Heatwave. Like the rest of Switzerland we were looking to escape it by going higher up. As a consequence all the huts were fully booked but we did manage to get enough places in the Gaulihütte (2205m) which became our goal on Saturday.
We met in Meiringen and soon left the main road towards the remote valley of Urbachtal. There is a small parking lot at the end of the valley (880m) and then you start walking. At first there is a nice lush forest but that soon disappears as the way gets steeper. There are tons of creeks coming down from all over and that proved a life saver as it provided for constant refreshment and fresh drinking water. We made a little detour and stopped by the Matenalpsee (1874m) for a swim. The lake gets most of its water from the massive Gauligletscher and is really, really, really cold. In fact it is so cold it hurts.
After refreshments we continued on our way and reached the hut in good time. Before dinner we had time to go scout our route for the next day and also take a dip in the “pool” in front of the hut. Luxurious. Dinner was excellent and so was the little play the caretaker put up afterwards. Apparently there are some creatures living in the crevasses up on the glacier and they become really agitated if people cross it too late…
So we set our alarm clocks for 3.30 and were out the door at 4. We soon reached the big snow field that led up to the start of our first objective – Chammligrat. The ridge is beautiful and not too difficult although it does have some exposed sections. We didn’t rope up though so we could move faster and made good time. About half way we made a little break and watched the sun come up and then sped on as it was going to be another hot day. The ridge widens towards the end and eventually meets the normal route coming up from the glacier where we met with our second group and reached the summit of Hangendgletscherhorn (3291m) together. Had a little high altitude birthday party celebration but soon started our descend back down.
We left the summit around 8 and it was already boiling up on the glacier despite all the snow. After the steep top section and once we passed the crevasse fields we could take off the crampons and just slide down to generate some much needed wind 🙂 We stopped by the hut for another swim in the pool and some rösti but again sped on. The route down under (yet another) Tälligrat is long, it was hot and yes, really long. After 12 hours we finally reached the parking lot, drove back to Meiringen, bought some cold beer and settled in on the train for the ride back to the concrete jungle.
Powdy Pow Pow CH 