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Welcome to the Gasterntal Eco Hike. This hike will take
you from Kandersteg, up into the Gasterntal Valley, a
spectacular glacial valley full of interesting sights. Follow
Safety:
This hike is in an Alpine Environment and so extreme weather
conditions are possible; your group should be well prepared for
all types of weather. Please note that these route descriptions
are not a replacement for map reading. Always carry a map
and know how to use it. Maps are available for hire from
Reception for a refundable CHF 50 deposit. The group leader
must ensure that a Route Card has been filed in Reception.
Info:
The return journey of this hike can be taken by bus:
Single journey KISC-Selden: SFr. 8.50 / 12.50 (child / adult)
In this booklet you will find that hiking route
information is in italics whereas information
about the area is in normal text.
Enjoy your hike!
The Route:
From the Centre (1189m) cross the bridge over the river Kander and
turn right. Follow the road to the Sunnbüel cable car station at
Eggeschwand. Walk past the left side of the cable car station across
some tarmac and you will soon cross the river and get onto the
hiking path up to Gasterntal. It will take you steep up through the
woods and onto the road, then through some tunnels to the stone
bridge crossing the river Kander at 1324 meters.
This bridge (at 1324m) can also be reached by the main road
(Terrain 1): simply continue on the main road past Sunnbüel cable
car station and turn left up towards Gasterntal.
From the bridge continue some 50 meters along the road and cross
the river a second time by the light footbridge. After this follow the
path through the woods until you arrive at the restaurant Waldhaus
at 1358 meters after approximately 15 minutes.
1. Hotel Waldhaus
The Hotel Waldhaus is the only
hotel in Switzerland without
electricity. Food is cooked on
wood-burning
stoves,
and
lighting is provided by candles.
Because of the snow and
avalanches, this hotel along with
the rest of the valley completely
closes for winter. All the people
living in Gasterntal valley move to
Kandersteg for the winter and
bring all their things (and cows!) down too.
From Waldhaus continue along the wide and even track (route 14)
for about 5 minutes.
2. Wetlands and Amphibians
The wetlands you are now passing are a very typical example of high
alpine wetlands. These wetlands are the perfect habitat for the
many amphibian species to be found in Switzerland, as there is
plenty of water to keep their skin wet and for their tadpoles to live in.
There are four main species which you will may be see here:
Alpine salamander (Salamandra atra)
The Alpine Salamander is a black and shiny
amphibian about 15 cm long and up to 10 years old.
Unlike other salamander species, they live
completely on land, giving birth to live young after a
pregnancy of up to 3 years. They do not move much:
only up to 12m in a whole summer!
Alpine newt (Triturus alpestris)
The alpine newt lives mainly on land,
except during the breeding season, when
it returns to pools of water to meet others.
For most of the year males and females
are a dull brown spotted colour, but
during the mating season, males develop
a bright orange belly, and blue and black
and white spotty stripes along their sides. If they are held, the
squeak loudly and emit a smelly liquid as a defense.
Common toad (Bufo bufo)
These toads live mostly in burrows they have
dug during the summer, and are surprisingly
good predators, catching insects, worms and
slugs to eat. They are also long lived, having
been know to live up to 50 years old in captivity.
Females lay eggs in double strings; perhaps you
can see some here in the wetlands?
Common frog (Rana temporaria)
Most common amphibian in Europe, reaching as far
as into the arctic circle. Their colour is very variable,
as they are able to lighten or darken their skin to
match their surroundings.
Unfortunately amphibians are in decline in Switzerland, as in most of
the world, with more than two thirds either endangered or vulnerable
in the wild. The main cause of this decline is habitat loss, as wetlands
are drained for agriculture and housing; Switzerland has lost around
90% of its wetlands. For example, the canton of Zurich used to be
8.3% covered by wetlands, but by 200 was only 0.7% covered.
Another problem is drying out of wetlands due to global warming, an
issue which will perhaps increase in the future.
