Lauteraarhütte

The hike to the Lauteraarhütte had been on my bucket list for a long time. From Grimsel Hospiz it leads along the Grimselsee, over narrow paths carved into the rockface, to the foot of the Unteraargletscher and then up to the hut at an elevation of 2,393 meter. The hike is not particularly difficult, it's just long: including photo stops it's about 4.5 hours to the hut and 4-4.5 hours back. The starting point of the hike is at the Grimsel Hospiz. Unfortunately it is often fully booked months in advance, which is why I hadn't done the hike yet.

About a year ago I discovered that it is possible to do the hike as a day trip from Meiringen. That does require some planning though, especially if you're traveling by public transport. I took the 7.45 train from Meiringen to Innertkirchen, where I switched to bus 161, which departs at 7:58 and arrives at Grimsel Hospiz at 8:33. During summer the last bus from Grimsel Hospiz back to Meiringen departs at 17:42, which gives you about 9 hours for the hike. It's doable, but there's not much margin for error. Of course, if you travel by car you would still need to start early, but you don't need to worry about catching a bus.

The hike to the Lauteraarhütte was not as popular as I had expected, perhaps because it was early summer. I only met a handful of other hikers.

The trail to the Lauteraarhütte is well maintained, like all hut trails in Switzerland. It was still early in the season and I encountered some workers who were cutting overgrown grass and clearing the trail.

The Lauteraar hut is at the top of the plateau in the right corner of the photo above (not the peak in the far right corner, but a bit lower to the left). To get there all you have to do is to keep walking.

After a short but strenuous climb the Lauteraarhütte comes into view.

The views from the Lauteraar hut are amazing, especially on a day like this. I had planned my trip at the start of summer in the hope that the mountains and the glaciers would still be covered in snow. Because of the heatwave all snow had already melted, even at high elevations.

Time to leave. It's about four hours back to the Grimsel Hospiz and I had a bus to catch.

It was dry and warm and the wind blew up dust from the edge of the Grimselsee.

The Staumauer Spitallamm and the Grimsel Hospiz come into view. Time to relax. From here it's about half an hour to the Grimsel Hospiz and the bus stop.