| Hinterstockensee | |
|---|---|
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  Hinterstockensee  Hinterstockensee  Hinterstockensee | |
| Location | Canton of Bern |
| Coordinates | 46°41′09″N7°32′25″E / 46.68583°N 7.54028°E |
| Basin countries | Switzerland |
| Surface area | 8 ha (20 acres) |
| Max. depth | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Surface elevation | 1,595 m (5,233 ft) |
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The Hinterstockensee is a lake below the Stockhorn and near Oberstockensee (1665 m) in the Swiss municipality of Erlenbach im Simmental in the Canton of Bern.
Contents
The lake has a 100-metre long (330 ft) island and is located at an elevation of 1595 meters. It lies in a rocky basin of a cirque on the south side of the Stockhorn and is embedded in the Couches-Rouges core (red marl slate of the upper Cretaceous) of the Hinterstockensee trough named after it. This syncline is located between the Schneeloch-Solhorn vault and the Walper-Schuppenzone and extends from the Hinterstockensee, Lasenberg, Nüschleten to Steinig Nacki. It is also called the "Flyschmulde" (after Roland Umiker) due to its flysch occurrence. [1]
The diameter of Lake Hinterstocken is approximately 300 meters, and its area is 6 hectares. The lake's outflow is subterranean. The water flows under 40 meters of cliffs and emerges as a wild stream after about eight hours in the Klusi (1300 m). A nameless rocky peninsula ( 46°41′06″N7°32′22″E / 46.685061°N 7.539417°E ) on the western shore of Lake Hinterstocken gives the lake a heart-shaped surface by forming two bays.
The lake can be reached by the Stockhornbahn cable car (Chrindi station). It is a popular destination for amateur fishermen. A hiking trail leads to the Oberstockensee (also called Vorderstockensee, 1665 m), 1.5 km to the west. The two lakes are connected by a tunnel. The small Klusi high-pressure storage power plant has been using the water from the lakes to generate energy since the 1940s; the plant was renovated in 1994/1995. [2]