The Confident Hiker

June 2024

On a hot Saturday in June we finally got to do a hike that I’ve been planning since Sam and me moved to the area: a trail from Passwang all the way to the mountain of Hohe Winde and from there back home to Büsserach. I am pretty sure, that I have visited the Hohe Winde as a kid but I had (and still have) no memory of it. Not even after now standing on its peak. So while a little girl might already once stood up there and admired the vastness around her, a grown woman did the same on this Saturday in June.

Together with Joris we set out in the late morning and took the bus that stopped right at the trailhead at the edge of the Naturpark Thal. The Passwang is not technically a pass but a chain of mountains with its highest mountain with 1’204 meters being the Vogelberg.

First following an asphalt road, we soon branched off onto a gravel road passing over pastures and being offered a first view all the way to the 1200 meter high Hohe Winde as well as down into the valley of the Naturpark Thal. There were no obstructions in our view, just rolling hills and a blue sky, that seemed to have a light veil of haze hung over it. There is something about those trails that just seem to go on for forever, endlessly winding into the distance; through forests, over fields which makes you think that you too could just go on forever.

At the farm of Hinter Beibelberg we made a quick stop and encountered a single proud goat watching over the farm land. After a short staredown and a little photoshoot we continued on, gently descending towards the Sunnenberg (which translates to Sunmountain).

It was clear that we had a rather good spring and summer so far when it came to the weather – the landscape was lush and the trees and fields looked vital and well nourished. Sometimes it brings a pain to my heart to see nature not doing well while on a hike and vice versa it brings such a relief to see it flourishing.

The next section lead us through the forest on a not to steep slope of the Sunnenberg. And as always the serene atmosphere under the trees had an instant relaxing effect on me; the density of the trees, the scent that I seem to never get enough of, the muffled gentle sounds our steps made and the multitude of birdsong carried from all sides.

That the forest can have healing qualities, we know well by now, not least thanks to the practice of “Shinrin Yoku” or forest bathing in english. It is technically something that has been available to us (or at least many of us) for such a long time already but it took us moving further away from it to start to feel a desire to reconnect. Professor Yoshifumi Miyazaki is quoted in his book “Shinrin-Yoku – The japanese way of forest bathing for health and relaxation” as saying:

Imagine taking a walk in the forest right now. You feel the earth and leaves under your feet, the snap of twigs. You listen to the birdsong and look up through the breaks in the canopy to the sky above, noticing how the light filters through to a point just further along the path.

You breathe in, deeply.

You smell the distinct forest aromas: moss, earth and wood.

And this perfectly describes it; it is simple and and yet so powerful in its effect on us. This feeling of ease and recovery whenever we go out and immerse ourselves in those places of sanctuary.

Upon emerging out of the forest, we ended up on a gravel road and soon started our ascent to the restaurant at Vorder Erzberg. Despite only gaining about 160 meters in altitude, it was a tiring ascent in the hot summer sun and it was a welcome spot to reach and have a cold drink before tackling the final ascent up to the Hohe Winde.

I always like the restaurants like this on the countryside. They are usually very familial and friendly and often you get to meet fellow hikers (or bikers) that enjoy their cold drink just as much as you do. While we sat down we talked about fear of heights and how in a way we all know it – just to different extents and in different scenarios. Sam and Joris revealed that they saw me walk some paths that they felt a couple of years ago wouldn’t have been possible or at least not with such ease. And it made me wonder if sometimes I just need to put less focus on that part of my experience – the fear of it all; and something maybe even already the anticipation of fear. It is a rather big question and not an easy feat but it seems like a worthy thing for me to contemplate.

I was eager to continue on, not only in view of the fact that I knew we still had a long ways to go if we wanted to make it all the way back to Büsserach on foot but also because I anticipated to stand on the Hohe Winde for a long time and my curiosity grew with every minute.

So we strapped on our backpacks and marched on, immediately climbing again. Our path lead us over a pasture with grazing cows and two hikers who seemed to just come back down from the mountain, warned us about the “pfloom pfloom” as they called it – a very muddy field.

The last meters to the top of the Hohe Winde were a very easy climb, passing by beautiful old trees and offering a view over to the Scheltenpass to our left. And finally, at 1’205 meters, we reached the top of the mountain, our highest point of todays hike and despite the haze in the sky, we could enjoy an impressive 360 panorama reaching from the Vosges and the Black Forest to the Valais Alps. With clear visibility one would have a view to the north side to the Chasseral, the Ballon d’Alsace as well as the city Basel amongst other cities and hills; to the south the whole Alpine panorama could be admired. Sadly our view was not that clear today but we enjoyed the mythical atmosphere, the feeling of being wrapped in some sort of fog and making out details of the nature in the distance. The rolling hills and mountains that seemed to fade away in the distance, the various shades of green and blue and grey and the many yellow flowers on the meadow around us.

