8 Aug, Mürren-Schilthorn-Rotstockhutte

This morning the weather looked great and we headed out to climb the Schilthorn.  

Note: The attached google maps screenshots in the drive are for the path reference only, google maps time estimates are not very accurate.

Starting from Mürren we passed through many meadows and dairy farms.  The path was quite steep the whole entire time as it went up a downhill ski route.  It was by far the most majestic and strenuous hike I have ever done.  Gaining over 3000’ in elevation in less than 5 miles, it’s not for the feint of heart.  Up near the top we encountered thick clouds as well as sheep grazing, their bells constantly tinkering as they moved around.  There were still large patches snow about 5’ deep where there wasn’t much sun exposure.  The last section of the trail took us straight up the side of the rocky summit of the Schilthorn and across a narrow ridge, not a place you want to slip and fall.

Probably the most impressive part of the hike is the revolving restaurant and cable car station “Piz Gloria” perched on top of the narrow, rocky peak at 9,744 feet.

Built in the early 60s, and first exclusively used for the filming of the 1969 James Bond film “On His Majesty’s Secret Service”, Piz Gloria is a very impressive piece of engineering.  The movie also set standards for stunt filming in many movies after it, with lots of local ski guides risking their lives filming and playing stuntmen skiing down the Schilthorn, and hanging off helicopters to get footage.

Linked is a movie clip featuring Piz Gloria.

https://youtu.be/3PDRpvAh_Us

We stopped in and had a coffee for one revolution, and then headed back out.  Danny headed down to Gimmelwald on the cable car as he may have had altitude sickness, and I headed on to Rotstockhutte, a tiny mountain hut at the base of the Schilthorn.  I started to head down the trail on the other side, and soon realized that it was more treacherous than the one we had taken up, so I turned back and purchased some trekking poles (for the same price as a cable car ride to the bottom) so that I wouldn’t lose my footing on the loose shale. 

The path follows that narrow ridge line.

It was a beautiful hike to Rotstockhutte from the Schilthorn, but not a place you wanted to slip up, I will post a bunch of pics on the google drive.  I only saw one other person the whole time.  Henry, an older man who was originally from the states, now lives in Switzerland.  His mother was born in Harrisburg, and he told me he had been to Lancaster before, small world.  

The only other sign of animal life I saw were a few Ibex, a rare sighting.  I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the first one.  It didn’t seem very alarmed, and I got pretty close to it, but when it started intently starting at me, I kept moving along, those horns and it’s muscle density from climbing the alps looked pretty dangerous to unarmed me. 

I got to Rotstockhutte just in time for dinner, and it was well worth the hike.  Most hut dinners are multi course, family style meals where you get to congregate with people from all over the world.  I was sitting with a middle aged German couple, a few young men from America, and I think maybe a Swiss or German family on the other end.  Naturally, just like many other hostel dinners I have been at with Europeans and Americans at the same table, conversation turned towards the Europeans dislike for the current president of the United States.

Rotstockhutte is right next to a dairy farm (probably one of the largest above the tree line) where the barn and the house are all one building.  After dinner, they sent the cows (like 75 of them) out to graze at the base of the Schilthorn, all of them wearing the traditional cowbell, serenading us to sleep.

Getting out of the mountain towns and staying in the hut in the middle of nowhere was probably my best experience on this trip so far, Rotstockhutte is a fairly easy hike directly from Gimmelwald and I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking the real Swiss alps experience.