604 posts
>We were planning a hike from First to Lake Bachalpsee early June<
Very high probability that the walk will not yet be open due to snow. It usually doesn’t open until mid-June. The gonodola up to First is running so you can at least go up and have a look around. The Bort children’s playground is at a gondola stop about half the way up to First. You can’t miss it, it is well marked and you simply get off there.
The routing you are seeing at sbb.ch is technically correct (of course) although it sounds much more complicated than it really is. Here is ,my favorite way:
1. Train from Lauterbrunnen to Grindelwald.
2. Walk through Grindelwald, admiring the views and the nice shops (including a very good bakery) along the way. This will take about 10 minutes if you don’t stop. But the bakery is compelling.
3. At the end of town you will arrive at the gondola. It is on your left.
4. Get on gondola, go to Bort or all the way up to First
23 posts
Thank you so much for the response. How can I find out whether the walk is open? One of the main reasons we were planning to go to First was this hike..
604 posts
Contact the Grindelwald tourist office and ask them. [email protected]
However, the walk can close at any time with a late snowstorm. When that happens it usually re-opens within a couple of days.
23 posts
Thanks again. I have sent mail to the Grindelwald Tourism office and will share their response with forum
23 posts
Grindelwald Tourism confirmed that the path from First to Lake Bachalpsee is open though it is still partially covered with snow and they recommend good hiking shoes to take the path
604 posts
Thank you for letting us know the good news! Hopefully the weather stays nice and the snow will melt a little every day.
23 posts
Is there actually a good site to check for weather? I check Weather.com / Accuweather.com and they have conflicting weather forecasts.
604 posts
the most reliable forecast I’ve found is at http://meteo.search.ch/. Type in the name of the nearest city to get a more local forecast. Lauterbrunnen for Wengen and Mürren.
It is only 5 day forecast but anything longer than that is fiction anyway. And the 5 day forecast is about 4 days of guessing! But it tends to be the best predictor. Note that when rain is in the forecast it sometimes means off and on showers, sometimes sunny all day with a late afternoon shower. Particularly in the mountains.
15471 posts
“The 5 day forecast is about 4 days of guessing“: that’s very well put 🙂 One has to be flexible. The best approach is to go on vacation with a wish list and only choose what to do the evening before. Of course the list should contain activities for various weather types.
I like the weather maps of SRF meteo, which are shown on TV after the evening news. We have them on our site here too.
23 posts
Thanks all for your help. The trail is indeed open but the lake itself is still frozen. We had also intended to do a hike from Mannlechin to Keine Scheidigg but could not do this hike due to snow on the trail.
72625 posts
We just returned from the area and on June 2 the longer hike from First to Schyngge Platte (sp?) was NOT open. But Schnygge Platte itself was open and beautiful to hike around. Many hikes in the area were still closed, but the information desk in Lauterbrunnen was excellent in recommending alternate hikes. Our favorite was from Gimmewald to Rotschutte (sp?).
15471 posts
Thanks for letting us know puneetgup and curlygrrrl! It would be great if you could post a trip report about your adventures in the Swiss Alps. There are still a few days left to win a hotel gift card.