The Confident Hiker

September 2024

Since I was scheduled to have a surgery in early November that would keep me from doing sports and extended challenging hikes, I declared the month of October officially to the “month of hiking”. Every weekend another place, another hike, another adventure that I get to write about while recovering at home.

We started this project already in September – the official beginning of autumn. Since I truly found appreciation for circular hikes this year, I chose another looptrail from Passwang, leading us to the Vogelberg and Wasserfallen before circling back to the Passwang.

It was a relatively sunny afternoon when we got in our car and drove to the starting point Zingelen from where we eagerly started walking. To the Vogelberg it was supposed to be an approximately one hour hike and we started on a gently ascending trail almost right away. After we passed Ober Passwang and its well visited restaurant, we continued up to the “Passwag Antenna”, from where we had our first stunning view over the rolling landscape and in the far back the city of Basel and even the Schwarzwald.

After climbing a bit more upwards, passing a little group of contently grazing ponies, we already reached the peak of Vogelberg at a 1200 meters. The rocky formation offers some space to sit and admire the view, if you’re lucky all the way to the Alps – the Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau and even the Mont Blanc. Sadly on that day it was a bit to hazy in the distance to get a clear view, but breathtaking nonetheless. Shadows floating over the lush green fields, rolling hills and patches of thick forests under an “alive sky” as Sam and me always call it. I might have mentioned this before but my favorite skies are not the clear blue ones but the ones that move; that can change in a second from a dark grey to a light blue.

I dared to walk closer to the edge and let my gaze wander over the landscape in front of me. I don’t know what changed, if it was the circumstances of facing a big change in my life with that surgery ahead, but I suddenly felt like I can trust those cliffs and heights and myself to not be completely freightened.

Being a beautiful sunny Sunday, there were a lot of people on the trail with us. I am usually not such a fan of well visited trails but it was understandable under the circumstances that we all came out this day to enjoy the beautiful scenery and fresh air. Nevertheless if you have the chance, I recommend doing this trail on a weekday rather than a weekend.

We chose one of the many inviting little viewpoint spots along the ridge to have our lunch. Fresh vegetables, chips and granola bars with a view and a talk about what other hikes should still find their place in the upcoming weeks.

We continued our walk on the uneven adventurous trail, my favorite kind of trail. They keep you on your toes but are still an enjoyable stroll that allow for you to enjoy your surroundings. The autumn sunlight breaking though the treetops created this absolutely peaceful and light hearted atmosphere; the weather changed slowly and discretely and allowed us to take our sweaters off, enjoying the warmth of autumn on our skin, while we gently ascended towards Hinteri Wasserfallen. It was one of those trail sections that you kind of hope will never end.

We arrived at Hinteri Wasserfallen, which was even busier than the trail before. It is a very popular spot for families, since it has a big playground, many bbq spots as well as restaurants and a cable car that takes you to the village of Reigoldswil below. It is a nice area and offers the opportunity to make a break and have something to eat or drink; but we were happy to move on quickly and shake the majority of the other hikers, since we now continued on a lesser visited trail, the local route “Wasserfallen Looptrail” .

A sharp bend to the left and a short ascend via the Chleiweidli later we crossed the ridge of the Shattberg. We walked along the edge of the forest and soon after reached the Graubode, a meadow inhabited by curious grazing cows and a vast view over the rolling countryside of the Baselbiet. We left the green marked hikingroute behind us, following trail over the field into the woodland. A little forest hut and a bench with a view provided us with the perfect stop for an afternoon coffee.

The weather conditions slowly started to change again, grey clouds forming and a biting wind forcing us to put our layers of clothing back on and reminding us, that seasons are about to change and summer might soon already feel like a distant memory.

Once the coffee was finished and we got to witness two paragliders take advantage of the windy conditions and start their flight right in front of us, we headed back on the trail. We followed the muddy 4×4 road all the way to Ulmethöchi and marveled at the unique topography, imagining how it came to be like that. How those steep hilly pastures and gentle little hills reminiscent of ocean waves were shaped by nature over many many years. It didn’t take long for the weather to change again, gentle sunshine illuminating the landscape around us.

We continued our descent through the dense forest inhaling it’s signature earthy woody scent and admiring natures artworks; the colorful mushrooms growing on the tall tree trunks, the lush mossy robes of the branches and the smooth unique surface of the wood. To me it feels as if every forest has a very individual DNA; while the structure and trees species may be the same – in this area we have a lot of deciduous trees, mostly beech as well as the silver fir – I still always feel as if I could somehow tell them apart.

We exited the forest and reached the farm Bogenthal. Situated in a quiet idyllic small valley with a picturesque little pond, the farm cares for the area which is a nature reserve with their small animal breeds such as sheep and cows. They do have a little outdoor self-service shop with meat, teas, apple juice and dried fruit (probably depending on the season) and I highly recommend a visit.

After stocking up on some provisions, we continued on, now tackling the ascent back up to the Passwang. One look back down, we were grateful to have passed through this quaint place, hidden away from big roads and imagined it to be a peaceful place to live and work.

The narrow trail lead us up through the forest until we reached a clearing where we unfortunately took the wrong turn and ended up adding a very steep and exhausting climb to the altitude we have already conquered up to this point. However the view from up there was very breathtaking so we did’t harbor too much regret. If you still have the energy, I would even recommend this little detour!

Back down on the right path, which involved no more climbing luckily, we made our way back towards the parking space on a small asphalt road, the impressive triangular shaped rockwall at the Passwang appearing in our sight.

With the late afternoon sun still shining its light on the fields and softly curving hills around us, we drove down the winding road home towards Büsserach.

On this day, I became again aware of the privilege and meaning of the many lonely and lesser known trails I often choose for my hikes. The experience is a very different one when surrounded by so many other people. When I am alone, I sometimes get to forget time and space and just immerse myself in the day, the rhythm of my steps, my thoughts and every single impression along the trail. Similarly, the intimacy experienced when enjoying a hike on a quiet trail with Sam or friends and family members is something I cherish deeply. So I couldn’t help but notice a frustration at times when the trail got very crowded; I felt distracted and almost pulled away from my hiking experience as I usually know it.

But nature is for everyone who is appreciating it. And we do that in different ways and that is something I gradually learn to respect. And while I will always choose and cherish the aforementioned solitude on the trail, I also learned on this day that the feeling of sharing a beautiful day as well as the healing qualities of being in nature is something very connecting and forms an invisible bond between strangers and that I believe is something healing in itself.

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Passwang to Passwang

Difficulty: T1 (Hiking Trail) Length: 12.79 km Duration: 3:55 h Ascent/Descent: 639m/640m

Some more useful facts about this hike

• This is a hike that offers an abundance of restaurants and cafés along the way so there is no need to bring provisions with you (if you check the opening hours ahead of your trip). However there are the same amount of beautiful spots to enjoy your picnic! 🙂
• This hike has no challenging parts in terms of exposed trails and heights.