The Confident Hiker

February 2023

On a sunny Saturday morning we embarked on a circular hike to the Stürmenchopf, a 769 meter high hill in the canton of Baselland. The hill is special because it bears remains of a Roman lookout. It is actually not the only place in the area with Roman remains; both the “Ruine Bännlifels” and the “Römische Villa” nearby are both relics from Roman times.

While perhaps not particularly impressive to look at from a distance, the Stürmenchopf does hold a certain fascination to many people, including me, my mother and Sam; maybe it is knowing that there is a specific old history tied to it, which at least to me always adds a lot of mystery to a place and wakes my curiosity or maybe it also just has a strong energy to it. In any case, we were excited to finally stand on top of it and explore the area around the hill.

Starting in the village of Büsserach, the hiking path first lead out of the village and over pastures past the farmhouse Zil before leading in between the two hills of Chienberg and Langi Flue steadily upwards. Early on already this hike promised many beautiful and vast views. The path, sprinkled with brown crunching leaves, wound its way through the forest around the Chienberg and the Hesliberg before ultimately ending up at a crossroads surrounded by green meadows.

Up here we took a moment, looked back and enjoyed the breathtaking panorama over the waves of rolling hills and the fresh energizing air of this clear and sunny February day.

It was one of those days at the end of winter, where you could almost feel the ambassadors of spring already gently preparing themselves to come. Like a kind promise, that it won’t be much longer until the first flowers will pop up, the trees will be carrying leaves and the grass will be getting greener.

We continued on towards the village of Grindel, now slowly descending over a small asphalt road. The scenery was equally beautiful, with the Stürmenchopf already in our sight.

Grindel is a calm small village nestled beautifully in a wide valley, surrounded by a rolling countryside. After a little visit to the church, we continued our walk up and out of the village around the Rüdliberg through the forest, before reaching the Stürmeweid, a little meadow hidden within the surrounding forests, still partially laying in the shadows, the grass covered with frost.

Having reached the foot of the Stürmechopf, we knew that the path and the climb to the top couldn’t be far away. But we did circle the hill about halfway on a 4×4 gravel road, before arriving at a little forest hut and the hiking sign guiding us upwards.

The climb to the top is relatively short; about 25 minutes and 146 meters. It mostly follows a narrow trail, first straight, before going in a zickzack line and then straight again for the last 20 meters all the way to the highest point.

I did get a bit uncomfortable during the climb; while most of the path was not too challenging, there were a couple of sections that I considered a bit more difficult and especially the imagination to have to descent back down on that narrow path stressed me out a bit. That being said, I would do it again. Never on my own, but with the right company it is doable and worth it once you are all the way up. The 360 view is really impressive and the energy up on the peak was truly special.

The needle trees allowed for a lot of sunlight to break through and illuminate everything in a golden light and creating shadow plays on the soft forest ground. The little platform on top had a fireplace and some blocks of wood to sit on and while we didn’t make a fire, we enjoyed some time, admiring the view and imagining the Romans up here, watching their surroundings. We wondered if the reason they chose this hill was the good visibility. We didn’t see any of the remains of the Roman lookout itself but envisioned how it must have been, to walk up this path in the middle of the night with barely to no light.

It seems that various artifacts were found on the Stürmenchopf: the scientist, engineer and politician Auguste Quiquerez discovered foundation remains, iron slag, bones and a shard of a terra sigillata during his excavations in 1861. Later the Swiss architect and archaeologist Alban Gerster during several excavations in the first half of the 20th century found remains of a Roman wall, a watchtower and a bronze coin.

Going back down was ultimately not as bad as I worried, mostly because of the many trees giving me a sense of security and the not all too steep slope of the hill. Nonetheless I was relieved to have made it back down safely and to be standing on a broader path again😊

Having arrived back down I was again fascinated, how different I can feel after an adventure like this; how it often feels like stepping into another realm, another world entirely – detached from the concept of time. I catch myself often not wanting to leave those places or longing to immediately go back there. But I know, that the feeling would already be a different one. Those emotions are never twice the same; though they can be equally as touching and extraordinary.

We continued our way through the forest down towards the village of Wahlen, where we for a moment contemplated taking the bus but ultimately decided to walk all the way back to Büsserach via a countryroad over the open fields, passing the farm of Bachmatt, before ending up at Zil again, where our circular hike soon came to it’s end.

As we sat in our apartment in the early evening, the sun set behind the Stürmenchopf, standing firmly and impressively in the distance.

Click here to see this hike on SchweizMobil

---

This hike truly felt like a journey away from time. And not necessarily back in time to the Roman age -where this special hill has its history tied to; but simply away from our time if that makes any sense.

When I was a kid, I – like probably a lot of kids – dreamt about being able to fly. And so, in the hopes of gaining enough momentum to lift up, I would often go to the top of a small hill or a slope in the backyard and run down as fast as I could. It never worked of course. But still, every run down felt like a little moment away from reality into the realm of endless possibilities; and so I would do it over and over again and with time, it actually felt as though I was actually flying. Something inside of me most likely did.

When we grow up, we so often seemingly lose the ability to fly; but it is hikes like these and places like this hill, that make me feel that maybe the means to fly are still within me and all I have to do is -sometimes literally and sometimes metaphorically – climb and then run down a hill again.

Büsserach to Stürmenchopf to Büsserach

Difficulty: T1 (Hiking Trail) With some slightly exposed parts during the climb up Stürmenchopf Length: 13.20 km Duration: 4:00 h Ascent/Descent: 601m/602m

Some more useful facts about this hike

• The trail up the Stürmenchopf is narrow and can after a period of or during rain become muddy and slippery. So it is good to take this climb on during dry weather.
• If you want to make a little detour and see some other “witnesses of history”: You can take a turn to your right after descending from the Stürmenchopf after about 66 meters and walk to the Ruine Neuenstein and from there head down direction Wahlen and pass the Römische Villa. It adds about 25 minutes to your hike and you will walk a slightly different path to Wahlen.