3000 km Switzerland - Ridereport page 3

Sunday, 22.07.01, the 6. day:

Under blue skies it was up the Brünig-Pass (1008 m) for another one of those things “not-to-be-missed”: the open-air museum at Ballenberg.
Integrated into the surrounds and crowned by mountain ranges, it’s a collection of buildings showing off the different building styles found within Switzerland, a worthwhile visit!
Count on spending around 3-4hrs…my 3 travelling mates were just as impressed as myself, even though I’d been there before.

The afternoon brought us into the Bernese High Country, which, I reckon, is the most picturesque part of the whole Alps region. STUNNING !!!!!

Along the shores of Lake Brienzer to Interlaken and Wilderswil.

Then the narrow road up to Saxeten, escaping into tranquillity above the hustle and bustle of Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. It’s a small, picturesque village with beautiful buildings and a superb pub offering lunch.

Back down into the valley and through Grindelwald to the mouth of the Grindelwald Glacier, an imposing sight, where the road meets up with the one taken from Schwarzwaldalp yesterday (the one only open for local coach traffic).

From Grindelwald via Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg. At Lauterbrunnen awaits another natural attraction: the Staubbachfall, a waterfall plunging 300m into the valley.

Towards Stechelberg are the Trümmelbachwasserfälle, a series of 10 glacier-fed waterfalls inside the mountain face, accessed by a tunnel-lift.

But there were other highlights waiting…back to Interlaken and up to Habkern.
The road looks like leading nowhere, but turning left in the last hairpin before the village, the small toll-road leads to Waldegg and Beatenberg, offering breathtaking views of the “Holy Triple” of the Bernese alps: Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, the 3 ice giants.

Easy to see the attraction to climbers from all over the world.

From Beatenberg another small toll-road leads through various tunnels to Sigriswill, offering brilliant views onto Lake Thun below and most of the Bernese High Country above.
The map showed another small road from Sigriswill via Maiersmaad, Horrenbach and Eriz onto the Schallenberg Pass road, the landscape turning into the total opposite…gentle green hills, shallow valleys…roads turn from bends to sweepers.
Sort of like Scotland…and the narrow road showed little traffic.
Across the Schallenberg (1167 m) and through Escholzmatt across the
Glaubenbüelenpass (1611 m) again back to ‘base-camp” at Lake Lungern.

6. Day routing:

Tour files for download:

CH-3000kmSchweizTag6.kmz

CH-3000kmSchweizTag6.gpx

CH-3000kmSchweizTag6.itn

Monday, 23.07.01, the 7. day:

A bit of a transit day today to get us into the Rhone Valley meant breaking camp and, as usual by now, across the Brünig-Pass (1008 m).

Along lake Brienz to Interlaken, swapping across to the southern shores of Lake Thun
to Spiez.
From here we’d planned to stick our noses into various dead-end valleys, exploring the quiet ‘neighbourhood” a little…
First to Kandersteg, northern end of the Goppenstein-Tunnel, the quick way via railway-flatbed into the Rhone Valley…not for us, though.
It’s a quaint little town on the valley floor, surrounded by high mountains, many typical timber buildings garnished by loads of flower-boxes.

Next stop was Adelboden, another dead-end with a picturesque village at the end.
Like Kandersteg, well worth the ride.

Back towards Spiez, then west into the Simmen Valley, with another side-trip into the Diemtig Valley, which proved, once more, similar to the previous “explorations”.

Following the Simmen Valley we reached the turn-off to the Jaunpass (1509 m).
This was new to me, as I’ve always somehow bypassed the area during previous trips through Switzerland.
Down towards Lac de la Gruyere and once more is was stunning to see the sudden change (within a stretch of only a few km) from one language-zone to the next. Here it was from German (oops…make that Swiss-German) into French.
The changes are abrupt, everything…even the street signs…change language.
No idea how those guys settle “neighbourhood-disputes” ???
Looping north around the lake to Bulle and Chateau-d’Oex next. Just short of town it’s up the Col des Mosses (1445 m), leading to Aigle on the main Rhone Valley road.

From Martigny is was finally to Grugnay, the quiet, little place above the hustle and bustle of the main valley, a place we’d previously pitched tents while on the Great Alps Tour the year before.

7. Day routing:

and here's the view from satellite (google-earth-file):

CH-3000kmSchweizTag7.kmz

Get out on page 4 of the report

Unterkunftsempfehlung:
Italien: Hotel Cristallo (Levico Terme)