Walk along a Section of the Reuss River from Canton Zurich to Canton Aargau.

Saturday January 11, 2025 -- With the weather turning less nice for at least a week, the next walk we managed since New Year's Day was actually a spur-of-the moment decision, as this Saturday proved to be nicer than forecast, but only quite near where we live.

This is the time of year to do short walks along riverbanks, as the snow often disappears there first... as long as there is no fog of course. (Fog might have its charm, but it is too cold for me!). Located not far from us is the Reuss River, which flows from Luzern northward to join the Aar River and the Limmat River at Brugg. We have done many walks along this river, having just about covered this entire distance. It is my goal to some time have walked this entire stretch.

As we decided rather late in the morning to head out, we could not travel too far. An ideal starting point for us was the village of Obfelden in Canton Zurich, a 35-minute trip by train and bus. From there a pleasant walk along the Lindenbach stream brought us down to the Reuss River, where we continued northwards to join up at a spot we had ended another such stretch in December 2018 (those photos are HERE). It was just the perfect amount of walking, as having started at 12:30, we caught the 15:18 bus in Rottenschwil, for the just over one-hour trip back home. An interesting aspect of this walk is that at about the half-way mark we crossed from Canton Zurich into Canton Aargau. 

The only negative on this day was a cold wind blowing, but otherwise we rather enjoyed this 10-kilometer walk, pretty well our standard distance!

We started in a village called Obfelden, right at this stream called Lindenbach, which we were able to follow all the way to where it enters the Reuss River. It was about 40 minutes and almost 3 kilometers along this stream. 

Look at this fun sign encouraging us on our walk!

It was just so nice walking along this stream!

I'd never seen so many differently-coloured fungi on a tree stump!

This is the stretch along the Reuss River which we walked this day. We started in Obfelden for a 3-km stretch until we got to the river, and then another 7 km northwards to Rottenschwil, where we ended a different 9-km hike in December 2018, starting from the north at Bremgarten. We started at 12:30 and caught a bus at 3:20 p.m., so spent about three hours outdoors. 

These are the kinds of high-growth pear trees that blossom so beautifully in April!

We got too close to a grey heron again, which took off and then landed in a pasture where sheep were grazing. 

There's the grey heron, feeling safer with the sheep as he was now further away from us!

Continuing along the Lindenbach stream. 

We really enjoyed this long stretch along the Lindenbach stream, following it to where it enters the Reuss River!

A couple of small waterfalls in the stream!

A lovely picnic spot here!

We love bridges!

Still heading westward toward the Reuss River. 

What a fun-looking tree!

Always interesting farm houses along the way. 

At 1:10 p.m. we reached the place where the Lindenbach joins the Reuss River. Since we are still in Canton Zurich, this part of the river is called the "Zurich Reuss Valley". 

Heading northwards now along the Reuss River. 

The Reuss river is wide and high here, and was flowing rather rapidly. Up ahead we can see the intake gates where part of the river is diverted toward the historical Ottenbach power plant. (In the industrial age, the factories were dependent on the flow of the river water for power). 

This placard explains how the water is diverted into the Oberwasserkanal (Upper Water Canal) toward the turbines at the small Ottenbach power plant. Extra water returns to the Reuss River further down-river. 

These are the intake gates which regulate the amount of diverted water from the Reuss River. There is a gate on the far side which returns silt deposits back into the Reuss River. 

A look up the Reuss River from the intake gates. The dam in the center separates some of the water from the river to divert it into the side canal. 

On the right is the "Upper Canal" where the diverted water flows via the turbines at the power plant further to the north. We are continuing our walk along the Reuss River on the left. 

At the campground restaurant near the first Reuss Bridge near the powerplant in Ottenbach, we are surprised at how well the palm trees are growing here!

Here we cross the "Upper Canal" where the water reenters the Reuss River!

More bird sightings: Buzzards and kites foraging in the empty fields 

This small stretch of road is the border between Cantons Zurich (where we came from) and Canton Aargau to the north. Those people in the back are now in Canton Aargau, and the path heads down to the river again. 

Not visible on this sign are the words "Aargauer Reusstal", or "Aargau Reuss Valley", which is the new section of the river we are walking along. This section of the river until Bremgarten is a protected region and is part of the Swiss Inventory of Natural Landscapes since 1977. The stretch is also a witness of the effects of retreating glaciers.  

