Gorneren - Bundstock
I did this hike on the 5th of October, 2026. I was working at Naturfreundehaus Gorneren for a month and on my day off, I decided to hike up to the top of Bundstock. The week before, I had done a longer hike covering most of the valley while hiking up to Chistihubel and Gamchigletscher.
Full route: Swisstopo
I started my hike right from Naturfreundehaus Gorneren and passed by the small Lopriskapelle, which I had visited the day before. Walking along the road, I could see the top of Bundstock, which was the goal of the day. I had seen the colors of the vegetation change over the last week and was happy to now walk through it.
Although slightly clouded, it was a very beautiful morning and sunrise as I started the ascent. For the first half hour, I walked through forest, but soon made it above the tree line. I passed by a couple of signs on the way up to Bundalp, which I had also crossed while hiking the Via Alpina (Route 1).
After passing by Bundalp, the hiking trail turns off and follows a ridge up towards Bundstock. At first it was cloudy but with clear views towards Blüemlisalphütte, but after about half an hour, clouds rolled in over the area and for the next hour, I couldn’t see the mountains or really anything around me.
It did though clear up as I came closer to the top, and I had great views down towards Kiental, Niesen and Thunersee in the far back. The trail up over the ridge was steep but luckily without lose material, and despite it having rained the day before, it wasn’t muddy.
Just before leaving the ridge, I took a snack break so I would have energy for the last part up. Here, the trail got more flat and for two longer stretches crossed through rock fields, which required a bit more focus but wasn’t difficult. After almost three hours, I could see the top of Bundstock only 15 min away according to the sign on the top.
While walking the last part up to Bundstock, the clouds still kept rolling in, but it just made everything look even more dramatic. The top of Bundstock is basically a big plateau, and it was nice to have a lot of space to walk around and enjoy the views in all directions. Bundstock is also a great place to find marine fossils, and I used about an hour searching the grounds.
From Bundstock, you have great views down towards Oeschinensee and Kandersteg. It was just a month ago that I hiked the Via Alpina stage from Kandersteg to Griesalp, following the trail down below Bundstock, not knowing I would be back so soon. The views from Bundstock towards the Blüemlisalpgletscher was great and much better than what I could see from the Hohtürli pass the month before.
After my fossil search and lunch, I started the descent the same way as I had come up. The first part down was through relatively lose material, but it was luckily not too steep. While walking down, I kept on hearing small rocks rolling down over the mountain side and after looking closer, I could see several Ibexes enjoying the afternoon sun.
Back onto the ridge, I had even better views over the whole area than I had had earlier in the day. I could now also see Sefinafurgga, the pass I had hiked over on the Via Alpina stage from Griesalp to Rotstockhütte. Although it was almost 2 hours up and down on the same trail, it felt very different due to the changing weather conditions.
Just before reaching Bundalp again, I followed the trail leading to Obere Dünde, which is a really beautiful little area. I had been here the week before on my hike to Chistihubel and Gamchigletscher, but the colors had changed a lot in the meantime. From here, I followed the road down towards Griesalp, which also leads you past a small waterfall at the Dündebach.
The hiking trail followed Dündebach for a while and then alternated between gravel roads and shorter stretches through forest on the last way back towards Griesalp. From here, it is possible to take the bus back to Kiental and Reichenbach. Passing Griesalp, I followed the road 10 minutes and was then back at Naturfreundehaus Gorneren, where I had started in the morning and was working for the month of October.