It looked as I imagined it would up here; sometimes when one is for too long anticipating to visit a place in their head it can be disappointing but I’ve learned that with nature this is never really the case – at least not for me. If anything, it usually exceeds my imagination by a lot.

After our lunch break with a view – after all those are the very best restaurants out in nature – we started our descent over the meadow direction Erschwil. The descent was comfortable and easy and yet it lead us through some pathless wild territory. We wound our way down through the forest at Längegg and reached a hilly meadow, an ocean of lush green grass and majestic trees – whether tall and big or small and unusually shaped. Trees are the true nature made memorials of time.

We were impressed by the untouched wilderness; to me the area was always synonym with being neatly cultivated and largely inhabited so one does not really have a chance to forget about humans while walking. And while we did encounter fenced off pastures, well maintained paths and other “signs of humanity”, this hike still proved my previous assumption very wrong.

At Rotmättli we decided to take another break and make ourselves some coffee. While watching over the undulating landscape we enjoyed the simplicity of a coffee brewed on a camping stove and a box of cookies while talking about our favorite movies and TV series.

Shortly after continuing our walk, we reached the “Ricola Garden Trogberg”, one of the five Ricola herb show gardens in Switzerland. They are meant to educate about the herbs used in the traditional sweets and are always accessible; a visit is especially nice from May to September, when the herbs are in bloom. In enjoyed the abundance of mint with its strong refreshing scent.

At the slope of the Buechiberg we enjoyed a view over wooded rocks and pastures before making our way across the cantonal border into the Jura for a short while. We now followed the “Chemin du Val Terbi”, a loop trail from the village of Montsevelier.

Walking along the edge of the forest we soon reached the flower-strewn meadow of La Chèvre, from where we could see far into the Val Terbi – a picturesque view over the little villages embedded in the rolling hills. We followed the trail along the ridge though the forest, without any exposedness. It is said, that those rocky trails were already utilized in ancient times to cross the Jura Chain and farmers that worked on the fields in the 1980’s found pottery shards that imply a settlement as early as the 7th century. I envisioned this to be a peaceful place to live back in time, where at night you would only see the stars in the sky, hear the animals at the edge of the forest and lay to rest after a long days work on the fields.

After navigating some slightly exposed parts of the trail while simultaneously enjoying the adventurous march through the rocks and trees, we reached the “Welschgätterli” or “petite porte des Welches”; this pass crossing between the cantons of Solothurn and Jura forms the language border. We crossed back over into the canton of Solothurn.

The meadow of Gringel was a familiar place for Sam and me; another serene meadow embedded in forests and a home to countless flowers in bloom, I have come here many times since we moved to Büsserach – sometimes it is in passing while on a hike and sometimes it is just to take refuge, enjoy the silence and the peace.

Via the farms of Oberbergli and Niederbergli we made it to the forest around the Chienberg, another familiar and beloved location of mine. I always enjoy the walk back to Büsserach from up here. It is an easy and pleasant stroll back to the village with a last view back to the hills, mountains and fields we came from and the castle of Neu Thierstein enthroned on the rocks in the foreground.

We ended our happy and lively day with a nourishing homemade dinner and the football match on TV, feeling our heavy legs and slightly sore feet from a long day of walking and our hearts full with new impressions of places we were eager to visit again.

I have touched upon the simplicity I find while hiking more than once already. I find it in a self brewed cup of coffee along the way, in barely visible paths and trails I cross or in the easy meals I treat myself to along the way and even in the true authentic company I keep – be it my own or that of fellow adventurers. Simplicity shows itself the clearest to me when I am immersing myself in nature. And my own roaming thoughts and the conversations I have with my companions are as much a true reflection of that as the state of my mind and my body after a full day of walking and exploring.

Sometimes we don’t need to settle for less – we actually might want to settle for less in order to get more. I know it sounds cliché and maybe this is breaking it down in a too simple way; all too often life is more complicated nowadays and simplicity – incorrectly so – seems almost like “lacking something”. But that is exactly why sometimes it is good and freeing to imagine that we could settle for a life on a meadow in the middle of the forest and feel the healing beauty of the elementary.

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Details

Passwang to Büsserach

Difficulty: T1 (Hiking Trail) Length: 19.77 km Duration: 5:47 h Ascent/Descent: 695m/1’207m

Some more useful facts about this hike

• This hike poses no real challenge in terms of height. The part to the Welschgätterli can be a bit more difficult for some with some slightly exposed parts; but it is doable in my opinion and it doesn’t last long!
• The restaurant at Vorder Erzberg is the only you will encounter on your hike so I recommend a pitstop there. Along the way there are many beautiful spots to take rest if you take some food with you.