Blasenka + Zafernhorn (ridge and sunset hike)

After spending the morning on the Abendrot via ferrata, there was still time for a decent hike in the afternoon. For this purpose, I drove to the Faschinajoch and parked at the first hairpin on the southern side of the pass (nearby Hotel Domig).

The hiking path crosses the Stutztobel (already some icy patches on the path here!) before climbing gently towards the Bärenalpe. The hiking paths to Zafernhorn and Blasenka split just before the Bärenalpe. I take the Blasenka path. At the last hut of the Bärenalpe, there's a green sign "Wildruhezone, bitte nicht betreten" next to the path... No more information, no details about the conditions and boundaries of this wildlife area. So is this just a friendly request or is it legally binding? At first I decide to respect the sign (I guess I'm already more Swiss than most Swiss people when it comes to following the rules...) and I turn around to head directly for the Zafernhorn instead. However, already at the next cabin, there is a woman with a dog. I ask her about the Wildruhezone and she doesn't now anything about it either, in spite of having had the cabin for 30 years already. Moreover, "there are no chamois here any more anyway" she claims, and "I should just use the path unashamedly". After such a determined response, I would have almost felt ashamed if I didn't hike up the Blasenka now...  So I go back to the original plan and ignore the "Wildruhezone" sign. Footsteps in the snow on the Blasenka prove that I'm not the only one to do so. I have not been able to find any information about any Wildruhezone on the internet either, so I'm still confused what the sign is really about...

Shortly after the Bärenalpe, the Blasenka path does an exposed traverse of a brittle gully. The path is in a rather bad state here, but there are fixed cables for security (briefly T3+). The remaining ascent of the Blasenka does not normally pose any difficulties, but in the current conditions, it's good to have an ice axe at hand. I first follow the main path that traverses to the cross on the Blasenka south-west summit. Then I walk along the easy, rounded ridge to the main summit (Hochlicht), with stunning views onto the Zitterklapfen.

From the Hochlicht, I descent directly along the north-west ridge, with the plan to stay on the ridge all the way to the Zafernhorn. This is no longer an official hiking path, but there traces of a trail all along the ridge (and even some footsteps in the snow giving evidence of another recent ascent). Other reports have mentioned the short scramble up a triangular wall with brittle steps as the crux of the route. For me, the crux was rather in the three of four places where the route makes a brief, exposed diversion into the snowy north face (mostly to get around some bushes blocking the ridge itself). The snow is nice and hard, and with the help of my ice axe and MicroSpikes, I can deal with these obstacles in a secure way. The footsteps of my predecessor also help. It's hard to say how difficult these spots are in normal conditions, but the grade of T4+ given by other reports seems reasonable. On the whole, it's certainly is a really nice grass ridge that can be highly recommended.

At the Zaferafurka, I join the normal hiking path onto the Zafernhorn. My arrival on the summit is nicely timed to coincide with the sunset. It's almost a pity that the skies are so clear, because that means that there is relatively little colour in the skies. After the sun is gone, it quickly gets really cold, so I don't hang around for long.

Note: the total time of 4h45 for the whole hike is rather fast. I had to keep up a quick pace in order to make the sunset on top of the Zafernhorn. The snow probably slowed me down a little on the ascent of the Blasenka and on the Blasenka-Zafernhorn ridge, but it made the descents easy and quick, so overall the conditions probably did not have a big influence on the hiking time.