Bietenhorn 2756m

13km
1300 m ascent
8 hrs
We left the campsite at just after 7am, and drove over to Lauterbrunnen, where we could park under the railway station, and get the cable car up to Grütschalp. After an initial steep start, the first hour was a steady climb up through the magical Marchegg forest. Very few people came this way, and soon we were in the stunning Soustal, the forest opened up, to reveal flower filled meadows and a gemse running through!
We carried on gently up The Valley, past sparkling waterfalls and small alp farms with incredible vistas of Schwalmere, the Schilthorn and Lobhörner. We made a lunchstop higher up The Valley where we could watch the marmots running around.
The path then became steeper, and toward the summit col, was very loose and sloppy rock. At the col, we headed up the top of the Bietenhorn, there were chains to help in the exposed part. At the top the mist was coming in and out, giving us only tantalizing glimpses of the close Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
The path down the other side of the col was also very loose, but within 30 mins we found ourselves at the Schilthornhütte. Perfect timing, I really needed some calories and a huge slab of cherry cake helped sort that out. We carried down on a steep loose track to just above Mürren where we took the funicular down, then the cute little light railway back over to the Grütschalp Lauterbrunnen cable car