heard them and did not sleep well. 

Leaving the hostel at 8:30 a.m. The view is up to the Gemmi Pass, which you can walk up to on an exciting switchback trail for 2½ hours! We were headed south to the Torrent-Rinderhütte cable-car, about a 20-minute walk from here (our plan was to catch the 8:50 cable-car; it runs every 20 minutes). 

Walking back through the narrow streets of Leukerbad, where we had walked the evening before. 

The evening before, we had discovered that this fountain had the best water, ice cold, so we filled up our water bottles here for the day's hike. 

A look back up to the upper portion of Leukerbad... somewhere near the top was our hostel. 

Another look at Haus Goethe across from the pizzeria where we had eaten dinner the night before. 

We made it to the Torrentbahn cable-car with just four minutes to spare. There were not a lot of people riding up at this time, which is always good. 

A look down at Leukerbad as we ride the cable-car up to Rinderhütte. 

From the Rinderhütte cable-car summit station, this is what we see to the north. 

And to the west, low clouds are totally filling in the Dala Valley (Leukerbad). 

Very muscular and compact local breed of cow here: Hérens Cattle (Eringer). 

Another look north as we now head south on our hike. 

There is another cable-way to the Rinderhütte station, this one is a gondola and runs from about where we embarked on our Albinen-Ladder adventure the day before. 

Originally we were going to walk almost five hours across the Resti Pass to the cable-car station at Laucheneralp, but because of the strenuous hike we had done the day before, we were really tired by the time we got to Restialp at 3 p.m., and were glad (and lucky) to get a ride down to the bus in the valley bottom by people who had a house up there and were on their way home. We started at 9:15 at the Rinderhütte station. From Restialp it would have been another 90 minutes to the cable-car station. 

Heading off on our hike at about 9:15. The next cable-car was just arriving, and we lost our lead quickly. We weren't expecting as many people to do this hike. Most of the people passed us along the way. 

A look behind us at the Rinderhütte cable-way station, where both a large-cabin cable-car comes up from Leukerbad, and a gondola via Torrentalp. This is a huge skiing arena as well. 

Getting further away from Leukerbad and the Rinderhütte station. 

Across the Rhône Valley we get a view of the snow-covered summits of the Valais Alps, which we didn't see the day before (all over 4000 meters).  I think this is the Mischabel Group (between the Saas and Matter Valleys), but I'm not sure. The highest mountain in Switzerland (solely on Swiss ground) is in this group. 

It was a very pleasant day for this hike, not hot at all. 

Just like yesterday, there were lots of clouds in all the side valleys (Dala Valley behind us, at the end of which is Leukerbad), but we had sunshine for the larger part of the six hours we were up on the mountain here. 

Totally different kind of pastures here, very short grass and small flowers, but all lovely and green!

Now we can see down into the Rhône Valley, the same view we had the day before when we actually walked westward lower down the mountain (this time we are walking eastward). Behind me is the entrance of the north-south Dala Valley which we walked up the day before.  

Way behind us were a couple of hikers who could not walk faster, as that cow came running down the mountain to the walking trail, and then just sauntered along not letting them pass! We were glad she hadn't run all the way to where we were!

More nice views of the mountains to the south. And a bunch of cows. This is a highly zoomed view, as the mountains are quite a bit further away. 

We're getting closer now to the first passage where we will go down a bit to a lake. Till now it was always just very slightly uphill. 

We got to this passage shortly after 10 a.m., so it took us 50 minutes to walk to here. Another 90 minutes to the Restipass, which is the tour we have chosen for this day, and from there the nearest "public transit" for us is Laucheneralp (Cable-car into the Lötschental Valley), another almost 4 hours from here, so this would be a good 5-hour hike. 

Directly to the south is a peak called the Horlini. Several of the hikers went that way (we assume these are people with accommodation in Leukerbad, who would do this as a day hike, going back down from here again). To the left of the peak we can see Mount Weisshorn, a very prominent peak in the Matter Valley. (We did not see the Matterhorn from here). 

There is still a large patch of snow here, but in no way difficult to cross. Even if you slipped, you wouldn't go far. 

My turn to cross the snow patch!

Straight up ahead is the Restipass which we will cross into the next valley over. It's actually not that high a climb, only about 300 meters.

Mt.Weisshorn

First we came to a small lake called Wysse See (White Lake). There were several people here, as it is easy to get here. After a small break here, we continued up to the pass. 

There was a really avid hiker here! He had real hiking pants and hiking boots. The family was local, and we spoke with them. The dad discovered a chamois through his binoculars, and pointed it out to us. 

