On foot · Oberalp Pass, Grisons · August 2024
From the Oberalp Pass to the source of the Rhine
From the Oberalp Pass, at 2,046 metres, a "little stroll" to see the source of the Rhine. Not a little stroll at all, in the end: it has to be earned. But at the end, the Rhine flowing out of its lake, then a loop past several small lakes and pastures full of cows.
- Date
- August 2024
- Start
- Oberalp Pass, 2,046 m
The route · indicative
To the source
The Rhine flowing out of the lake
At the pass, the red lighthouse, emblem of the Oberalp: we'll go and check whether there's the same one at the river mouth. The hairpins of the pass, a bikers' paradise, then the climb, not "for everyone": we'll have to read route profiles better before finding ourselves halfway up a slope looking at the top still to reach.
But that's why we hike, sometimes with effort: you arrive in a spot like this and it's simply wow. The Rhine flows out of this lake. Impressive.
Lakes and pastures
The loop past the small lakes
Since our hikes have to be loops, we leave the crowd and treat ourselves to several small lakes; when the reflections are there, we're sold. No field of edelweiss, but lovely cows, a short break at the hut and a bit of Romansh: we've entered the Grisons.
The quintessential Swiss picture, a little Highland calf enjoying the good life on its pasture, a group of cows who became our friends. A lake in the distance from the hut, a last reflection on the way down, and back at the pass at the same time as the Glacier Express.
