Distance: 9.94 miles
Ascent: 4,115 ft
Descent: 4,840 ft
Passes:
Augsbordpass: 9,495 ft
This was to be our last day of hiking in the high mountains, and it was fantastic. We started once again through a Larch Pine forest, and then climbed for a total of about four hours to reach the Augsbord pass. The pass overlooks a rock-strewn wilderness, and has distant views of the glacier-covered Fletschorn (13,100 ft). From here it took a few hours to descent off the peak through steep trails and later through high meadows.
Once we reached the meadows we had to spend another hour or so traversing around the mini-valley that we had descended into. This required a thirty minute or so "quick and silent" crossing of a large boulder/scree field that struck me as particularly unstable. During several sections of this trail I could look up and see dozens to hundreds of large boulders over-hanging precariously directly above me up the mountain, and many of the rocks we stepped on were loose. This was a section I was anxious to cross quickly.
We then rounded the corner to the Twara point (8,200 feet). This point provides a spectacular view of the Dom (14,911 ft), the Nadelhorn (14,196) and the Lenzpitze (14,188)...and then a bit to the right of the Weisshorn (14,783 ft) and the Klein Matterhorn (12,533 ft). It is an amazing panorama and one of the finest view I've ever seen anywhere; one that is way too big to fit into a camera frame. The guide book describes the scene as "a stunning vision, full of drama and grace of form, a perfect symbol of mountain architecture." It was awesome -- and a great place for lunch!
We still had an hour or so of hiking left, which was somewhat anticlimactic after the Twara point. We did go through a nice little mountainside traditional hamlet -- Jungen -- and then headed down to St Niklaus for beers that we felt were well deserved. The day's hike was close to eight hours.
Ascent: 4,115 ft
Descent: 4,840 ft
Passes:
Augsbordpass: 9,495 ft
Once we reached the meadows we had to spend another hour or so traversing around the mini-valley that we had descended into. This required a thirty minute or so "quick and silent" crossing of a large boulder/scree field that struck me as particularly unstable. During several sections of this trail I could look up and see dozens to hundreds of large boulders over-hanging precariously directly above me up the mountain, and many of the rocks we stepped on were loose. This was a section I was anxious to cross quickly.
We then rounded the corner to the Twara point (8,200 feet). This point provides a spectacular view of the Dom (14,911 ft), the Nadelhorn (14,196) and the Lenzpitze (14,188)...and then a bit to the right of the Weisshorn (14,783 ft) and the Klein Matterhorn (12,533 ft). It is an amazing panorama and one of the finest view I've ever seen anywhere; one that is way too big to fit into a camera frame. The guide book describes the scene as "a stunning vision, full of drama and grace of form, a perfect symbol of mountain architecture." It was awesome -- and a great place for lunch!
We still had an hour or so of hiking left, which was somewhat anticlimactic after the Twara point. We did go through a nice little mountainside traditional hamlet -- Jungen -- and then headed down to St Niklaus for beers that we felt were well deserved. The day's hike was close to eight hours.
 |
| Rounding the corner towards St. Niklaus. This day had lots of exceptional views, but also a fair amount of treacherous footing and drop-offs. |
 |
| A view to St Niklaus, which was a long walk down. |
 |
| Twara point. |
 |
| Jungen |