From Waldhaus, continue to straight down the valley along the wide
even track, following signs for Selden. This path takes you through
some fields of cows. Stop just before you enter the forest.
3. Where have the rocks come
from?
Look up around at the mountains which
surround you. Far from being a vertical
sheet of the same grey rock, you can see
many different colours of rock stacked on
top of each other in layers. These have
been pushed and bent by the forces of the
earth’s plates colliding , and sometimes
turned completely upside down.
The reason these rocks are all different
colours is because they have all been
made at different times in the past: The
oldest rocks are on the bottom near the
valley floor and are around 250 million
years old, whereas the newest rocks on
the top are only around 100,000 years old.
These rocks were not all formed in an
environment like the Gasterntal valley is
today either, which is why they are all
different colours and types.
The timeline on the left shows you what the
Kandersteg area was like when the rocks
were being formed. 250 million years ago,
the African continent had not yet collided
with the Eurasian plate and so where we
are now was under deep ocean, with some
sandy lagoons. As the African plate moved
towards Eurasia, this sea became
shallower, allowing coral reefs to develop.
Eventually the ocean was squeezed out
and the alps were formed, leaving rivers to
deposit sediment to become new rocks.
Most recently, it is glacial activity which has deposited the top layers
of rocks in the area.
One way we know this is true is by looking through these rocks for
fossils. You will often find fossils like sea-dwelling ammonites in
rocks in the alps, a very interesting find!
Continue on through the forest, and you will cross the river. Turn
right and follow this path alongside the river. In less than 1km you will
cross back over the river on a more solid bridge.
4. The coldest river around.
A river like the Kander is greatly affected by glacial meltwater, as
meltwater changes many aspects of the river. Whilst on this bridge
look at the river: you should be able to see the clear water from
rainwater streams mixing with pale blue cloudy water from the
glaciers. Why is this glacial water cloudy? As the glacier moves
along, rocks are worn down to very small bits; these tiny fragments
of rock are what gives the water its colour. Glaciers like the
Kanderfirn actually help to regulate the amount of water in the river:
when it is warm and sunny, melting increases, replacing rainfall as a
source of water for the river, and colder rainier times fill the river with
water, but less melting of the glacier will occur.
There are many animals that are adapted to the cold, cloudy and
sediment filled glacial meltwater environment, and a lot of these
animals can only be found here. These animals have been adapting to
this environment since the end of the last ice age 25,000 years ago,
and so are well suited to this habitiat. This obviously makes global
warming a real issue of these meltwater habitats. As glacial retreat
and get smaller and as the planet warms up, the water temperature
will increase and the water will become less cloudy. This will allow
other freshwater animals to invade, and outcompete the meltwater
species, causing them to go extinct. Considering the Kanderfirn has
retreated over 300m since the 1990s, including 33m from 2010-2011,
this is real threat the Gasterntal is facing.
Continue up the valley on the wide path (path 14). This path starts to
gain some height, getting steeper than earlier. After around 2km you
will come to another bridge. After crossing this bridge the route
zigzags a short section up through a pine forest .
5. The Ladies slipper orchid
Of the many flowers which grow around the alps, orchids are the
flowers which are looked for the most by flower enthusiasts. There
are many different types of orchid visible in the area, and the Swiss
Alps are well know hunting ground for orchids.
The queen of all the Swiss orchids is
without a doubt the ladies slipper
orchid
(Cypripedium
calceolus),
whose name is easy to understand,
as its yellow flowers resemble small
slippers. Gasterntal is famous for
being a valley where it is fairy easy to
find them growing, and many people
come from all around Switzerland to
find them. The flowers are shaped like
this to trap insects which, during their
escape get covered in pollen to
fertilise another orchid. Due to its
attractive appearance it has been
very commonly dug up and stolen by
greedy gardeners: at one point there
was only plant left in the UK. As such,
it is protected in most of its European
range, including in Switzerland, so look, but don’t touch!
