The crux of November
Guys, what are you doing in November? You’re not in the mountains, that’s where I looked…
Well, if you like to go to the mountains in between, you will experience a true miracle towards the end of October and especially in November. 90 percent of the mountain railways are on a break for overhauls, Postbuses are no longer running and if any are still running, they are empty.
When we decided to take a trip to the Axalp above Brienz last week, we were met with strange looks. In the early morning, dark rain clouds still had the upper hand. Nevertheless, we did not let ourselves be dissuaded from our plan. Fortunately, the post bus from Brienz to the Axalp runs all year round. In the off-season – i.e. in November – but only three times a day – “even that is still too much,” said the Postbus driver. We were the only hikers who waited for the post bus at 10:00 a.m. at Brienz train station. The trip to the Axalp is breathtaking in the truest sense of the word. The road is so narrow that it is rare for two vehicles to cross. We (luckily the chauffeur) had to drive several meters backwards with the post bus a few times due to oncoming cars.
Originally, our plan was to hike first to the Hinterburgseeli and from there on to Meiringen. Since we still didn’t trust the dark clouds 100 percent, we decided on the short version Axalp-Hinterburgseeli-Axalp.
When we arrived at the Axalp, the bus driver asked us if we had the timetable under control. We had – we hoped to catch the lunch course back to Brienz. Otherwise, we would have had to wait four hours for the next and last post bus.
I know the path from the Axalp to the Hinterburgseeli pretty well. We spent our first week in high school building hiking trails here – “team building” is what you would probably call it today. The fun thing about this trail is the many creative wood carvings that line the trail. New ones are added every summer. In between, you can also catch one or two phenomenal views of the deep blue Lake Brienz.
The lake itself is a nature reserve and is encircled between steep mountain flanks. When we reached the lake, the thick clouds gradually lifted. However, the light was so bright due to reflections in the remaining fog (the foehn was to blame) that we really had trouble getting nice photos.
On the way back, we were able to marvel at the autumnal color spectacle in all its glory. Thanks to the sun, the leaves shone in intense shades of red and yellow. Beautiful. We met almost no one on the way. Only the rays of sunshine that lured one or the other migratory bird out of hibernation.
Back on the shores of Lake Brienz, thanks to the warm breeze, spring fever almost arose. It’s hard to believe that this is really November and no one wants to go to the mountains anymore…
Practical information:
The map shows our route; The outward and return journeys are identical (due to time constraints). The route is about 5.5 km long, includes an ascent of 300 meters and a descent of about 300 meters in altitude. It took us just under 2 hours (including a 30-minute stop at the Hinterburgseeli). The starting point is the Axalp Sportbahnen bus stop (bus line Brienz Bahnhof – Axalp) – Postbus operates all year round, the seasonal timetable can be found here: Postauto.ch
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