Along the St.James Trail between Häusernmoos and Huttwil in the Emmental

Tuesday December 17, 2024 -- One last nice day in the Central Plateau here north of the Alps, so Urs took a vacation day so we could do some walking somewhere other than in Canton Ticino! 

We had several options for walks anywhere between Eastern Switzerland and the Bern area, but we looked for where it was warmest, i.e. 8 degrees instead of 5 degrees C., so picked a route along our National Trail no.4: "St. James Trail", which is usually a good choice for this time of year, as a lot of the trail is much along wider forest paths and/or paved roads, often too hot or monotonous to do in summer.

This was in the Emmental region again, where we had been a couple of times recently, but where there mostly isn't fog. And where we would most likely be able to enjoy as much sun as possible. With these short days, it's tricky to find places where you don't end up in some shadow of some hills, or by starting too early or too late. 

We started our hike at 10:30 but that might have been too early, as it was cold, and contrary to the forecast, we also had less sunshine than we'd hoped. But at about half-way into the 11-km hike, we were on a rise with some great views of the Alps, so that made up for it. And in the end, we were still able to enjoy over four hours of fresh air and sunshine.

Our trip from home (a two-hour trip) was by train to Huttwil, and then by bus to Häusernmoos, where we started on our hike at 10:30. This is in the Emmental region of Canton Bern. There is a train line here, but it is no longer in use other than special chartered tours (It is called a Museum Train). 

The former train station has been converted into a large self-serve shop offering all kinds of goods from local farms, including home-made ice cream and lots of vegetables stored in styrofoam boxes. It was too cold for me in there!

Cows can choose if they want to stay in the barn or spend time outside in winter! The first 10 minutes of our walk was in the shadow of a small hill, and it was cold!

Ah, finally the sunshine!

A look across the pastures to the little village of Häusernmoos, where we got out of the bus and started on our hike northwards. 

We walked about 11 km along the St.James Trail (Via Jakobi, National Trail no.4), northwards toward Huttwil. We started at 10:30 in Häusernmoos, and reached Huttwil station about 2:30 p.m. After Dürrenroth we ascended a small hill, and had some pretty good views of the Alps. 

All the Emmental houses are interesting to look at. This farm has a wooden silo!

Many of the farm houses have large and deep roofs, and the balcony under the overhang is quick dark. 

Urs and the bear ("Urs = "Bear")

We had to walk a 2-km section through the forest (30 minutes) which is usually nice, but the entire road was wet and muddy and churned up by forestry machines. It was no fun to walk here. 

Beautiful farm houses. 

Just before the village of Dürrenroth we passed a small hamlet called Gärbihof. This looks like it might once have been a fancy villa. 

So neat and clean

A look back at Gärbihof as we head into Dürrenroth

Heading into Dürrenroth

In the center of the village of Dürrenroth is a cheese dairy. It was now 11:50 and the shop was closing at noon, so we just had time to go in for a look. The elevated water fountain was quite impressive. 

What a darling little resting place just outside the cheese shop!

So many fun kinds of cheeses here!

Urs bought a piece of garlic cheese, yummy!

The owner wanted to close shop because it was noon, but I still wanted to look at all the neat things in the shop!

Main street in Dürrenroth

Hotel Bären in Dürrenroth

All kinds of details, especially Christmas decorations, at the Hotel Bären. 

These cute little buildings each housed a table as part of the outdoor restaurant!

Just a few simple stars as decorations looks so pretty!

Obviously, we have to have a look inside the small church (Evangelical)

Besides the interesting rounded wood-paneled ceiling, the huge organ was the best feature of this church building!

Next to the church, the trail heads down to the former Dürrenroth train station to the left (also no longer in use). Even the very old farm houses are charming.  

On the far side of the train station is the only uphill trail that we walked this day (we got so warm doing that, that we had to remove jackets and sweaters!)

Following Trail no.4 "St.James Trail" through Dürrenroth to Huttwil, 90 minutes from here. We started in Häusernmoos, so in all, it was about a 2½-hour to 3-hour walk.

A neat old building on the main road in Dürrenroth. A plant nursery runs out of this building. 

The old wooden granaries (which contain an additional apartment under the roof) are always interesting to us. 

View south as we head up the hill. 

In the south are the Gantrisch mountains with the distinctive summit of Mt.Stockhorn. 

The view to the west is all the way to the Jura Range!

Heading north along the top of the hill

Just before 1 p.m., we found the perfect bench for our picnic lunch! The view in this direction was to Mt.Säntis (behind the tree), Mt.Rigi, and Mt.Pilatus in the east!

This was the view from our lunch bench! It is the entire Pilatus range to the east. (Close-up view). 

A couple of other people walking the same trail on this beautiful day. They probably wished they could have had our bench!

The hamlet just below where we sat on the bench is called Kaltenegg. 

All the pretty farms in the valley bottoms. 

Another typical Emmental house

Close-up look at Mt. Rigi from here! And the Schwyzer/Glarus Alps beyond, to the east. 

A whole landscape of rolling, green hills. 

A section of very pleasant and soft trail along the edge of a forest. 

Maybe he thinks we cannot see him hiding? 

Another cool farmhouse just before we make the descent to Huttwil. 

There's the town of Huttwil where we are ending our hike. 

We passed a large sawmill on the outskirts of the town, and watched the machines moving logs and boards for a while. 

At 2:30 p.m. we were in the western part of Huttwil, and caught the 14:43 train from Huttwil. We were home in less than two hours! 

The walk we did this day was an 11-km stretch from Häusernmoss to Huttwil. In 2014 (blue line) we walked to Huttwil from Melchnau to the north, and in 2015 (pink trail), we did a 7-km stretch from Huttwil to Hüswil, also along the St.James trail. Continuing from there last December, we walked the next 11 kilometers of the St.James Trail from Hüswil to Willisau (those photos are HERE). 

Location of Huttwil withing Switzerland.