Rugged cliffs and lonely pastures: Burglauenen - Sengg - Zweilütschinen

The village of Burglauenen belongs to the extensive area of the municipality of Grindelwald. It has largely been able to retain its rural character to this day. This is due to its location: The Männlichen mountain, at the foot of which the settlement lies, keeps all sunshine away for weeks in winter. All the more light and warmth there is during the growing season. Forests, meadows and pastures stretch up the sometimes very steep and rocky slopes on both sides of the valley. The landscape on the higher levels is wild and, apart from alpine farming, practically untouched - there are neither mountain railways nor lookout restaurants. On the other hand, you can extensively experience unspoilt mountain nature here.

The hike to Vorsass Sengg (which belongs to the neighbouring municipality of Lütschental) leads upwards from the start - first along meadow paths, then along narrow and steep roads, and finally in the forest. Various large clearings offer views into the valley of the Schwarze Lütschine. From the Itramenberg on the opposite side of the valley, several waterfalls flow down into the valley. The north face of the Eiger towers above it, and after some ascent the Mönch and the Jungfrau also come into view.

The alpine pastures at Schärmatta are a nice place to take a breather and enjoy the view down the valley to Schreckhorn and Wetterhorn. The trail continues to climb and enters the forest again. A narrow path runs moderately steeply uphill between the trees. After a while you come across meadows full of flowers again; a few mighty sycamores set impressive accents in the landscape, which has been cultivated with great effort for many generations and is somewhat reminiscent of a park. Here, above the vertical cliffs of the Senggfluh, stretches the green panorama terrace of the Sengg area. The flower meadows, which cover a total of about three hectares, harbour a great diversity of species. The sea of flowers provides food for numerous butterfly species, some of which have become rare. In recognition of his services to the preservation of this diversity, the manager of the area received the cultural landscape award of the Oberland-Ost region in 2010.

The second third of the tour has a clearly different character. First, the trail descends steeply into the ditch of the Louwibach. Then a narrow, partly somewhat exposed path leads along the sparsely overgrown rocky slopes of the Spisblatti. Some exposed passages where the terrain drops steeply are equipped with a rope or chains on the slope side. The following section is particularly picturesque. It leads through a primeval mountain forest interspersed with boulder debris. Climbing up again, you cross a veritable fairytale landscape of mighty boulders covered in moss that lie between the trees and turn the forest floor into an unfathomable labyrinth.

At the end of the forest, you step onto the extensive pastures of the lowest rock of the Usser Iselten alp. Here the view opens up towards the Lauterbrunnen valley. Further up, the Schynige Platte railway station can be seen, and on the northern horizon, the pointed rocky peaks of the Faulhorn chain push up into the sky.The last section of the tour knows only one direction: from the Schwand fork, the route goes downhill, almost entirely in the forest. This may sound unattractive, but the route uses a very beautiful, well-preserved historical traffic route. In the past, cows were driven to the alp on this route, which is why the gradient is not unpleasantly steep. The serpentine path, partly paved with natural stones, leads through a terrain characterised by vertical rock faces, gullies and slopes, and in between it passes through several sunken paths. After about a third of the way, you pass a wooden shelter that can be used for a rest or as protection from the rain.

The descent ends between the villages of Lütschental and Gündlischwand. The nearest railway station, Zweilütschinen, can be reached on level ground in a good half hour.