damp day along the path from Kleine Scheidegg to Männlichen.
The dainty roe deer inhabits forested areas of the Alps, but – with exceptional hearing and a nervous disposition – it’s not easy to catch unawares. Red squirrels, on the other hand, can often be seen scampering among the trees, their almost black coat and tufted ears being recognisable features. These conifer woods are also home to the nutcracker whose alarm cry of kre kre kre makes it a rival to the jay as the policeman of the woods. With large head, strong beak, tawny speckled breast and swooping flight, the nutcracker is noted for breaking pine cones open in order to free the fatty seeds which it hides to feed on in winter.
The alpine chough is one of the commonest birds likely to be met during a trek along the TJR. The unmistakable yellow beak and coral-red feet distinguish it from other members of the crow family, and you should be able to study them from close range as they hop around you and scavenge after picnic crumbs.
Look out for the dipper among mountain streams. This short-tailed, dark-plumed bird, with a white apron of a breast, flits from rock to rock before plunging into the water in search of larvae. Emerging upstream, it then hurries to another rock for a quick shake of feathers and twitch of the tail before flitting to the next rock and diving for food once more. We sat beside the stream in the Soustal and were entertained for several minutes by the antics of this feathered diver.
As for Alpine flora, the Bernese Oberland contains all the main zones and habitats of mountain flowers: lush valley meadowlands, marshy stream-side meadows, high acid bogs, alp pastures, deciduous woods and coniferous forests, low-level rocky outcrops, high rock faces (both wet and dry), soil-less screes, damp slopes below snowfields, moraine banks, and wind-scoured rock ridges. The TJR journeys among most of these habitats in a route whose altitude range varies from 600m to almost 3000m, so – depending on the timing of your trek – there’s a good chance of seeing a great variety of flowering plants along the way.
Clockwise from top left: Arnica montana thrives among the limestone; the great yellow gentian (Gentiana lutea); the pure white St Bruno’s lily (Pradisea lpiliastrom); the very showy Willow gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea); Alpine anemone, or pasque flower (Pulsatilla alpina); one of several species of bellflower seen on the TJR
To get an idea of what to expect, why not visit the famous Schynige Platte Alpine Garden before you set out on the first stage? Spread across the hillside just above the station at an altitude of around 2000m, the Alpengarten is said to have around 500 of Switzerland’s 620 flowering species represented there. Winding footpaths and flights of steps give access to all parts of the garden, and an hour or so spent there will indicate what is in flower and what may be found during your multi-day trek.
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