After the zig-zags, the path soon rejoins the main road. From there it
is a short walk into Selden.
6. The Story of Gfellalp
Look up to the other side of the valley. If you look up and just above
the forest you should be able to see Gfellalp, a cluster of three huts.
This is an old traditional mountain hut, and is now managed by KISC,
as a base for hiking and climbing activities.
But all has not always been peaceful in the Gastern Valley at high up
at Gfellalp. You can read of the following page the storied past of
Gfellalp and three brothers that used to live there:
Long ago, when Switzerland did not exist, and bitter war raged between the cantons, there
lived three brothers at Gfelalp: Ueli, Menk & Jorg. The brothers owned three houses,
which was rare at this time..
However, the older brothers Menk and Jorg became greedy about their family houses
they were to inherit and threw Ueli out into the
forest .
That night in the forest Ueli saw a vision of
God who gave him a solution to their dispute:
Three coloured crystals must be found, and the
brother who finds each crystal will get one of the
family houses: A rose crystal for the house in
Gfelalp, a clear crystal for Schönbuel and a
dark crystal for Stocki.
The brothers went out looking and Ueli came
back first with a rose crystal. However the other
brothers cheated, and brought back one of each
type! The two evil brothers now controlled all
the valley, and took Ueli as their slave.
Ueli swore he would make his escape, and soon
fled to join the army of the Bishop of Sitten, in
another canton. The night that Ueli fled, there
was a huge snow storm, despite it being
summer, causing an avalanche which killed the
brothers and destroyed much of the valley. The
evil brothers haunted Gfelalp for some time,
until an Irish Priest banished their spirits into a
Larch Tree and peace finally returned to the
valley. Despite peace returning, Ueli never
returned home, instead dying in battle years
later.
From Selden, continue along the main road. After about 5 minutes
walking you will see a bridge: don’t cross this bridge! Continue on the
left side of the river, and the path soon turns up into the forest. The
past will take you to the nearby hamlet of Heimritz in around 30
minutes.
7. The Kanderfirn Glacier
The Kanderfirn is the glacier which formed the Gasterntal, it has now
retreated to the far end of the valley. At 6.6km long, it is a significant
part of the ecosystem. The glacier itself is a river of ice which moves
due to a combination of the weight of the ice and angle of slope. Snow
accumulates every year adding to the weight and movement of the
glacier, snow turns to firn (12+ month old snow) and then to glacial
ice. Even though every year more snow is added to the glacier and
the movement is still downslope, the Kanderfirn is in fact retreating.
Glacial rivers underneath the glacier allow the ice to move more
easily – it is likely that you can see a waterfall at the tongue of glacier.
The meltwater which comes from the Kanderfirn is the source of the
river Kander, which eventually flows into Lake Thun and on through
the River Aare to the capital city Bern.
From Heimritz head across the valley floor and across the river. Walk
down onto the field of rocks in front of you.
8. Flooding in Gasterntal
The reason the path you are on has
just gone up into the forest is the
huge flood that came through this
valley in Autumn 2011, washing
away the road and much of the
farmland in Gasterntal. You can see
on the right the wild muddy river
flowing through Kandersteg, and on
the opposite page you can see the
debris and rocks left behind from
the flood. The Gasterntal valley was
cut off from Kandersteg during this
flood and the army had to help
rescue people. The rebuilding of
bridges is only now finished!
A view of the Kanderfirn, and Heimritz before the flood
You are here!
You have reached the
end of the hike! You
can either hike back
the route you came or
along the main road.
You can also walk
back to Selden and
catch the bus back to
KISC, but it is advised
Heimritz after the flood
that you have booked
this in advance at the front office. We hope you have enjoyed
your hike and learnt something new about the area.
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This map is to show you
where to stop, and not as a
replacement for a full map.
You still need to bring a map
with you on this hike.
The Route