Hiking along the Ybriger 7-Egg Trail (Canton Schwyz)

Sunday August 11, 2019 -- After a day of very heavy rain (turns out about 40 mm fell), Sunday was surprisingly beautiful. But knowing that the narrow mountain paths we regularly like to walk would probably be very muddy and/or slippery, we picked a local hike which consists mainly of wide paths, mostly rock and gravel, and this turned out to be a good idea.

The 13-km trail we walked from the Hoch-Ybrig ski area to the base of the Mythen Mountains in Canton Schwyz is officially known as the Ybriger 7-Egg-Weg (or Ybriger 7-Egg Trail, "Egg" being a stylized version of "Eck" which means "Corner"... or in this case turns out that seven elevations along the way all have names that end in "-egg").

To get to the trail you start with a cable car ride in a very large cable car (125 people) from Weglosen to the area called Seebli, and from there you walk 3 km to the highest point along the trail, Mount Spirstock, from where you get 360 degree views around this entire area from Lake Zurich to the Uri Alps and into the Muotathal valley. 

Barely starting into our hike we realized we had made a judgement mistake. Turns out these first three kilometers were uphill along a paved road the whole way, which I find very annoying to walk. If there had been no other option, what can you do? But there was another chairlift right next to the Seebli Cable Car station, which went right up to the ridge which looks down into the Muotathal valley. And along that ridge on a narrow mountain trail we still would have ended up going up Mount Spirstock. What a lost opportunity (unsure if we will do this again). Somehow we had overlooked this on the map, thinking it was a ski lift that operates only in the winter. What we should have done is spontaneously changed our plan for this first section....

From Mt. Spirstock to Holzegg at the base of the Great Mythen we crossed only a short section of narrow mountain trail, and as expected, this was muddy. But where it became somewhat critical was the last 30 minutes of descent to the bus at Brunni, where the trail was narrow, with wet rock and roots and we really had to be careful, also because we were racing against time. Here we could also have opted for the cable car (one we have ridden before) but it being Sunday and with so many people wanting to come down from the restaurant at Holzegg, we probably would have missed the bus that way. As it turns out, we made it with just 5 minutes to spare...

Heading South by bus along Lake Sihlsee to the Hoch-Ybrig region of Canton Schwyz

Ride up to Seebli with the Hoch-Ybrig cable car

 

This is a large one, holds 125 people. and this morning it was pretty full

The first part of the trail gives you a small glimpse to the little lake called Seeblisee

Finally finished the 3 km on paved streets. The views and the nicer trail start here, with an ascent to Mt. Spirstock

But first this wonderful view to Stoos and Fronalpstock on the left, Lake Lucerne and Mt. Pilatus straight ahead, and Mt. Rigi far right.

The climb to Mt. Spirstock consisted mostly of stairs, which I like

From Mt. Spirstock view South into the Muotathal Valley. We plan to walk that valley straight ahead sometime, it takes about 6 hours to cross from the Schächental Valley where the famous General Suwarow crossed.

After a coffee break, it's time to head downhill again

One last look to the ridge which we SHOULD have followed (so disappointed) instead of the paved road below

Heading along the 7-Egg trail toward the two Mythen mountains. The chapel below must have some special significance, as there was a church service going on there

   

It was weird to walk past the chapel, as there was a large group of people there and a loudspeaker transmitting the church service. Usually, I peek inside these chapels, so a bit disappointed that it wasn't possible this time. 

Most of the trail was a wide trail with rocks or gravel, and plenty of other people on the trail, but not so that you had to walk with any of them

 

Another view of Lake Lucerne and Mount Rigi. The town of Brunnen is below

 

Just a few of the "Eggs"

 

About 20 minutes after Ibergeregg we got some nice views of the Great Mythen. You can see the zigzag trail up the mountain. This is actually a very popular ascent.

Interesting fact: The red stone at the top of the mountain is actually geologically older than the rock below it, meaning the earth folded itself completely over sometime during the formation of the mountains. 

People love to hike up this mountain, although once you get to the top, there is not much space up there. It can get quite crowded actually

We finally found a nice place to have our picnic lunch, although there were loads of restaurants along the way.

 

Another restaurant near the end our our hike, at the foot of the Great Mythen

The last stretch toward Holzegg, where we then descended to Brunni to catch the bus

Heading down to Brunni below. (The bus then goes to Einsiedeln)

We could have taken the cable car, but it is small and was pretty full (both times it passed above)

We did this descent quite quickly, made it to the bus which just a couple of minutes to spare

13-km, 4 hours:  Ybriger 7-Egg Weg in Canton Schwyz

Arrow shows the chair lift we should have taken, to walk along the ridge first before heading up to Spirstock. This 13-km hike ended up taking 4 hours.