Bernese Oberland, Switzerland - Mt Falhourn through hike (August 2023)

The past year of whirlwind travel starting with a month in Alaska (with 3 month old Fynn) to New Zealand to Arizona to England to Oregon to Beaver Island to California to Switzerland (with 15 mo old Fynn) has shown me that beyond a doubt I am happiest when I'm hiking, biking, paddling or running outside in nature. The wilder the better. The more challenging the better. I have narrowed down what I love the absolute most about personal and family travel into outdoor wilderness adventures that challenge me/us. The journies are fun, transport with kids is a blast, the new experiences of all kinds are fun (if sometimes Type 2 fun). But the very, very best parts are us working on a mutual challenging goal. Outside. Together. In that vein, the absolute best part of our 2 weeks of hiking, playgrounding and outdoor exploring in Switzerland was this 48 hour hike up Mt Falhourn- to the highest mountain hut in Europe- and back down the other side. It was a through hike that definitely challenged us and might even meet the criteria for a misogi :)

At the start-Schynige Platte

This hike did not have the most auspicious beginnings. Despite much careful planning, I somehow didn’t realize the start was 3.5 hours from Luzern where we had lodging the night before. Luzern was unseasonably hot and while we did okay in our A/C-less Luzern apartment we were starting our journey to the trailhead hot, likely dehydrated, and definitely sleep deprived. Jet lag really messed with the kids this time and I only got 2.5 hours of sleep the night before (because of course they were all up at different times). I definitely had some anxiety that this hike might be QUITE challenging especially when I realized we'd be having a mid morning, rather than early morning, start. Eek!

Trail marker

But the Nelson Lilly’s aren’t quitters and we set out at 5:45 am to catch the 6:06 train to Winderswil where we rode the historic (read slow but scenic) cogwheel train to Schynige Platte.

I knew we had maybe bitten off more than we could chew going into the hike. 7 miles nearly all uphill (3000 foot elevation gain) ending at 9000 feet. Listed as "challenging". (Note that none of the trail descriptions I read mentioned rock scrambling but I suppose that should be expected for a "challenging" hike?) We

O loves rock jumping

are a hiking family but we don’t have much alpine experience and we definitely live at sea level. But we gamely set off. And wow am I glad we did. (I should confess here that as of this writing, Adam maintains it was too much for us. Z initially said she needed time to reflect on the hike to determine her final thoughts and now months later says it was great and she'd love that level of challenge again.) There was a point about 5 hours into the ultimately 7 hour hike where I thought it was too much. I could see the snack hut, could see Zooey up there waiting for us, and could also see the rest of us had about 30 minutes of scrambling to get to her. I honestly thought I might be shuttling little kids back and forth one at at time and asking a stranger to keep an eye on Z/O when I went back for F but somehow it worked out, mostly because our kids are incredibly awesome and rise to challenges like you wouldn’t believe. Specifically Ollie did that 30 minute scramble with energy and enthusiasm leaving me able to carry Fynn. 

This is the 'trail'

The hike itself was stunning, along ridge lines, with 360 degree views through much of it. The pics will speak for themselves. Unreal. We had many stops- for snacks, for restroom breaks, to rearrange kids in packs, to sing "the hills are alive". To wait for mules or cows to get off the trail. You know, the usual hiking antics. The spirits of the kids and I were pretty damn high the entire time. Ollie at times was frustrated that he couldn't walk as fast as Z and desperately wanted to be line leader, but I'd say that was the only stressor on the kid front. 

The hut became viewable -
1.5 hours away

The other hikers we passed notably did not have kids and notably were extremely impressed or dubious at what we were attempting. A few blatantly asked "Do you think you can make it?". Once we passed the snack hut and the mountain hut- our destination for the night- came into view I was confident we'd make it by night fall and pretty sure we'd make it for dinner (a pretty important goal I'd say). When we arrived at the Berghotel Falhourn we got a standing ovation from the hikers on the balcony, it felt nice and earned honestly. Fun for the kids.

On arrival at the Berghotel Falhourn

The Berghotel Falhourn, the highest mountain hut in Europe (9000 feet) and the third oldest, was incredible. This rustic hut (bathrooms down the hall, no running water, but they served a fantastic dinner and breakfast!) had the best of all worlds. The 360 degree views were incredible at sunrise, sunset or anytime really and sleeping in beds and being fed sure beats camping! The only access to this hut is by foot and by helicopter. Ollie loved learning that the helicopter took the garbage down the mountain a few days a week. There are shorter routes to the hut than ours but I loved the challenge and beauty we experienced and would recommend it to any hearty hikers including with kids. 