A short break at the Wysse See

Way up there is where we spotted the chamois

It is always fascinating to see how the rocks fold over on each other due to shifting of the earth's crust. 

We took a bit of a break on a bench next to the lake. And this lovely cow walked by. 

Heading up toward the pass

A look behind us to the Wysse See as we climb higher toward the Resti Pass. 

This is the upper pasture (Bachalp) where the Feschel River has its origin, the river we crossed the day before in the Feschel Valley, where construction was taking place on the trail. 

We don't often see horses in the mountains!

Everyone else going up to the pass walked faster than we did!

We observed a kestrel doing the hovering "dance"

Getting closer to the pass. We can still see the small lake behind us, and the passage we crossed earlier with the patch of snow. 

Almost at the top now!

We were worried about the thick clouds on the other side of the pass. We thought for sure we would not have a view into the Lötschental Valley!

We arrived at the Restipass at 12:30, about 3 hours after starting our hike. It's not looking too bad as far as the view goes! 

There was even more snow here, as this is an elevation of 2628 meters above sea level. The snow is taking a long time to melt this summer, even with the heat. 

We found a good place to enjoy our picnic lunch and the view into the back of the Lötschental Valley. We have done many hikes in this valley, including to the Anun glacier at the very back (see photos HERE). 

Stunning rock formations behind us as we head down from the pass on the east side. 

Crossing a section of fallen rock makes for some variety in the hike. 

It was perfect weather for this hike: Not too hot, a bit of wind, really good trails, and the clouds have lifted, so we always had a variation of this view as we walked. 

Continuing on down

And now there were so many bunches of these pretty arnica flowers strewn around the rocks, mostly where there was a bit of water flowing down the mountain.

A few of the other mountain flowers that are found at this time of year. 

We passed four cyclists heading upu the mountain toward the pass. Riding down the other side will be fun, but I can't imagine how strenuous it is to carry the bikes uphill in this rocky terrain!

Enjoying the magnificent views up the Lötschen Valley. It's too bad though, that we cannot see the summits of the mountains on the south side of the valley.

This alpine flower is called Gentiana Purpurea, or Purple Gentian. The roots are sometimes used to make gentian bitters, i.e. schnapps. (We had once run into a local mountain man collecting these roots, who told us he did this. The bitters are apparently also good for the cattle's stomachs). 

This butterfly also landed on Urs' hand, probably to lick some salt!

Now we are nearing the small hamlet called Restialp, which we passed through on the long hike we did in September 2019 along the Lötschental panorama trail from Laucheneralp to Jeizinen (photos HERE). 

From here at Restialp, high above the valley bottom, the nearest public transport for us would be the village of Ferden at Valley bottom (1hr 15 minutes and another 750 meters descent), or the cablecar at Lauchernalp, another 1hr 40 minutes from here, but fairly level. We decided to go for the cablecar station, because another 750 meters descent would be too much for us. 

It was 3 p.m. as we headed out toward Laucheneralp (in the circle ahead), and we expected to get there at about 5 p.m. But right at this time a local couple were headed down to valley bottom by car (as they had a house up here), and we asked them for a ride. As we had walked this stretch before in September 2019, we didn't mind not walking it again!

This is what our hike looked like this day. Starting at the summit station of the Torrent-Rinderhütte cable-way, we walked over the Resti Pass and got a ride down the mountain from Restialp. 

A look at valley bottom as we get nearer on the car ride to Ferden below. 

Here in Ferden is where the nice local couple live, and they dropped us off right at the bus stop. In fact, there was a bus coming in 10 minutes (15:42), so we didn't have to wait long, and got home much sooner than expected! (7:15 p.m. instead of 9:15 p.m.)

Some of the lovely houses in Ferden, along the main street near the bus stop. 

Along the main street in Ferden

So pretty, but I wonder how long it takes to water all those flowers every day!

Back in September 2019 we walked from Laucheneralp to Jeizinen. On this weekend we walked from Jeizinen to Albinen, and another 4 km to Leukerbad on Saturday, and from Leukerbad (Rinderhütte) to Restialp via the Restipass. On previous occasions we had done hikes further down and closer to the valley bottom in the Rhône Valley. 

Location of Dala Valley and Lötschen Valley within Switzerland. 

In September of 2019 we did a hike at the very back of the Lötschen Valley. On this photo, taken in westward direction, you can see the mountains where we descended on this day August 4, 2024, across the Resti Pass.