The old Gemmi path

Duration
Kandersteg - Gemmipass - Leukerbad: 6h 50 walking time.

Journey back
from Leukerbad by bus, change in Leuk to the train. Via Brig back to Kandersteg.

Alternative 1:
Eggenschwand - Sunnbüel by gondola. Time saved 2 h 15 min.

Alternative 2:
Eggenschwand - Sunnbüel by gondola, Gemmispass - Leukerbad by gondola. Time saved 3 h 45 min.

The Gemmi

The Gemmi is a very old pass which is said to have been used as early as the Bronze Age. Its original name, in the form "Curmilz", is found for the first time in a chronicle dated 1252. "Curmilz" is from the Latin "culmen" = peak, summit.
From old travelogues we know that the Gemmi was regarded as frightening and dangerous and was only used by bearers, partly via ladders. Sebastian Münzer who dared a trip over the pass around 1540 wrote that his heart and legs were trembling as he left Leukerbad to climb the moutain.
By 1677, there were already transport regulations for crossing the Gemmi: "When a gentleman or a lady, a male or femaile person wants to go to Leukerbad across the Gemmi and is heavier than average, he or she shall take twelve men; if he or she is medium heavy, ten men or eight, and if light, six of four men. As a reward, they shall be given 20 "Batzen" (ten-centime coin), half a measure of wine, bread worth half a "Batzen" and half a pound of cheese."
In 1805 one guide wrote: "Once the terrible path is reached, the traveller faces backwards and is blindfolded, before the bearers continue on their way singing." As late as the end of the 19th century, many tourists used donkeys or the Gemmi cart to cross the pass, but nowadays there is a wide bridle path over the Gemmi.