Sunset on Falhourn

We did it!

The Falhourn from below

Proud and ready for Day 2

Day 2 was a downright leisurely mostly downhill hike to First then a cable car to Grindelwald. It was lovely. We felt so good, so accomplished, and were riding a family hiking high. We took our time singing, looking at flowers, enjoying the cows and marmots. We stopped at Lake Bachalpsee for a really long time, playing, enjoying, one of us was practicing his sit tostands. I don’t really know how long we were hiking but it was darn pleasant (maybe 3 hours not including stops?). After the lake the trail became more populated and felt a bit less special but the views were still incredible. Adam, Z and I did the lake day hike 6 years ago in fog so had no idea what views we were missing at that time! It was super to do it on a clear day!

Moo!

There’s plenty of adventurous fun to be had at First (mountain trikes, scooters, zip line, etc etc), but we just had some delicious expensive GF fries, one of us had a celebratory Prosecco and we all got on the cable car exhausted and so happy.

I personally loved every minute of this hike. It was damn hard. I was short of breath A LOT. I had to use all my energy to propel myself up some high steps and rocks. Scrambling with a baby on your front is no joke. I did worry we may have to call the Swiss rescue team and become “those” Americans. But man I loved the challenge. I felt so good! 2.5 hours of sleep- how did I possibly feel so good?!? It was the views and the kids. And endorphins. I love hiking hard and long. I could do it for days. I think 2 days is the sweet spot for Adam and the kids right now and that’s fine. I got enough joy from that hike that I scaled back some other planned hikes in the trip. Really, that experience can’t be beat so why try?

It's hard to express how good it feels as a parent to push your kids and yourself to do something that you know in your gut is so good for them, but where you do have to question - have I pushed anyone too far? Am I ignoring the needs of one or some in an unhealthy way for the sake of others (or even myself)? And then after the hard deed is done, knowing, KNOWING in your heart, in your gut, in your spirit, that you got it right. Seeing the joy on these kids faces the morning of day 2, the pride, how strong they felt in body and mind, oh it was just magical and will be something I will never forget.

Here are some thoughts I jotted down right after the hike about each kid. I hope you've enjoyed my reflections and my pictures!

Beautiful Lake Bachalpsee

Drawing rock on rock

Zooey (10 yo). Just wow Zooey. We considered not starting this hike. We were so hot, tired and boy starting at 10:30 is a bit late in the day for a full day hike to begin. But Z never wavered. She wanted to do this hike. She rarely complained. She hiked so fast often way way ahead of us. I'd find her whittling or drawing with a rock on a rock- expressing her creativity as she waited for us to catch up. She kept up morale- I mean how could we complain when she wasn’t? She was carrying more than her weight- the families supplies we split between me, Adam and her. When Fynn got cranky (which wasn’t until the last hour), she entertained him. I briefly oh so briefly carried her pack for her hoping to give her an emotional boost during the last incredibly painful series of really steep switchbacks but she saw I was struggling with 2 packs and a kid and took it right back after 10 minutes, and cheerfully started a game of counting the switchbacks. My chest was bursting with pride.

Ollie (5 yo) was equally impressive. This kid says he hates hiking. But most of the time on the trail he is skipping, jumping, leaping from rock to rock, singing. I think what he hates is feeling slower than Zooey and feeling like he can’t keep up. I tried to be super clear with him that I LOVE carrying him in the pack - and I do! It’s such a fun way to spend time with your kid and experience the world through their eyes (we’d turn a corner to a new vista and he’s say “Wow! Wonderful!”). I told him that I know this hike is WAY too much for a 5 year old and I want him to tell me when he needs a pack break- that no one expected him to hike the whole thing and he is letting no one down by getting a ride (again I love carrying him!). He was in and out of the pack a few times but never in for longer than 30 minutes- he easily hiked 4 or 5 miles. And more importantly he hiked when it counted. Adam’s pack was way way too heavy even without Fynn so there were a couple steep very rough patches (including scrambling and some switchbacks where you needed a hand down) where I carried Fynnie and amazingly Ollie breezed up those challenging areas with gusto. I don’t know if he realized the pickle we might have been in if he didn’t do that? Regardless that was some incredible hiking.

Fynn (15 mo) was a joy. He loves both packs- mine and Adam’s. I love carrying him. He really enjoyed looking around, napping, nursing. Day 2 he became obsessed with cows. Obsessed. He’d get so excited when he saw them- he’d point and grunt and when we tried to keep walking past he’d scream and twist and point back to the cows. What a sweetie. It’s amazing what preferences and interests kids have so early in life.