The bill at the Hotel Waldrand 40 fr again. (Don't expectt o get that toady!) The weather looked a lot better and by the time I had attacked my breakfast buffet, much of yesterday's snow had boiled off. This was a very big day. I went up the Truttlisberg Pass 2038m which had a nasty soft snowfield at the top. I put both feet through into a stream at one point and so ended up with blisters. (I was wearing new boots for the first time). Despite Hotel comment, it was quite practical and I got to the top in good time. Down the other side, it was very slippery and greasy.

From the Truttlisberg Pass. The Stueblinipass goes up on the opposite tree-covered ridge. 1978 photo.

Alternative - The Stueblenipass.

There is an alternative to the Trüttlisberg Pass which I did in 1979. The Stueblenipass is about one kilometre to the South, that is, up the same valley but going via Muelkerblatt. This is not muddy & much more fluoriferous. Most guidebooks don't mention it!

The Krinnen Pass

In 1978, I met two Canadians doing the same thing in the opposite direction. I arrived down in Lauenen 1241m at 1330. It is a nice little village. Had I been intending to stay, it had a couple of inviting-looking hotels and in fact, Jane & I did stay in the Hotel Wildhorn in 1979. But I wasn't and set off for the rather lower Krinnen Pass 1659m over to Gsteig. Half-way up, I got lost in the woods owing to the path disappearing into the bog that most of this pass comprises. I just headed up towards the notch in the skyline whenever I could see it through the solid mass of trees and found the path again, away to my right about 20 feet below the hause.

The Krinnen Pass from the Lauenen side

The great view West from the Krinnen towards the Col du Pillon

In 2005, I had no trouble with the route up the Krinnen Pass & the locals have made some attempt to mitigate the squelchiness.

Another Alternative - Going to Lauenen via Iffigenalp