62: Blumlisalphutte from Griesalp back via Oeschinensee

Over Hohtürli pass from Griesalp to Kandersteg and down via the Oeschinensee.

The Blümlisalphütte:

This is a long, hard but very rewarding walk with incredible views from Hohtürli pass on good days.

The walk is more interesting starting from Griesalp, rather than doing an out-and-back from Kandersteg but the train and Post Bus times are very unfavourable in 2011 ( see http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/fileadmin/fap_pdf_fields/2011/330.pdf and http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/fileadmin/fap_pdf_fields/2011/31.220.pdf ). To get the 7:31 Post Bus from Reichenbach you need to catch the 6:12 train from Kandersteg as the 7:12 will miss the Post Bus by 5 minutes! Mondays to Fridays in 2011 you could take the 6:30 bus from Kandersteg to Frutigen and the 7:15 bus Frutigen to Reichenbach which should arrive at 7:29, just in time for the 7:31 Postbus which arrives at the Griesalp at 8:16.

It is a good walk from the Griesalp over alpine meadow to Undere Bundalp and on to Obere Bundalp. From here it is between 2 1/4 and 2 1/2 hours up to Hohtürli pass, zigzagging over the lower shale path and finally up the steep rock path with occasional steps and rope hand-holds provided. The vertical rise from Griesalp to Hohtürli is 1370m with another 100m up the short (but steep) path to the Blümlisalphütte.

The Blümlisalphütte is a large and very well founded "hut" where food and drink is readily available (delivered by helicopter but at amazingly good prices when that is considered). The view over the Blümlisalp range and the glaciers is wonderful.

The way down to Kandersteg retraces the route back to Hohtürli and then follows a very steep, shale, zigzag path down to a small lake and a moraine. You probably want to rest your knees for a while at this point! From here it is about another 45 minutes down to the farm house at Ober Bärgli. At Ober Bärgli there are two choices: take the higher path over Heuberg arriving on the main Oeschinensee path 10 minutes away from the top of the gondolbahn; or continue down beside a waterfall to Unter Bärgli and down to the shore of the Oeschinensee lake with a 25 minute walk from there to the top of the gondolbahn. Overall, there isn't much difference in timings - it's about 1 hour 30 minutes from Ober Bärgli to the top of the Oeschinensee gondolbahn. It is about a 1200m vertical distance from the Blümlisalphütte to the top of the gondolbahn (last journey down is 18:00).

Time	Height	Location	Comment
09:05:00	1690	Undere Bundalp
09:25:00	1840	Obere Bundalp
09:55:00	2020	Fallen signpost
11:40:00	2778	Hohturli
14:35:00		Start of Blumlisalp moraine
16:45:00	1593	Oeschinensee
17:10:00	1682	Top of Oeschinensee chairlift
15:25:00	1973	Ober Bargli	15 mins rest
11:50:00	2834	Blumlisalphutte	Beer & lunch 70 mins
08:20:00	1408	Griesalp	Christian and Rissi came - lift to Griesalp

-- JaneCurry - 2009-06-10 - 19:43