It's always a treat to witness storks in flight! This one seems to have come from the marshes in Rottenschwil on the west side of the river. 

North of where the Jonen River enters the Reuss River is a dike parallel to the river, which is nice to walk on. As we head toward a farm called Heftihof, we spotted a group of storks. This is always exciting! (The town at the back is Oberlunkhofen). 

We love the storks! There are certain parts of the country where there are clusters of storks. Having become extinct in Switzerland in the 1940's, there have been many efforts to help them re-establish themselves here.  

The farm at Heftihof is a horse ranch. 

All this time we had been walking on the right side of the river (east bank) but at the bridge at Werd, we crossed to the left side, to continue the walk northwards from there. (It looked like there was more sunshine on that side, at this point). 

We crossed the bridge at 14:45, and might need another 25 minutes along the "Reuss Riverbank Trail" to the bus stop in Rottenschwil. We really wanted to make the 15:18 bus there, so the timing was right. 

Just before reaching the bus stop (on the left side of the bridge), we get a nice view of the Rottenschwil iron bridge, built in 1907. 

And now a look behind us along the Reuss Riverbank Trail, west side of the river. We got to the bus stop about 10 minutes before the bus came. It was a good time to head home, as the sun was quite low by now. 

The bus to the Muri train station is right on time, a 3:18 p.m. An interesting note related to the iron bridge over the Reuss River here: The traffic crossing the bridge from here to Unterlunkhofen on the other side have the right of way. The traffic coming from there (as this bus), have to wait!

As the bus heads toward the train station in Muri, we can see that to our south, there is a lot of cloud cover over the mountains! It was the same to the north as well, so we had the perfect weather window for this afternoon's 10-km walk....

As the train heads south along the Reuss River toward Rotkreuz, we usually get some really spectacular views of the mountains from here. But not today!  (It was an hour and 10 minutes travel time to get home, with a 15-minute wait at the Muri train station). 

Winter Walk from Schangnau to Wiggen in the Entlebuch

Wednesday January 1, 2025 -- On this final day of a long string of sunny days in the mountains, we returned to the Entlebuch region as we were sure there would, once again, be no fog there.

When we did the downhill walk from Marbachegg to Bumbach on the Saturday before (those photos are HERE), we had noticed that the wide open valley between Escholzmatt and Schangnau was replete with prepared cross-country ski trails and very few skiers, so we thought surely there must be walking trails as well, or at least the option to walk along the cross-country ski pistes. So I called the Entlebuch Tourism Bureau to check with them and was told that it was OK to walk along the cross-country ski trails as long as we stayed on the sides and did not hinder the skiers. But additionally, there were prepared walking trails, which were basically the same as the walk I had done in February of 2024, along the Schonbach River (those photos are HERE).

Having misjudged the amount of shadow that was still covering the valley floor near where we wanted to start our hike, we rode the bus further south to Schangnau and spent an hour in the warmth of the lovely Gasthaus Löwen, with coffee and dessert, and then took the next bus back to the start of our hike in Wald just south of the Bern/Luzern Kanton border, and then really enjoyed our easy 10-km hike back down the valley to Wiggen, alternating between cross-country ski pistes and the narrow walking trail. Lots of sunshine made this a successful first hike of the new year. 

We had wanted to start our hike at about approx. 11 a.m., 1½ kilometers to the north of here in the hamlet called Wald, but that was still in shadow of the mountain to the east. So we stayed on the bus to here in Schangnau with the intention of returning on the next bus an hour later. To the south here is the Hohgant Massif.  

Such a beautiful house!

This is the Hotel-Restaurant Löwen in Schangnau, and we decided to spend an hour here, while waiting for the next bus heading north. This is just south of the Luzern/Bern border. 

The dessert specialty in this region is meringue with ice cream and whipped cream! Just a few days earlier when we had completed another hike nearby, we also had a similar dessert in a restaurant not far from here!

Leaving home at shortly after 9 a.m., we started our hike in Wald at noon after spending an hour at the Löwen Restaurant in Schangnau. We got to Wiggen at 3 p.m., so spent three hours in the sunshine. It was an easy walk. (On the map, the blue line denotes one of many cross-country pistes, which we followed part of the time). 

