Backpacking in the Swiss Alps: Lobhornhütte

After a day of rest in Wengen and Lauterbrunnen, we packed up our backpacks for another day on the trail, this time headed to Lobhorhütte. Set up in the mountains overlooking Lauterbrunnen opposite the Jungfrau, it is a truly special place. We had a lot of fun hiking up in the sunshine and a lovely stay with a lovely group of folks in the hütte itself.

 

This hike was fairly steep and more wooded than our second day on the Via Alpina or our trek along the Eiger Trail. We met a couple who hiked up with their 6 week old baby, taking the cable car of course, so it was obviously not the most difficult trail we walked. The view and well-maintained hütte were well worth the climb.

The Trail to Lobhornhütte

We departed from Wengen to Lobhornhütte on a sunny morning, feeling refreshed after a day of rest from hiking. I decided to skip the descent into Lauterbrunnen, opting instead to take one of the regular trains down and start my hike from there.

Andrew was determined to walk every bit of the trail, so he walked ahead along the final part of the Via Alpina Stage 11 and met me in Lauterbrunnen once his descent was complete. He snapped some gorgeous photos along the way.

After we met in Lauterbrunnen, the climb began. Most of it was along a road through the woods as we made our way to Isenfluh to catch the cable car further up the mountain. I was glad for the shaded walk even if it did obscure the gorgeous views.

Soon, we reached the little village of Isenfluh. While Wengen had a bit of a cosmopolitan, mountain-chic going on, we saw some things getting to the cable car that made us feel like we were really out there in Switzerland. This was one of the most epic hunting displays we came across.

We got to the cable car as it was departing, so we had to wait for a moment for the next one. I was a little apprehensive because it is not a big car.

I was pretty on edge in the cable car, but also grateful for the quick and easy ride up. It was a little too scary to take any photos, ha! The view once we got up there was worth it.

The trail became more quaint and mountain-esque from this point, with no roads in sight.

Up we climbed through the trees, along rocky stretches, toward the treeline.

Once we started to get above the trees, the views opened up.

With the wildflowers in bloom in the summer sunshine, it was so serene and idyllic as we made our approach to the hutte.

Once there, we were greeted by the very friendly folks working there. Unlike Engelhornhütte, Lobhornhütte is managed by SAC. It was very clean and the menu was great. After getting there, we sat out on the beautiful deck had a nice lunch of baked potato with quite the view.

Since we arrived around midday, we had time to explore the area, so we hiked over to Sulsseewli, a mountain lake.

Just when we’d made it, it started to rain, so we headed back to the hütte to play games. We ended up speaking with a lovely couple from Germany for an hour so, who had hiked up with their newborn. We were chatting, when we realized it was the Fourth of July. We wished the new mom, also American, a happy Fourth as they were heading back down the mountain before sunset.

The sun had returned, so we took a table outside and played cards while our fellow guests started arriving for the evening.

Of course, we took full advantage of the alternative footwear and the chance to get out of our hiking boots. At Lobhornhütte they offered us the chicest of footwear trends, Crocs!

Most had arrived by dinner time, so we sat to dinner together: an older couple from Switzerland who spoke only German, an American from New York and two girls from the Ukraine who spoke English, one of whom lived in France and also spoke German, and us. Our conversation over dinner was pretty funny, with the very friendly Ukrainian woman translating back and forth between the couple and the three of us Americans. She was very sweet and when she realized it was the Fourth of July, she wished us congratulations.

The hutte served up the usual pasta dinner, but to accommodate my gluten allergy I got an epic Nepalese dish. I lucked out BIG TIME. It was absolutely delicious.

We all ventured back outside to read, play cards and watch the sunset before bed. It was so wonderful.

At 10pm, we all headed to bed in our bunks similar to those at Engelhornhütte. While we felt super removed from America out there in the mountains, our Fourth was a really, really great day.