There are many beautiful valleys in the Bernese Oberland. For example, the Kandertal, which leads from Spiez to Kandersteg. Then the Simmental, which is right next to it. Or the Gasterntal, which begins in Kandersteg and leads along the Kander up to 1,600 meters into the valley basin.

On Whit Monday, the Üschenetal was on the agenda. Instead of turning left into the Gasterntal, we turned right into this quiet valley. Quiet also because most tourists visit the Öschinensee or are carried up to the Sunnbüel by aerial cableway. Most people ignore the Üschenetal, which is only used for agriculture. But not us!

We climbed the narrow mountain road up to 1,600 meters, where we left the vehicle. A good hour and a half later we reached an alpine hut at an altitude of 2,000 meters. There we met Ruedi and Maja, who live in Kandersteg. We learned a lot of interesting facts about flora and fauna from them. Among other things, the fact that bearded vultures and chamois are at home in the Üschenetal. We got to see neither the one nor the other; but we’ll be around for a while…

PS. If you want to know more about bearded vultures, read here.