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Meczek

Hiking to Alpine Lakes in Uri Alps, Switzerland

Uri Alps, Switzerland

Trip Summary

Duration: 2 days (September 2024)

Route: Guttannen 1057m – Holzhüs - Bänzlouwiseewleni 2180m – Holzhüs - Guttannen 1057m

Distance: ca. 14.5 km

Ascent: 1150 m / Descent: 1150 m

Starting point: Parking Guttannen


Our hikes starts in Guttannen Dorf where we leave our car on the car park located at the south side of the village. Guttannen is located just at the beginning of Grimsel Pass, one of the most beautiful Alpine Passes in Europe. From here we walk north on the gravel road following the hiking trail to Wannisbort Lake. After reaching the forest the trail becomes quite steep but the trees provide some blessing shadow on this hot, sunny day. We finally reach first crossing over Hostetbach river near Bachsiiten at 1667m. What a refreshing bath in this cold, crystal clear water! We fill our bottles and continue direction Holzhüs. We encounter several small houses and finally reach Holzhüs. From here we continue climbing up until we get to the crossing at 2041m where one path climbs to Wannisbortsee and the other to Bänzlouwiseewleni. We do not turn to Wannisbortsee and continue direction Oberhomad and Bänzlouwialp.

At Homad Plain we encounter another crossing where we turn right and follow poorly visible but marked trail with individual cairns in some ups and downs over slabs, through scree and perennial plants to the lower Bänzlouwiseewleni. This part of the trail is the most difficult part as it mainly leads on rocks and narrow path on a steep slope. We reach lower Bänzlouwiseewleni at approximately 6:30 pm.


At the lake we were welcomed by a herd of sheep. Some of them, especially the male, were not really happy about seeing us and were not keen on giving up a fration of their territory to strangers. One big male was quite aggresive and tried to attack us. After a while they got used to us and moved further away. There are 2 lakes here: lower Bänzlouwiseewleni 2177m and upper lower Bänzlouwiseewleni 2216m. From here the Bänzlouwibach river starts, flows down the valley and joints Aare in Boden village. The lake area is surrounded in the north by a montain chain with such peaks as Bänzlouwistock 2529m, Brunnenstock 2522m and Graustock 2689m. The difficulty level of Bänzlouwistock according to the SAC Mountain and Alpine Hiking Scale hike is 'T4+ Alpine Hike'.

We set out camp on the hills south form the lake with a stunning view over mountain chain in the south-west where the highest mountain Ritzlihorn 3277 m is dominating the view and looks almost like a volcano. Some glaciers are also visible from here. This could be Rosenlaui Glacier or Gauli Glacier. After a quick bath in the lake and some hot meal, we spend some time watching the sky getting dark and go to sleep. The nigh is warm with some light wind.


View towards Ritzlihoren (Ritzlihorn)


In the morning the lake and its surrounding is covered in shadow as the high peaks around are blocking the sun. The shadow disappears at ca. 10am. By this time we are finished with breakfast, the tents are packed and we are ready to go. At the beginning we are followed by our furry friends, which are very curious and follow us for a while down the narrow path direction Homad Plain. It took us 3 hours to return to Guttannen. In Guttannen we enjoy delicious lunch on the balcony of Hotel Bären Guttannen.





LINKS

www.map.geo.admin.ch – Topographic map of Switzerland

www.sac-cas.ch – Alpinwanderskala (English)

www.hikr.org – Bänzlouwistock Hiking Trips on hikr.org

www.baeren-guttannen.ch – Hotel Bären Guttannen

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