Reaching the top, there was only one way to go, down. We had roughly 1000m ahead of us. Luckily, it wasn’t all the way down the valley but just to the mountain pass of Brünig that also has a train station. never the less, we had already hiked for quite some time and our legs were starting to get weary. Some people were starting to feel it in their knees. Walking downhill for so long is tougher than it may sound. having good walking poles and knowing how to use them is key.

The route itself became less scenic as we descended. There were much fewer vies of the big 4000m peaks that we were previously able to gaze at. At this stage, we could see both sides of the valley though. On one side was Meiringen a known ski area and also the place where Sherlock Holmes famously fell to his death at the Reichenbach fall. On the other side lay the lakes of Lungern and Sarnen. And even further into the distance, the lake Lucerne was also visible.

the path took us more towards the Meiringen side and more and into troughs and moraines. The path itself was sometimes overgrown with fresh grass and wasn’t in the best of shapes. It would have gotten dangerous without poles. We really had to watch our step. After we had passed some high alpine grass fields we slowly started to enter marshes and forest lands again. Having spent most of the day under the blazing sun, we were happy for some shade. It is always cooler up in the mountains, but we were hiking on a particularly sunny day and have been exposed to the sun the whole day. There are no trees, no shadows, this high up.

As we headed through the shadows in the cool forest, one could clearly feel the energy dropping further. We were on our last legs. It was only a couple of kilometers to go, but it was still going downhill. Knees were hurting and even with the poles, our pace was getting slower and slower. And os we checked the train schedule and figured we didn’t have to hurry anyhow. with our current pace, we would arrive 20 minutes before the train. So we took our time and just enjoyed the last couple of steps in the shade.

We finally arrived at the train station in the early evening. Exhausted and thirsty. Luckily the local restaurant was still open and we grabbed a cold beer and some well-deserved ice cream. It was only now that it dawned on us that apart from our lunchtime restaurant, there was no possibility to replenish supplies, not even water. We all had enough provisions to cover for the distance. Make sure you do too if you want to repeat the routes and bring enough water.