We had been wanting to go up to the Röti, the iconic peak that overlooks Solothurn, for a long time. This peak is a rock face that faces east, so you have a clear view of the Wangen region. There are several ways to get up to the Röti, the easiest being to take the cable car up to Weissenstein. This means that the climb up to the Röti is only a short walk with little elevation gain. However, it is worth climbing up from Thal, because you walk through a quiet, secluded area, especially on the Schofschlucht side.
We started out from the centre of Welschenrohr and followed a section of the road up to Balmberg. As we were there early, there was not much traffic, but I can imagine that it would have been much more unpleasant later in the day. After leaving the road, we followed the marked path through the Schofschlucht gorge, which we crossed and then came out near the Krüttliberg meadows.
From Balmberg, we followed the path marked in red on the Swiss Mobile map, which would suggest that it is a mountain path. On the ground, the path is marked in yellow, because it is not a difficult path. I imagine that the path was marked as a mountain path to prevent inexperienced people from going there in the middle of winter. After a short climb over the rocks, we reached the Röti, where there is a geodetic signal.
Instead of going down from the Röti, we climbed up to the small peak of the Balmfluechöpfli, which is a great viewpoint over Solothurn. For the rest of the descent, we took the Stigelos, a surprising path that winds its way through the rocks. We were disappointed to see that many people were using this path. This is in stark contrast to the first time we walked this path.
To get to the Solothurn train station, we walked through the Verena Hermitage gorge, which opens directly into the residential area of the city. The contrast is striking.
Route: Welschenrohr – Schofschlucht – Balmberg – Röti – Balmfluechöpfli – Nesselboden – Stigelos – Rüttenen – Einsiedelei – Solothurn
Distance: 17.2km
Elevation gain: 910m
Duration: 6h
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