It's a hot day and I don't really feel like trail running. The idea of torturing myself up a mountain at already 25 °C at the breakfast table later on seems absolutely crazy to me. But then Falko comes round the corner with an idea that unexpectedly draws me out of my shell - and makes me forget the heat, at least for the moment.
His suggestion: we could run the Suone of Ergisch. For me, this only raises question marks. Never heard of it - where is that supposed to be? A glance at the map quickly provides the answer. Although I've travelled along the Valais cantonal road below Ergisch countless times, this little village above Gampel had completely escaped my attention until now. And my interest is piqued.
One Nutella roll later, we pack our running rucksacks - water, muesli bars, trail running poles - and a little later we are standing at Gampel railway station, our starting point for the trail run. So as not to make things too easy for ourselves (it's only 30°C down here in the valley), we don't start in Ergisch, but directly in the valley. We cross the cantonal road in scorching heat and I already feel like cooling off. Nevertheless, we shoulder our rucksacks with motivation and tackle the 450 metres in altitude that separate us from the small mountain village.
Over narrow, steep and sometimes quite overgrown paths, the route criss-crosses the southern side of the valley up to Ergisch. We are glad that we are in the shade of the tall trees most of the time and can escape the heat at least a little. The sun has only just reached the narrow streets of the village when we arrive in Ergisch. There is very little going on in the cobbled streets. The small village shop lies sleepily on a corner and a fountain gurgles at a crossroads. Cool water on hot days - definitely worth a stop. While Falko is busy with his camera, I dip my hands and arms under the running water. It's so icy cold that I start to shiver involuntarily.
The cool down feels good. With small steps, we follow the steep section of the path that leads us out of Ergisch. Where is the Suone at last? Once again we dive into a narrow forest and meadow path, dodge the countless snails that have made themselves at home here and work our way up metre by metre. The path is completely in the shade again and we savour the morning freshness in the air. One last upswing - and then we finally reach the Ärgisch water pipe. From now on, it's not as flat as we know it from other Suonen, but at least it's flatter.
We follow the Bisse against the direction of flow, sometimes as a fast watercourse, then again as a babbling brook with small steps in the terrain. We reel off the kilometres with a chuckle and dive deeper and deeper into the Turtmann valley. The shady terrain makes us completely forget the heat of the valley and our legs are now almost running themselves. Only when we reach the bridge over the Turtmänna and cross over to the sunny side are we suddenly reminded how hot this day actually is.
Fortunately, it's all downhill from here. However, as the altitude metres tumble, so do the temperatures - and before we know it, we're sweating more on the way down into the valley than we were on the ascent to Ergisch in the morning.
Around 200 metres above the valley floor, we join a bisse path for the last time, this time along the Unter Riederu. By now my legs are heavy, my water bottles are empty and the last muesli bar is long gone. It's high time we arrived. However, we end up on the cantonal road - without a footpath, but in what is now a hot 35 °C. How I wish I was back at the fountain, up there in Ergisch. Another 800 metres to our destination.
The Ärgischer Wasserleitu is perhaps less spectacular than we had expected – but it challenged us more than we thought. However, the route in the morning was exactly the right choice for a hot day. And if, unlike us, you choose to descend via the hiking trail at Ober Ried instead of walking along the cantonal road, you'll find a tour with a beautiful bisse and secluded trails.
