Tour of the Jungfrau Region. Kev Reynolds

valley habitation is nearer, find a telephone and dial:117 (emergency number – police)1414 (for helicopter rescue, but note that this should only be used if absolutely essential)

       Should it be impossible to go for help, the international distress signal (given at the front of this book) is: six blasts on a whistle (and flashes with a torch after dark) spaced evenly for one minute, followed by a minute’s pause. Repeat for as long as necessary. The response is three signals per minute followed by a minute’s pause.

      Remember…

      There is no free rescue service in Switzerland, and no free hospital treatment either. The cost of an emergency could therefore be extremely expensive. Be adequately insured, and be cautious. (It is advisable to leave a copy of your travel itinerary and insurance details with a responsible person at home, and to carry with you photocopies of important documents – information pages of passport, insurance certificate, travel tickets etc – as well as emergency home contact address and telephone number.)

Wildlife and alpine flowers

      Walking the Tour of the Jungfrau Region promises to be a multi-dimensional experience that goes beyond simply wandering through an ever-changing mountain landscape. The Alps are populated with a varied wildlife and clothed with a richly diverse vegetation, observation of which can be a tremendous enrichment to your days in the mountains. What can be seen? Well, if you walk quietly and remain alert, there are plenty of possibilities…

      Chamois are shy members of the antelope family, and characteristic of the Alpine regions. With their short sickle-shaped horns they are immediately distinguished from the female ibex, but are every bit as agile and fleet-footed. In summer their coat is a dark reddish-brown with a notable black stripe along the spine, and a distinctive white lower jaw. They have an incomparable sense of smell and acute hearing, which makes them difficult to approach closely, but it’s quite possible that sightings will be made during the trek by observant walkers. When surprised, the chamois makes a sharp wheezing snort of a warning.

      A female ibex in silhouette outside the Gleckstein Hut

      It’s always exciting to watch ibex on their home territory. With a much stockier body than the chamois, and (in the male) larger, knobbly, scimitar-like horns, the ibex has adapted perfectly to its chosen hostile environment and can scale the steepest of cliffs with apparent ease. A visit to the Gleckstein Hut (Alternative Stage 2) will almost guarantee a sighting of these majestic animals, while a small herd roams the wild upper reaches of the Lauterbrunnen Valley above Obersteinberg.

      Of all Alpine mammals, the marmot is the most endearing and most often seen. These sociable furry rodents live in colonies among a range of habitats below the permanent snowline, sometimes even excavating their burrows alongside a busy path. Growing to the size of a large hare, and weighing as much as 10kg, the marmot spends 5 to 6 months each winter in hibernation, emerging in springtime looking rather lean and scruffy, but soon fattening up on the summer grasses. The famous shrill whistling sound – given as a warning of danger – is emitted from the back of the throat by an alert adult sitting up on its haunches. Seen in numerous places along the route, between First and Grosse Scheidegg the trek passes the entrance to what is locally known as ‘marmot valley’.

      The marmot is the most endearing of alpine animals

      During or just after rain, when water lies in puddles, you may notice a shiny black alpine salamander waddling slowly across the path. With bulging eyes, this 11 to 15cm-long amphibious creature has been found as high as 3000m; but I once saw more than a dozen on a very damp day along the path from Kleine Scheidegg to Männlichen.

      The dainty roe deer inhabits forested areas of the Alps, but – with exceptional hearing and a nervous disposition – it’s not easy to catch unawares. Red squirrels, on the other hand, can often be seen scampering among the trees, their almost black coat and tufted ears being recognisable features. These conifer woods are also home to the nutcracker whose alarm cry of kre kre kre makes it a rival to the jay as the policeman of the woods. With large head, strong beak, tawny speckled breast and swooping flight, the nutcracker is noted for breaking pine cones open in order to free the fatty seeds which it hides to feed on in winter.

      The alpine chough is one of the commonest birds likely to be met during a trek along the TJR. The unmistakable yellow beak and coral-red feet distinguish it from other members of the crow family, and you should be able to study them from close range as they hop around you and scavenge after picnic crumbs.

      Look out for the dipper among mountain streams. This short-tailed, dark-plumed bird, with a white apron of a breast, flits from rock to rock before plunging into the water in search of larvae. Emerging upstream, it then hurries to another rock for a quick shake of feathers and twitch of the tail before flitting to the next rock and diving for food once more. We sat beside the stream in the Soustal and were entertained for several minutes by the antics of this feathered diver.

      As for Alpine flora, the Bernese Oberland contains all the main zones and habitats of mountain flowers: lush valley meadowlands, marshy stream-side meadows, high acid bogs, alp pastures, deciduous woods and coniferous forests, low-level rocky outcrops, high rock faces (both wet and dry), soil-less screes, damp slopes below snowfields, moraine banks, and wind-scoured rock ridges. The TJR journeys among most of these habitats in a route whose altitude range varies from 600m to almost 3000m, so – depending on the timing of your trek – there’s a good chance of seeing a great variety of flowering plants along the way.

      Clockwise from top left: Arnica montana thrives among the limestone; the great yellow gentian (Gentiana lutea); the pure white St Bruno’s lily (Pradisea lpiliastrom); the very showy Willow gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea); Alpine anemone, or pasque flower (Pulsatilla alpina); one of several species of bellflower seen on the TJR

      To get an idea of what to expect, why not visit the famous Schynige Platte Alpine Garden before you set out on the first stage? Spread across the hillside just above the station at an altitude of around 2000m, the Alpengarten is said to have around 500 of Switzerland’s 620 flowering species represented there. Winding footpaths and flights of steps give access to all parts of the garden, and an hour or so spent there will indicate what is in flower and what may be found during your multi-day trek.