High Altitude Cappuccino

🗺️ Overview Starting point:  Brienz (600m) Arrival:  Brienzer Rothhorn (2,348m) Altitude gain:  1,748m Duration:  ~5 hours ascent, 40 min descent (by train) Difficulty:  Hard Technical difficulty:  Moderate (due to snowfields) Download GPS file The Brienzer Rothhorn had been on my hiking list for a while. As the  highest point in Canton Luzern,  it’s a long and demanding route, and I never found the right moment to tackle it. But in 2024, while training for Capanna Margherita, I needed longer hikes to prepare. When the weekend forecast showed perfect weather, I knew it was time. Like always, I decided the night before—one of the perks of living close to the Alps! I left home at 6:30 AM and, by 8:00 AM, I was parked in  Brienz (600m) , a charming village on the shores of Lake Brienz, opposite Interlaken , in canton Bern . The hike starts  near the steam train station —yes, there’s an actual steam train that goes to the summit, but more o...

🗺️ Overview Location:  Les Pléiades, above Vevey, Switzerland Highest Point:  1,360m Typical Start Point:   Unmarked parking near Fayaux station  (850m) Hike Duration:  ~3 hours (round trip) Elevation Gain:  ~500m Season:  All year (snowshoes might be required in deep winter) Difficulty:  Moderate Highlights: Stunning lake views Summit with educational installations on astronomy A cozy mountain hut for food and drinks Option to return by train      Download GPS file A Special Place for Me This hike is one of my all-time classics—I do it even a couple of times per year. Les Pléiades is a large hill (or small mountain) above Vevey, offering fantastic views over the lake. It also holds a special meaning for me, as it’s the place where I proposed to my wife. The summit sits at 1,360m, just below a chalet with breathtaking views of Lake Geneva. One of the great things about this hike is its flexibility. You can make it as long or short ...

In Switzerland I live, as a consequence it is the plase I hike the most and as a consequence where I "forget" most hikes. For this reason you find here a reduced list of hikes I don't remember the full details for and I am not likely to redo anytime soon. In particular this post contains hikes in Grisons! Grisons is a huge huge canton with many many mountains and these are some of the farthest places from where I live. So unlikely that I'll go there again although I have plenty of planned hikes elsewhere in Grisons! Tarasp, Grisons, Switzerland Download GPS file This is a short one. It starts from the parking below Tarasp Castle near Scuol. The castle looks really nice sitting on its hill in the middle of the valley! It's worth going just for the sight of it. You can visit it as well but only on specific days and it was closed when we went. So we decided to go to Lej Nair (Black Lake) The hike take about 1h15 return and is without difficulties.  Valbella, Grisons,...

Here another forgotten hikes post. This time in Bern! Eigertrail, Grindelwald Start point : Alpiglen station, Grindelwald, 1615m Destination : Eigergletcher station, 2362m Distance : ~6 km loop Elevation gain : ~790 m Time : ~2h (one way) Difficulty : Moderate Download GPS file The Eigertrail is a very famous trail and the Eiger is probably the most famous mountain in the Alps after Mont Blanc. The book "The White Spider" by Heirich Harrer, the same author of "Seven years in Tibet", tells the story of the first ascent of the north face of this iconic mountain in 1938. The Eigertrail runs just below that north face from the train station Alpiglen (1615m) to the station Eigergletcher 2362m. You can walk it also from Grindelwald that about doubles the trail lenght or take the train (that is a very Swiss thing) to Alpiglen and start from there as we did. The trail goes mostly on rocky and gravel terrain and takes 6km and 790m of elevation. Doable in about 2h. From there...