Free like a bird above Lenk

From the Matten train station, walk a few steps south, cross the railway line and then the airfield. The ascent is moderate at first but soon becomes steep, going up via Stutz to Eggmatte. Before the turn of the millennium, storm Lothar badly damaged the forest in this area, which hikers still feel today: where the map promises shady greenery, the blazing sun heats the sparsely vegetated slope. All the more lovely are the alpine pastures densely covered with flowers and fragrant herbs along the gravel path in the Dürrewald area. In the background of the small high valley, at the foot of the Wistätthorn, the path slowly turns upward in a wide curve, passing rich stands of alpine roses towards Hinterberg and, after a final ascent, to the Flöschhore. From this magnificent viewpoint, the gaze sweeps far over the Obersimmental, the valley floor of Lenk, and the mighty culmination formed by the Wildstrubel massif. Do migrating birds, when flying over this valley and then over the Alpine chain southwards in autumn, also manage to enjoy this freedom of the eye here? Via alpine pasture paths and small alpine roads you return to Eggweid. The descent via Flöschweid to Lenk is reserved for hikers who are sure-footed and not afraid of heights: the path along the steep cliffs is usually half a meter wide, but just a little away the slope drops almost vertically; only one particularly exposed spot is secured with a rope fixed on the slope side. From Underflösch, you reach the village center and the Lenk train station via the Wallbach bridge.