ViaBerna

Below the village of Gadmen, you first cross the roaring Gadmer stream. Through the shady Teerliwald forest and across the wide alluvial plain of Eynollen, you reach a spacious picnic area. Now you ascend on the old mule track through the Hindertritt forest. At the water catchment of Steiwasser, the first level of the valley is reached. Along the ascent to Wyssenmad, the traces of winter avalanches are visible well into the summer. Piles of snow, stones and tree remains lie around everywhere. The next alp, Wyssemad and its huts, is somewhat more sheltered between the large boulders. The mule track, artfully covered with rock slabs, then climbs on over the Gadmer stream underneath the rocks of the Wyssemadhubel.

Suddenly a different landscape appears: bare rocky mounds alternate with swampy, boggy patches. Rivulets splash between the stones and small pools remain in the dips between the rocks. Blueberries, cranberries and other typical moorland plants dominate the scenery along with stone pines, willows, rowan bushes and alders. You leave this natural paradise at the Steingletscher hotel which is reached via a bridge over the roaring glacial Steiwasser stream.

The landscape now changes to more barren and stony. The mule track, which is visible again, leads diagonally upwards through the Stöölweng. Here you can see the Steisee lake and the glaciated Gwächtenhorn in the background. The tongue of the glacier, which reached as far as the lake basin in the 1970s, has retreated quite far and can no longer be seen from the path. The trail zigzags up a final slope crossing the pass road. On a clear day, the peaks of the Gwächtenhorn and Giglistock are reflected in the small lake below the pass. Now there are only a few steps left and the destination of the Via Berna is in sight: the Susten pass at an altitude of 2259 metres on the border with the canton of Uri.