{"id":35977,"date":"2019-07-02T19:30:03","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T18:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/?p=35977"},"modified":"2019-07-04T17:51:51","modified_gmt":"2019-07-04T16:51:51","slug":"the-gelmerbahn-gelmersee-and-furka-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/the-gelmerbahn-gelmersee-and-furka-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gelmerbahn, Gelmersee and Furka Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Zagan the motorhome is back on the top of the world, sitting at 2436 metres above sea level on the Furka Pass (N46.57225, E8.41444<\/a>) in Switzerland, after a fantastic day taking in the Gelmerbahn and Gelmersee – more on those two later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"motorhome
At Furkapass looking back towards Grimselpass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, it was time to leave our private mountain road car park, under the Stein Glacier<\/a>. As had been forecast, the weather had turned and the heatwave had finally broken. In all honesty I didn’t really appreciate the coolness as I was pummelled with hail while packing away our chocks. The road around us now more like a river as we inched our way slowly off down the Steinalp Road and back onto the Susten Pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While at the Stein Glacier car park I renewed our motorhome insurance. We’re with Safeguard again, because they still offer 365 days travel in Europe. Sadly they don’t currently offer green cards for Morocco and Turkey. We have no plans to go there this year, but we’ll review at next renewal.
This is how happy I feel when I get the motorhome insurance sorted!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Almost back to the valley floor we passed a convoy of sports cars on their way up the Susten Pass, they all had their soft tops down and were adjusting GoPros to film the epic drive. With the hail we had just left, we suspect their footage may be quite entertaining. We arrived at Camping Aareschlucht (N46.70974, E8.21516<\/a>) which is in Innertkirchen where the Susten and Grimsel passes meet. The site is in our ACSI discount campsite book<\/a> and offers a reduced rate until 7th July, we would have stayed longer but it soon became apparent that the weather forecast had got it wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Camping
Camping Aareschlucht. We thoroughly recommend this place as the lady running it was so nice – nothing was too much trouble for her.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We were given leaflets of what there was to see and do in the local area, which we looked through in the shade of Zagan’s awning as the temperature began to creep up. As it peaked at just over 39\u00b0C we decided not to do anything, but try and stay cool, and formulated a plan to get back to high altitude as soon as possible – clearly the heatwave was still in full effect. By 7pm the air started to cool down to the low 30’s and we scraped our melted selves off the camping chairs and went for a short walk. It turned out the big attraction in the area, the Aare Gorge (Aareschlucht<\/em> in Swiss) was right by the campsite (no wonder they share the same name!). We know this because we spotted the walkways clinging to the side of the gorge as we cooled down on a bridge over the icy Aare river – the same river we saw folks swimming in when we were in Bern<\/a>, brrrr!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aareschlucht
The start of the Aareschlucht walk <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We’ve driven many, and walked several gorges during our travels. Looking at this one from the bridge it reminded us of a cross between El Caminito del Rey in Spain<\/a> and the Vintgar Gorge in Solvenia<\/a>. The gorge walk would have been much cooler than sitting in the shade of Zagan, however we would need to get back, which would involve either a hike through a forest or catching the train. Yes, those ingenious Swiss folks amazed us once again with a train line running through the rock next to the gorge – there is a station at each end. We found the East station by accident, wondering why there was a bridge over the river when all there was on the other side was a wall of rock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aareschlucht
Tucked away in the rocks on the other side of the river from the gorge is the best train station I have ever seen!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back at Zagan the evening finally started to cool down with big fat drops of rain. As it grew dark rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance, then flashes of lightning. By 11pm we were in the thick of a full-on thunderstorm, our eyes struggling to adjust to the bright flashes as the thunder made the earth rumble beneath us. Once it had passed, we were able to open the windows once more and let in the cool damp air which helped us sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can walk to everywhere from here!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This morning after a quick sightseeing jog around Innertkirchen (it was so nice to run on flat ground for a change), we geared up and headed for the hills. This time we took the Grimselpass out of the valley and headed for the Gelmerbahn – a funicular railway. As you might guess, we’ve also been on quite a few funicular railways during our travels – from the sedate electric cars between the aire and beach at Le Treport in France<\/a>, to the stunning Flamsbana in Norway<\/a>. However the Gelmerbahn has been on our bucket list since we last passed by in October 2012<\/a> just a few days after it had shut for the winter. Why? Well it was the steepest one in Europe back in 2012, with one section at a mind-boggling 106% (the Stoosbahn, also in Switzerland, which opened in 2017 has a 110% gradient). Unsure how steep 106% is? I’ll show you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gelmerbahn<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This time instead of being empty the car park was almost full. The place was in full-on summer mode, with many languages being spoken at the ticket kiosk. We had time for a wander over the Handeckfallbruke – the 70m high suspension bridge next to the train line, last time we had it to ourselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Handeckfallbruke<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Being here in season, when the funicular is running, does have its advantages. We tried, unsuccessfully, to walk up the steps next to it in 2012 – we were a little more out of shape then, but I bet we wouldn’t get very far these days either. We were in luck as there were two seats left on the next trip going up (it’s 32CHF return or 16CHF one way – half price for children and if your dog is over 30cm tall to its shoulder, it will need a child’s ticket!). With a packed lunch in a rucksack we bought a one-way ticket so we could enjoy the hike back down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gelmerbahn
Photos cannot do justice to how steep this thing is.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We managed to bag two front carriage seats and with a safety bar over our laps like on a roller-coaster, and our feet at odd angles on a board that would soon be the floor, we set off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gelmerbahn<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Soon the ticket office was a dot below us. Don’t get me wrong it doesn’t go fast – around 2 metres a second, but because it rises by 448m in just over a kilometre of track, you’re quickly looking at snow-capped mountains instead of the green gorge below. It wasn’t really an adrenaline ride, but it was still good fun and had us chuckling as it kept going steeper just when we thought it had maxed out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gelmerbahn<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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