Along the Undra Suone

A day in the sun-kissed Upper Valais 😏 (As if we weren't all sun-kissed at the moment 🥵). My daily program consisted of hiking from the Ausserberg starting point to two bisses, the Niwärch and Gorperi bisses in the Baltschiedertal. As is well known, Ausserberg is a little higher than Visp on the Lötschberg-Südrampe hiking classic, on the more than 100-year-old Lötschberg-Bahnberg route (hiking trail to Brig). Of course, the easiest way to get to the higher village would be by BLS train station Ausserberg, but since narrow roads on the mountain, hairpin bends and oncoming postbuses don't bother me, I traveled by car. There are a few parking spaces, but always only a few fields, then some again somewhere else. With this hillside location there is no large space (navigation even showed a parking lot, but the 20 spaces were all reserved spaces😂 - shit navigation system) Right at the beginning you get to know village life, when you arrive sweaty from a lower residential area at the much higher bakery/consumer 🥵 to buy the croissant for breakfast 😋. With these narrow distances between the houses, I often didn't know whether the path or the stairs only led to a front door or around the corner even further 😅 - uff I did it and always said hello when I wasn't so sure if I did just passed private property. After the settlement, you initially walk along the bisse, but soon you climb steeply up through the forest until you reach a tunnel. The main water of the Niwärch bisse has been reaching Ausserberg through a tunnel for a long time. Those who are exposed to the hike along the historic Niwärch bisse around the mountain can also hike up through the tunnel - don't forget your flashlight. Of course I went up the mountain to the rocks. At the hiking turning point at the top of the Baltschiederbach "Ze Steinu" 1295m, the Niwärch bisse is caught and I was able to enjoy an Eringer fight. You then walk back down on a parallel path until you cross the stream and the Gorperi bisse begins (further bisses are found at the Baltschiederbach). This bisse not only carries residual water but full pot and sometimes with a proud gradient. The bisse on this side of the valley also has many rock breakthroughs and another passage for the brave. When you leave the Gorperi near Eggen you are of course on the wrong side of the stream, much too high and above all on the wrong mountain. So long hiking trail down, crossing the stream and up the other slope to Ausserberg again - that in the blazing sun at 30 degrees 🥵 where otherwise only wine in the early stages feels comfortable 😋. But I finally got to cool down when I watched one of these water cannons in the fields. I want to hold on - the street where I was standing was dry before 🤣. So I see what a huge jet of water comes out of this cannon where every few seconds the direction is changed with a jerk. I would NEVER have thought that all the water could reach me... Summary of the day. These water cannons have a huge throughput of the currently transparent gold and rain very, very far 🙄

An indescribable day Thank you so much, dear Mädi, for this unforgettable day, for your dedication as a bisse guide and top chef. Without your safe guidance, we wouldn't have been able to tackle all of these exposed, narrow, overhanging, and free-hanging paths. Everyone must be free of vertigo and not afraid of heights when attempting this bisse hike. All the narrow paths are incredibly impressive; a moment of inattention is enough for you to fall several meters into the depths. For me, this hike is absolutely top-notch, and I will never forget it. Thank you so much for the ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ food and the many cozy hours. I haven't laughed so much in a long time😂

Today I hiked along the Suonen between Ausserberg and Eggerberg. Suonen are artificial watercourses that have existed in the mountain landscapes of the Valais since the 14th century. Today they are more or less just a tourist attraction. Overall, the route is easy to hike, but in some places you definitely have to be free from vertigo. In some places you walk over boards along the Suonen and sometimes there aren't even ropes to hold on to. Pure adventure! The craziest part was at the Suone Gorperi. Here a wooden Suone about 20m long ran over the abyss. You can google it, because unfortunately I couldn't capture it very well in the photo (97, 98). The beam I was balancing on was about 15cm wide, next to it with a gap was the wooden Suone and a rope to hold on to. The rope could have been a bit tighter for my taste. So it was shaking around quite a bit and I had to bravely swing from bracket to bracket. There is a tunnel next to it, but that was too easy for me 😅 I survived and the tour was a lot of fun!

The sunny slopes have always been considered a very dry region. It was and is all the more important that the meadows and fields could be irrigated. The residents therefore spared neither work nor fear to guide the "Suonen" around rocks and through avalanche tracks or forests. Almost overhanging passages were provided with wooden channels. The channels were walled up with "Tretschborden" through the ditches and forests, which could also be used as a path.

A very beautiful hike along two irrigation channels, which I highly recommend. You should be sure-footed and have a head for heights. I only encountered other hikers once through untouched nature.