Starting our hike at noon, this is a look to the south. Lots of sunshine now!

Looking back at the hamlet of Wald along the main road where we started our hike. For the first part we walked along the cross-country ski piste. We passed only about three people on the piste. 

A view to the beautiful Sichle Pass which separates this region from Lake Thun. 

The walking trail is below along the river. It's nice to view the villages from the ski pistes higher up!

We were told it was OK to walk here as long as we didn't get in the way of the skiers. 

Enjoying our winter walk. The snow was perfect, hard and "crunchy"!

At some point we crossed the Schonbach stream to continue walking along the pedestrian trail. 

Walking along the narrow trail next to the Schonbach stream. 

Walking along the narrow trail next to the Schonbach stream. 

At the base station of the Marbachegg gondola cable-way, we crossed the main road and continued into the the village of Marbach. There were many families here enjoying this beautiful New Year's Day.  

At this point we followed what looked like a snow-shoe trail! Our plan was to walk around the east side of the village of Marbach, away from the main road. 

Here on the east side of the town of Marbach were several cross-country pistes, which we also followed for a while. 

Here is another small stream which joins the Schonbach River, and the bench here was perfect for a break and our picnic lunch at 1:20 p.m. 

A small stream comes down from the mountains to the east of the village of Marbach. We crossed the stream on the way back to the main road. 

There are many kilometers of cross-country ski pistes along the entire valley here!

On a farm-house nearby, a display of signs is the traditional way that the birth of children is celebrated!

Crossing the main street again to get back to the Schonbach River, we pass this beautiful house with its very own little chapel!

Back on the narrow walking trail next to the Schonbach river, and continuing northwards. 

Looking back at the narrow walking trail along the Schonbach River. 

This sign is at a bridge over the river, at a farm called "Ei", which means "Egg"!!! It's now 2 p.m., and we have another hour to get to Wiggen, where we wanted to catch the 13:08 bus. So it might be close again! 

Along the way, several little bridges cross over side streams, or small roads. 

Nice photo, but from our map, it looked like this trail headed back to the road, but we wanted to go straight ahead. We returned to the bridge and continued on the cross-country trail. 

The little ice islands on the river looked really pretty. 

We passed a frozen pond which was covered in this ice "flowers", which actually have a name. They are called "Frost Flowers", which form when water vapour freezes to ice without going through the liquid phase first. 

A look behind us up the valley where we have now walked down.

This is the side canal where the other path bends and returns to the main road. There was no bridge and we could not have crossed here!

Am I in the wrong country?

A view to the east up a side valley called the Hilfere Valley, which leads over a pass into the next valley over, the Marien Valley, with the popular resort town of Sörenberg. We have walked in the Marien Valley several times, but have not yet crossed the Hilferen Pass. A river called the Hilfere runs from the pass to join the Schonbach River here to become the Ilfis River. 

More wide prepared cross-country pistes!

At Wittenmoosmühle we will cross the Ilfis River back to the main road for the final section into the village of Wiggen. 

Crossing the Ilfis River, looking southeast. 

The final kilometer of our walk was along the main road and mostly in shadow, except for this one house getting some of the last sunshine! It's now shortly before 3 p.m. 

On the West side of the Ilfis River, those houses are in permanent shadow!

At shortly after 3 p.m. we got to the village of Wiggen, which also seems to have little sunshine at this time of year. We only had to wait a few minutes here for the 15:08 bus to train station at Escholzmatt, and were at home by 4:45 p.m.!

These are the two walks I did along this valley bottom, both of them about 10 kilometers from Wald to Wiggen. Wald is just south of the Bern/Luzern Canton border, and we quickly crossed into Canton Luzern in the Entlebuch. The pink line is the February 2024 walk I did along the Schonbach and Ilfis Rivers. The light blue line is today's winter hike. 

Location of the valley between Schangnau and Wiggen. 

This is on the way home by train from Rotkreuz to Zug along Lake Zug, a view to the Uri Alps.

Along the north side of Lake Zug, we get nice views of Mt. Rigi

Sunset light on Lake Zug with Mt. Pilatus in the background.