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For a change, today you go down then up, rather than up and over another pass. In the morning you'll walk down into the awe-inspiring Lauterbrunnen valley, which with its sheer black walls up to 1000m high is the deepest, U-shaped, glacier-cut valley in the world. The H2H is a hike laden with superlatives, but Lauterbrunnen stands apart: it is quite simply the most beautiful valley in the Alps.

Once down, if you have the time, visit the world-famous Trümmelbach Falls, which bring down much of the glacier-melt from the Jungfrau (Trümmelbach means "debris stream"). The Trümmelbach has cut a spectacular, underground, vertical, slot canyon into the cliff, complete with multiple waterfalls (and, almost invariably, crowds of Japanese tourists).

In the afternoon you'll climb up to the southern balcony and the gorgeous car-free resort of Mürren, with yet more spectacular views of the Jungfrau across the valley, and also a little restaurant with some of the best fondue in Switzerland.... If you can, why not plan to spend an extra day here? Because one thing is certain: you won't want to leave.

Route
From Kleine Scheidegg walk due south for 750m then take the trail to your right towards Mettla. After about 1.5km turn south to descend into the valley of the Trümmelbach, where you pass the top of the falls (no entrance here, unfortunately!) then drop precipitously down to the Lauterbrunnen valley floor. Walk north along the road down the valley passing the entrance to the falls, then leave the road to cross the Weisse Lütschine River before turning north again into the village of Lauterbrunnen (795m). From there a signposted path takes you at first straight up the valley's western side, then, rising steadily, south to Mürren.

Alternatives: there are a couple of ways to shorten the day. You can take the cog-railway all or part of the way down from Kleine Scheidegg to Lauterbrunnen (saves up to 3.5h, 9.5km, +20, -1270m). You can also take a two-stage cog-railway part or all of the way up from Lauterbrunnen to Mürren (saves up to 3.5h, 6km, +890m, -70m). If you spent the previous night in Wengen rather than Kleine Scheidegg, then it makes more sense to walk directly down to Lauterbrunnen, and if you want to see Trümmelbach Falls, leave your packs at the train station rather than carrying them to and from the falls 3.5km each way.
Maps: ST-254T Interlaken, ST-264T Jungfrau.

Journal
The House to House blog... stage 32.

Photos
<A couple of representative photos from this stage will be added here after the hike>
In the meantime, click here to go to all of the H2H photos on Flickr.

GPS Track
<To be added during or after hike>

Room and Board Options
Lunch: have lunch in Lauterbrunnen after 3h (note, this could be much longer if you visit the Trümmelbach Falls first... in which case you may prefer to have a picnic).
Dinner and overnight: there are many restaurants and places to stay in Mürren (for a complete list, see here). The little restaurant where you can sit outside and eat great fondue is situated opposite Chalet Fontana....

Getting There and Back
Wengernalp: there is a railway station in Lauterbrunnen, from which you can take one of the frequent cog-railway trains up to Wengernalp (for schedule information for both regular and cog-railway trains, see the SBB).
Mürren: there is a cog-railway station here from which frequent trains will take you down to Lauterbrunnen.
ViaMichelin Road Map and Driving Directions: centered on Kleine Scheidegg, centered on Mürren.

Background Information and Links
Many and various...

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