Hike Report – ‘Fünf Sterne Wanderweg’ (SM 320)

Short Description

The “Fünf Sterne Wanderweg ” (Five Star Hiking Route), supposedly so named for its quality, leads from Oey, (Bern, Switzerland) to Grimmialp. It largely follows the Fildrich stream on shady semi-forest trails.

Notes

• One way
• The last bus back to the starting point leaves relatively early in the evening (around six, but do check first)
• So either leave early enough and complete it in a timely fashion, sleep in Grimmialp, or walk back.

Impressions

Summer still didn’t really want to show itself or stick around and temperatures were unusually low for August, so we opted for a relatively low altitude trail that would usually be much too hot this time of year. Enter ‘Fünf Sterne Wanderweg’.

The beginning was nice. Easy, calming, peaceful. We especially liked a (man made) pond along the way and had some of our lunch there.

The last bit of the trail is very nice too, still following the stream and offering some nice views along the way.

Unfortunately the middle portion largely follows main roads. Though at least you’re not walking directly on asphalt, you get lots of traffic, bicyclists etc. to disturb the peace.

Okay, but what went wrong this time, you may ask. Nothing at all? Of course something: I forgot the sunscreen and had to fashion a Lawrence-of-Arabia style head garment from a spare T-Shirt. It was sexy and stylish, and unfortunately definitely not immortalized through photography.

As you can see above, Jenny opted for the boring old non-head-shirt look.

(We looked for Sunscreen in Oey, but the store only carried Nivea, which I would not usually use due to the less than healthy ingredients, and which is ridiculously expensive, especially for a one-time use. Plus, much of the trail is in the shade and the resulting radiation burn was minimal.)

Verdict: Eh. Beginning and end are nice. If the weather doesn’t allow for something more interesting, why not. But five stars is a bit generous. I give it 3/5. 4/5 with rice.

Would you like to share your own experiences with this hike? Do you have any questions? Something to add? Feel free to leave a comment below 🙂

Route Report / Gallery

This is one of my first hikes with my new camera, so obviously any good pictures are a matter of pure luck. Nonetheless, full size images without watermarks are available for licensing to interested parties. Check romans.pictures, or contact me for details.