Tüfelschlucht and Bölcheflue

In late November, winter came to Switzerland. Of course, we were warned. But one Wednesday, everything was sunny and autumnal in Basel. Then, on Friday morning, it had all changed. More than 20cm of snow had fallen on the Thursday evening and night, transforming everything, as the photos of my local Kannenfeld Park show. I resolved to go hiking at the weekend.

So on Sunday morning, I got the train to Hägendorf, near Olten. From there, I headed north towards the Tüfelschlucht. That is my “go-to” snow walk. It seems that no matter how deep the snow, it will always be possible to walk the Tüfelschlucht and onwards to Bölcheflue. That mountain was called Belchenflue, but the maps seem to have changed the name.

I was immediately into snow when I left Hägendorf, but it was good underfoot, and I had no trouble. The gorge was as impressive as ever.

It didn’t take too long to reach the road and on to the Oberi Schlucht. I had to stop to let a large group of walkers pass, going in the opposite direction. The snow was softer in this second part of the Schlucht, and even softer again when I came out into the fields below the Allerheiligenberg. All was quiet at the residence there.

I kept going, first around to the back of the buildings and then over the ridge to the north side. The snow was better there, but one has to be careful. There is a steep drop to the right of the path, and a false move could do serious harm. But I made it through the forest without incident. Once out of the trees, the trail curves around before going over another ridge and descending towards a farm. After that, it was just a short uphill stretch to get to the summit of Bölcheflue. By now the snow was soft indeed, and melting.

From Bölcheflue, I made my way eastwards along the old military road. I reached Challhöchi and turned off on the lesser trail. It was downhill nearly all the way. The snow was turning to slush all the way along, with less of it as I got lower. By the time I reached Läufelingen, there was none at all on the ground. It had practically all melted away. But at least I had got my first snow walk of the season. I hope that there will be more in the new year.

My total step count for the day was 30,340.