Quick Summary

  • Hiking from Bern to the Wallis via the Lötschenpass.
    • The Lötschenpasshütte is at the saddle of the pass.
  • We saw quite a few ibex near the hut.
  • The hike was quite convenient to do with the public transit.
    • Took the train to Kandersteg and then took an alp taxi to Selde.
      • This required an additional reservation in advance.
    • On the way back we could take the PostAuto back in the Lötschental.
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Day 1: To the Lötschenpasshütte and (Almost) the Hockenhorn

Traversing over what’s left of the Lötschegletscher.
Sport Hiking
Difficulty T3
Distance 10.2 km
Ascent 1490 m
Descent 340 m
Public Transit Access? Yes

Summary

  • Took the train to Kandersteg and then an alp taxi to Selde.
    • The alp taxi required a reservation ahead of time.
  • From Selde we took the only path leading up to the Lötschenpasshütte.
    • The path was well marked and quite easy to follow.
  • We needed to cross the remnants of the Lötschegletscher.
    • There was hardly anything left of the glacier when we were there.
    • What was left over was mostly covered in scree, so crossing it was unproblematic.
  • There was one short steep passage shortly before the hut which was secured with steel cables/chains.
  • There was a route which was not labelled on SwissTopo, but which had white-blue-white markings to the east of the hut.
    • This is the route leading to the Hockenhorn.
    • We saw quite a few ibex here.
  • We didn’t end up going all the way to the top of the Hockenhorn as there was still quite a bit of snow.
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Day 2: Descending into the Lötschental

The view up the Lötschental.
Sport Hiking
Difficulty T2
Distance 9.6 km
Ascent 290 m
Descent 880 m
Public Transit Access? Yes

Summary

  • Pat got up for an early sunrise and went to a vantage point along the white-blue-white ridge leading to the Hockenhorn.
    • While the weather conditions weren’t particularly favourable, he still managed to snap some pictures of a few of the Walliser 4000ers, so it wasn’t a complete bust 😉
  • We hiked down to the south-east from the Lötschenpasshütte to the Hockuchriz.
    • This spot offered a nice vantage point over the entire Lötschental.
  • Continued east to Stafel (Lauchernalp) from where we took a chairlift down to the Lauchernalp cable car station.
    • From here we took the cable car down to Wiler (Lötschen; Talstation), from where we could take the PostAuto back.
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