We set off at 7.15 a.m. - four of us squeeze into the car and drive towards Wilderswil. It's cold, we don't feel much of the reported 30 degrees this early in the morning.  

At 8.05 a.m. we board the historic Schynige Platte Railway and enjoy the hour-long ride up into the flower paradise. For the hike, we - that means my parents, my boyfriend and I - only have light luggage. Our backpacks contain nothing more than water, protein bars and a large Züpfe. There is a reason for this: the hike we are tackling will take over five hours and involve a total of 825 m of ascent.  

After a short coffee break on the sun terrace of the Schynige Platte alpine hotel, we set off. The hike begins leisurely. A bit of descent here, a bit of ascent there - and reasonably flat in between. The weather is beautiful and we marvel at the extensive floral world along the way. After a while, the landscape changes. It becomes stony - and also steeper, which we quickly feel in our legs.  

What distracts us from the exertions: again and again we see the Brienzersee, the Thunersee and a smaller lake, which after research turns out to be the Sägistalsee. The view of Interlaken, of the "Bödeli", also has something magical about it from so high up.

After about three hours we reach the Männdlenen mountain inn, time for a power broth and a sweet drink with lots of caffeine. We also celebrate the completed half of our hike with a slice of apricot cake - and lots of cream, before we set off again.  

The now permanently ascending path brings us to the foot of the Faulhorn. Because we have to catch the last gondola from the First to Grindelwald at 6 pm, we forego the detour up to the summit. We save it for next time. Suddenly we see an eagle in the stony abyss, only about 30 metres away. Wow! And the descent to Bachalpsee is also teeming with animals. We discover at least a dozen marmots, more birds and even a polecat family.  

Arriving at Bachalpsee, we cool our feet in the cold mountain lake before tackling the last section to the First gondola station.

For you on the way: Jasmin Binzegger