The Emmental and the Entlebuch form a series of valleys that are thought to form just one valley. In fact, from the hydrological perspective, things are a little more complex. The two valleys meet at Escholzmatt, and to the west flows the Äschlisbach, which flows into the Ilfis and then into the Grosse Emme (and thus into the Aare). To the east flows the Wiss Emme, which after flowing into the Waldemme, forms the Kleine Emme (which flows into the Reuss).
There is an interesting etymological point to be made here. The Äschlisbach is named after Escholzmatt, which in the local dialect is pronounced Äschlismatt. It is also interesting to note that the two names (topographical and in the local dialect) do not have the same meaning. Escholzmatt could be translated as “fringe wood meadow,” whereas in the local dialect, the name means “ash meadow”.
I had been to the area several times, both to Marbach and Sörenberg, and had studied the topographical map in advance. I had noticed that a path followed the Waldemme and allowed you to cross the Lammschlucht gorge. I thought that there would be something spectacular in the gorge. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed, because the path remains on the heights above the gorge. You can therefore only catch glimpses of the river here and there.
That day, we had taken the bus from Sörenberg to Flühli to get to Schüpfheim on foot. I had thought that the first part would not be very interesting, especially as there were some road works that would have required us to follow a stretch of road.
From Flühli, we followed the right bank of the Waldemme for a short distance before crossing to the other side, where the road also crosses. We therefore followed the left bank, which allows you to see a little of the Hilfere region. After a short stretch of path, we reached the point where the road crosses the Waldemme again. We followed the road for a short distance before descending and crossing the river just at the entrance to the gorge. There, we crossed to the other side and followed the path.
After the gorges (which are relatively short), we followed the marked trail to Chlusstalde, where there is a beautiful little chapel. We continued our way, but our enjoyment was somewhat spoiled by the fact that major road works were being carried out to widen and improve the road leading up to Sörenberg.
Soon afterwards, we reached the valley floor and crossed the river to reach Aenetämme, which means “on the other side of the Emme”. This allowed us to reach Schüpfheim by walking along the left bank of the river. This meant that we did not have to walk along the road, which is quite busy (if you continue along the road, you will reach Glaubenbielen and the Obwald Panorama Road).
Route: Flühli LU – Lammschlucht – Aenetämme – Schüpfheim
Distance: 9,5Km
Altitude gain: 180m
Duration: 3h
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