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Just across the valley from Wengen is the tiny village of Isenfluh. We get there on a little bus from Lauterbrunnen.

It’s very pretty, and also very quiet.

For many years the only way to get here was via a steep mountain footpath. Then, in 1962 a road was built connecting the village with Lauterbrunnen. There’s also a small cable car which takes hikers up to the hamlet of Sulwald. It has capacity for 8 people, or 1 cow.

There’s very little else here. The village shop closed in 1969. In 1987 disaster struck. A landslide destroyed the road from Lauterbrunnen. The evidence can still be clearly seen today.

A temporary cable car was built providing access to the valley. A new road was commissioned, which eventually opened in 1992. It is said that the villagers held a three day long party to celebrate. However, despite the 10 million francs spent on the road, the population of Isenfluh remains alarmingly low. Historical census data paints a depressing picture.

• 1880 – population 176
• 1900 – 145
• 1920 – 118
• 1941 – 86
• 1972 – 42
• 1982 – 53
• 1995 – 70
• 2012 – 56
• 2024 – 69

In an attempt to make the village a more attractive proposition, the local council has made plots of building land available at attractive terms. There’s a big advert at the bus stop.

We can only wish the council the best of luck in their attempts to keep Isenfluh alive. We continue our walk down to Lauterbrunnen, passing the huge torrent known as the Sousbach.

Down in the valley, a hydro-electric plant is under construction to harness power from the Sousbach. A nice walk on a very warm day.

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It’s going to rain today, but before the first drops arrive we think we can squeeze in a walk. We start at Mürren across the valley. Here we are approaching the restaurant at Winteregg.

Cattle have started arriving in the summer pastures. The train drivers have to be careful to avoid them. Views back to Wengen in the background.

A long telephoto shot back towards Wengen. Our house is arrowed.

Eventually we reach Grütschalp. We stopped for lunch at the little self-service cafe and enjoyed the views of the high Alps.

We were lucky enough to get home before the rain arrived.

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We had some strong thunderstorms yesterday evening, and with more forecast for this afternoon we thought we’d get out early this morning. We catch the train up to Wengernalp. Lovely views as always, but it’s too early in the year for livestock, so everywhere is very quiet.

Swiss glaciers have been in the news lately. A village in the next valley was wiped out last week when the glacier above it collapsed. Fortunately geologists had warned of the possibility that this might happen, and all the people and their livestock were evacuated a few days before the disaster struck. Here’s our glacier.

Fortunately, the mighty Jungfrau glacier doesn’t pose a danger to Wengen.

Our walk takes us to a place called Mettlenalp, where we pause at a bench for a drink. Nice views across the valley to the village of Mürren.

The path continues to descend, and we come across the first livestock. It’s a family of goats.

Goats are friendly, inquisitive creatures, and they appear to enjoy the attention that they get from passing hikers. We walked on down the path, and a few seconds later we heard a great cacophony of bells behind us. The goats had leapt over the electric fence and decided to join us for our walk.

We were accompanied by Mr and Mrs Goat and their family for 10 minutes or so, and at one point we thought they’d lost interest in us. But then we heard the bells again as they came racing down the hill to join us. Press play!

Eventually we came across a Swiss couple who had a telephone number for the goats’ owner. The goats seemed happy to stay with them until they could be walked back up to the meadow where we’d found them.

A nice walk, and we were home in time for lunch. Uptown Lights at the Braunbaer this evening.