Trail itinerary from Oschinensee to Blumlisalpshütte

Starting the trail

The trail starts at the cable car in Kandersteg. You can get there by car or by train. The round trip with the cable car costs CHF 30.00 per adult, and it is of course possible to take the dogs with you. It is however not allowed to drive up to Lake Oeschinen with the car.

For our stay in Kandersteg, we chose the Camping Rendez-Vous. The campsite is superb, well located and above all, well equipped. We recommend booking your pitch in advance because this campsite can be very crowded in summer.

In order to arrive at the Blümlisalphütte before noon, we left with the first cabin from Kandersteg at 8:00 am to avoid the crowd but also the heat wave that arrives in the afternoon.

Oeschinen

The ride with the gondola takes about 15-20 minutes. Once at the top, we decided to go directly to Oeschinen lake hoping to see this beautiful lake. We tied the leash (or long rope) to Rio to secure it along the trail and started our little trot to the lake. That morning, the fog was unfortunately omnipresent, and we could not contemplate the beautiful view that all the websites had promised us.

We ran all the way to where the cliff is plunging into the lake, where the climb begins.

The ascent to Oberbärgli (500m D+)

Our first goal was to reach Underbärgli, a small restaurant with a great view on the lake. The ascent started quite quickly and the slope was immediately very steep, offering us no respite. Unfortunately, we were still in a thick fog where it was impossible to see more than 5 meters. Suddenly, we found ourselves in the middle of a herd of cows. To be honest, we are never really reassured knowing that there can be small calves during this period of the year. Rio was also terrified, and in order to avoid any sudden movements of the herd, we carried Rio during the whole crossing.

Once past the herd, we reached Underbärgli and stopped briefly to drink some water. Until Oberbärgli, the path became rocky and slippery, which did not facilitate our ascent. While walking along the path under the wall, we finally saw Oberbägli, which stood at the top of the plateau, on top of the cliff.

Höhtürli and the Blümlisalp Hut

From Oberbärgli a new landscape emerged, more rocky and steep, whose paths were more difficult to see. We still had about 800m D+ to the Blümlisalpshütte. Our first obstacle was a mountain of small rocks scattered in the valley that we had to cross. The ascent started slowly and then became very steep in the second part. The landscape had completely changed to that of a high mountain, very rocky with limited vegetation. We now kept Rio on a leash to avoid any slippery grounds that she could create by wandering off the trail. At the top of the first ascent, a rather flat path ran along the glacier, allowing us to run for a few meters before the ascent resumed. The last phase of the climb was the most difficult because the path that leads us to the Hohtürli pass turns into stairs. At the end of this last ascent, we could grasp a glimpse of the Blümlisalp hut in the distance.

Back to the Lake of Oeschinen

After having rested at the hut, we went back to the Oeschinen lake. On the unobstructed trail sections, we easily ran down, always keeping Rio on a leash on the rocky part of the trail. Once in Oberbärgli, we decided to take the trail on the right to go along the mountain around Oeschinen lake. We were delighted to see that the fog had lifted and that we could admire the lake from above. The descent took us about 40 minutes by running (counting all our photo stops). We finally reached the lake shore for a well-deserved break in one of the small restaurants of Oeschinen.