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. 

A Short Section of the Jura Crest Trail from Belchenflue to Hauenstein

Thursday May 26, 2022 -- A holiday here in Switzerland, but not the best day for hiking.... we tried again to follow the weather prognosis, but without a lot of luck: Heading again to the northwestern part of Switzerland where the weather is often better (Canton Solothurn and Canton Baselland), we had planned to walk up to the peak called Belchenflue for a view, then along a ridge trail to the castle ruins at Waldenburg. 

But Urs had injured his foot and his hiking shoes caused him pain, so we had to choose a shorter route, heading back toward the Hauenstein Pass along National Trail no.5: "Jura Höhenweg", or "The Jura Crest Trail", a 320-km trail which follows the ridge of the Jura Range from near Zurich along western Switzerland to Geneva. With the exception of our ascent from the Allerheiligenberg Clinic to the summit called Belchenflue, the rest of the 2.5-hour walk was along a wide military (mostly forested) road at a slope which apparently also gave Urs some problems.

As luck would have it, there is a military shooting range nearby, and there was shooting practice scheduled for all week. This is the third time we have walked in an area with shooting practice, and it is an annoying noise to accompany our walks, which are meant to be peaceful. 

The one redeeming factor of this excursion is that we had the only sunshine when we were at the look-out on Belchenflue, which gave us a really nice view of the rolling hills of Canton Baselland to the North. It was almost like being on one of our look-out towers, only with less haze this time.

The ascent from the clinic at Allerheiligenberg was all through the forest. This was the first view we got when we emerged from the forest trail, a look to the West to the Jura mountains at the far back, and the town of Langenbruck below

The forested section before the ascent to the peak at Belchenflue was actually pretty comfortable

We were surprised to see so much bear garlic in the forests here, although it is flowering, so it means it's almost finished. In other places it has already disappeared. Possibly because this is a north side, so it stays cooler longer. 

Just south of the Belchenflue peak is are detailed trail markers, indicating that there are certain trails you cannot follow when shooting practice is taking place. (i.e. the trail back to Olten). Fortunately for us, Trail no.5 (Jura Crest Trail) to Hauenstein is OK. Originally I wanted to walk to Waldenburg (2.5 hours from here), but we chose the shorter route to Hauenstein. But first the 10-minute detour to the peak at Belchenflue.

Heading up to the look-out point at Belchenflue. This is, by the way on the Canton Border between Solothurn and Basel Land. (Most of our hike was in Canton Solothurn, following the border, crossing it a couple of times). 

There is usually more sunshine in Canton Baselland, proven yet once again with this fantastic view to the North! This is originally where we had planned to walk (the hills on the left, in the center of the photo).

The view to the East along the northern/eastern part of the Jura range is pretty nice as well. This is the direction we are heading afterwards, on the right side of the photo.  

This wasn't one of our look-out towers, but almost an equivalent!

Heading back down from Belchenflue

Now the weather is also getting better to the west, long the Jura range at the back. 

The rest of the trail to the Hauenstein Pass (6 km) was along such a military road, and pretty popular judging by the many people who passed us on the way up (we think there was a "fest" for the participants of the military marksmanship training, as the local gun club had been setting up picnic tables at the pass below Belchenflue)

This whole mountainside featured in WWI as a protection line from invasion from the north, and the soldiers from the various cantons had carved monuments into the cliff face. These carvings are going to be restored this year. 

A look back at the look-out point at Belchenflue

We found a bench along the road where we had our picnic lunch, with this view to the south. On a really clear day, you can see the central alpine range. 

Remnants of "dragons teeth" (in Switzerland they are called a "Toblerone Lines") indicate that this was a tank fortification line during the World Wars, to protect from invasion from the North. 

From this point, the Jura Crest Trail continues higher up through the forest. We decided we had enough of the military road through the forest, so we descended to Ifenthal and continued along the  paved road to Hauenstein. 

Down below is the church at Ifenthal.

Filling up our water bottles

After experiencing some history of early 1900's (WWI) along the way, it was a trip back in time to see this car pass us along the road!

Long-horn cattle, an unusual sight here in Switzerland

Up ahead is the peak called Geissflue, also part of the Jura range, on the eastern side of the Hauenstein Pass. 

Last stretch along the paved road to the pass at Hauenstein

Some typical farm houses in this area

A familiar sight at the Hauenstein Pass. Some sort of antique shop, but it was closed on this day. 

Starting at Allerheiligenberg Clinic, we originally had planned to head north at the Belchenflue passage but we had to shorten our hike, so we followed the Jura Crest Trail (mostly) to Hauenstein. The pink line shows the canton border of Solothurn (to the South) and Basel Land (to the North).

We have on a previous occasion (2018) walked to Hauenstein along the Jura Crest Trail from the northeast, starting at Salhöhe Pass, which actually forms the border of Canton Aargau and Canton Solothurn. Those photos are HERE