Hiking the Aletsch Glacier

At the end of July we found ourselves, once again, in Davos, Switzerland for the Swiss Alpine Marathon. After the race, we had several days to spend in the country before heading separate ways. Seth & I decided to return to Fiesch, a small village in the Alps where we joined up with a Telemark Ski Company trip several winters ago. This time we would explore the region in the summer. The highlight of the trip was a 4.5 hour hike along the Aletsch Glacier.



The Aletsch is the largest glacier in Eurasia and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001. Three smaller glaciers converge to create the Aletsch, resulting in the internal moraines you can see above (the dark stripes of debris typically seen along the outside edges of a glacier). In the photo above you can see another glacier up between the peaks to the left that is emptying into the Aletsch. I wish there was a way to capture the sounds the glacier was making and include them in this post. It was remarkable.

The village of Bettmeralp

The day began in the village of Bettmeralp. We took the train from Fiesch, followed by 2 gondola rides up the mountain to reach the beginning of the hike. From the gondola station we set out along a brief boardwalk to the Glacier overlook.

Once leaving the boardwalk the trail wrapped around the back side of the mountain following the glacier. At times we had to pick our way among rock fields, at others we walked smooth dirt trails.

Small wildflowers dotted the trail, doing their best to maintain a foothold above the tree line.

I can't see them in the photo below, but we took this shot because we spotted a line of hikers out on the glacier crossing it towards us. They looked like ants, and helped put the enormity of this ice flow in perspective.

At this point we turned away from the glacier and began wrapping our way around to the front side of the mountain, back toward Fiesch. We encountered a small alpine meadow and lake. There was also a restaurant with several rooms for overnight stays where many people had stopped for lunch.

As we continued along the trail we continued to see and hear flocks of sheep and goats grazing. In the photo below you can see several stone huts built on the left hand side. These are likely used as winter shelters for shepherds or hikers.

In the background, on the righthand side of the photo above you can see a second glacier, the Fiescher Glacier. As the trail continues to wrap around the front side this glacier comes in to better view.

The Fiescher Glacier

From here we leave the glaciers behind and head back into the top of the tree line on our trail with a spectacular view to the valley below.

I had to stop and snap the photo of Seth below, because this is probably (hopefully!) the only time we will ever be between two avalanche barriers. In the winter we stay well clear of places like this!

The trail ended in Fiescheralp where we took one more gondola to the top of Eggishorn for a final look out onto the Aletsch glacier. We had actually been to this same look out spot on our first trip to Fiescheralp in the winter of 2010. We tried to recreate a photos that was taken of us at the time on the same perch of rock:

Summer 2012 atop Eggishorn

Winter 2010 atop Eggishorn

We came close, but didn't quite match it up. This was a beautiful hike. We're lucky to have had the opportunity to experience it.