It’s unlikely you’ll be attacked by wild animals in Switzerland, but you could get accidentally shot by someone at target practice if you don’t pay attention to the trail signs.
First, some facts. Switzerland shooting season is typically in September and October and some nature areas will have portions of the trail blocked off either for hunting or target practice. Here is a sample sign from Atzmännig warning you of this. They typically block the trail and provide a detour outside the shooting area. If you don’t read German, the key words are “Schiess”, meaning “shoot”, “Umleitung”, which means “detour” and “gesperrt” which means “closed”. Typically the sign will give a schedule of shooting days/times and the trail is often physically blocked with a rope.
Now our story. We had been hiking from Schilthorn-Birg toward Gimmelwald, a long, tough hike but so beautiful, don’t you agree?
We had planned to grill lunch but couldn’t find a place for a fire. So my husband and older son hurried ahead, hoping to find a good spot on the river below and get the fire going before my younger son and I caught up.
We hiked for almost two hours more, expecting to see them and the fire any minute, but nothing. My phone had no reception, so I couldn’t call them. We were getting hungry and worried.
Then we started hearing gunshots echoing around the valley. I didn’t know if it was hunters or a gun range. Either way I didn’t want to get shot.
My phone came back online so I called my husband to see if he had info. When he answered, the gun shots were super loud over the phone and he said the trail was closed for the shooting range that crossed the trail. The detour went straight up the side of a cliff wall. We couldn’t see where the firing range was, if the detour was to the side of it or above it. He had climbed about 10 minutes up the detour up the cliff, but it was so steep and sketchy, he didn’t want to continue or bring the kids up there, so he came back down to wait and figure out a plan since it was getting late and we didn’t want to miss the last cable car down.
When I caught up to them, my older son came running up to me, obviously scared. We decided to wait and see what other hikers might do. Some waited like us, some tried the detour then gave up and came back, other disappeared. We couldn’t see the range from where the trail was blocked off, but the shots were so loud that it seemed we might get hit by stray bullet at any moment. My boys were hiding behind rocks for protection. We had no idea how long we might have to wait and it was getting late.
Fortunately, after about 10 more minutes, a car drove through the gun range. So when he passed us I asked if they were finished shooting. He said yes and “bla bla bla” in Swiss German. I said back in High German “Are you absolutely sure they are finished? I don’t want to die today.” He gave me a funny look, nodded his head and drove off. I later realized I used the wrong word for “die” and I actually said “I don’t want to kill today.” Sigh.
Below you can see the red numbered targets on the shooting range and hiking trail directly in the path of the bullets. When we walked through it was clear that we were safe where trail was blocked off. But in any case, can’t they find a better place to shoot guns than right on the trail?!?
We still had to find a place to build a fire and eat “lunch” at 17:30. We had planned to picnic along the river, but most access to the river was blocked by a fence or cliffs. So we had to wait until the official picnic area almost at the end of the trail. My husband had carried so much heavy firewood, which we didn’t end up needing because the picnic area had lots of wood. Ugh! Well, it was a nice spot and we managed to finish eating right as it started to rain.
Moral of the story: check shooting range schedule beforehand!
If I didn’t scare you off, I definitely recommend this Schilthorn-Gimmelwald hike for older children with endurance. The scenery is amazing, a really special hike.
