Lauterbrunnen

Spontaneous Hiking Trip in Lauterbrunnen. My friend Adrian had a week off, and with the weather looking great, we decided to take a short trip into the mountains.

Summary of this trip:

• Duration: 2 Days (1 Night)
• Total Expenses: Around 80 CHF per person
• Hiked: ~ 12km

Last week, I received a text from Adrian suggesting we meet up and do something together. I proposed a hike to watch the Perseids, a meteor shower that occurs every August as Earth passes through a comet's debris. We invited another friend, Fabian, whom I hadn’t seen in a while. He was excited about the idea of hiking and camping to catch up and have a good time.

We chose Lauterbrunnen as our destination. I hadn’t been there before, but Adrian assured us it was a beautiful place. They picked me up after my personal training sessions around lunchtime, and we made a quick stop at a kebab place for lunch before driving to Lauterbrunnen. We were lucky to find a parking spot in the center of town for 10 CHF per day. Afterward, we went to Coop to buy groceries for the trip. We tried to fit everything into three backpacks, but it wasn’t possible, so we had to carry an extra one. In hindsight, we didn’t need all the gear we brought, but we weren’t sure if it would rain.

As we started walking, the further we got into the valley, the fewer tourists we encountered. It was a bit cloudy, but the views were stunning nonetheless. When we arrived in Stechelberg around 6 PM, we found a lovely spot slightly uphill behind an old hut. It gave us a beautiful view over Stechelberg and the surrounding mountains with glaciers. We didn’t need our tents; instead, we used the tarp as a ground cover and set up a cozy little camp with two sleeping mats.

We talked a lot and enjoyed the beautiful views until it quickly got dark around 10 PM. We decided to set up the tents just in case it started raining. The forecast had mentioned a possibility of rain at 5 AM, but it kept changing every hour, and soon, there was no rain predicted anymore.

I took my drone for a flight and was able to capture these:

We spent the evening watching the night sky while cooking spaghetti with cheese and chili beans for dinner. The night sky was incredible—I didn’t count all the shooting stars I saw, but one of them was particularly huge and beautiful, and I'll never forget it!

It wasn’t the most restful night; I think I woke up about six times and finally got up around 8 AM. It was a bit chilly in the morning, as it had been during the night, but the sleeping bags did their job and kept us warm. As we were waking up, packing, and eating breakfast, a helicopter flew by, transporting tools to the nearby farm, so sleeping in wasn’t an option anyway! 😄

Unfortunately, Adrian got blisters and wasn’t comfortable walking all the way back, so he took the extra backpack while Fabian and I started the walk back to the parking lot. We didn’t regret it, as we were rewarded with a stunning view of the Mönch and Jungfrau through a gap in the mountains that had been blocked by clouds the day before!

Before meeting up with Adrian, Fabian and I treated ourselves to a refreshing cold smoothie, then began the drive back home. After all the walking, we were pretty hungry, so we decided to stop for a meal by Lake Brienz. I even managed to fall asleep in the car until we reached Cham!

It was a fantastic trip, and we had so much fun! We’ll definitely plan more adventures like this in the future!