Sunshine on the Shortest Day of the Year

December 21, 2016 -- On this the shortest day of the year, made even darker by the thick lingering fog in our lowlands, we found the light and lots of it, and timed it right to start our hike as the sun's rays inched over the impressive peaks of the Schächen Valley (at 10:30!) providing the comforting warmth I sought and taking the edge off the morning chill.

At the valley bottom it is indeed chilly, not lessened by the fun open cable car ride up to lofty heights, a ride we got to manage on our own after buying tokens from "the lady in the house with the red shutters", just below the bus stop. 

Mostly the Schächental High Trail is along an unpaved road, but I had mapped out an alternate trail that I hoped would be snow-free since this side of the valley has received plenty of sunshine in the past few weeks. My adventurous spirit was gladdened that on this mid-December day we hiked a narrow mountain trail snow-free with only two spots where crossing the frozen stream became a challenge. 

After 2.5-hours' hiking we enjoyed a hearty lunch on the terrace of our favourite mountain restaurant and then continued on and up to the lookout point, and then through snow-covered forest trails to our destination, the Eggberge cable car summit station, just as the sun disappeared behind the Western Peaks at 3:30 pm.

Let the longer days begin!

Base station of the Tristel Cable Car, we had to operate this ourselves, it was "Token Operated"!

This is the self-operated cable car! It was fun, but COLD!

On the way up, from the cable car

Along the way we had to change cars, into a closed one!

Here's a traffic light and a height warning for when the cable car crosses the road.

Finally sunshine above the fog. It was 10:30 a.m. as the rays finally hit this height.

Walking along the Schächental High Trail

The fog below has its own "charm", mainly knowing we are above it....

We found a mountain trail, that only had a couple of tricky parts to cross

Unfortunately for ski fans, there's not much snow again this season.

Looking South into the Reuss Valley. The fog is lifting.

Approaching the Alpstübli Selez, one of our favourite mountain restaurants.

It was nice and warm to eat on their terrace with the mountain view.

It was nice and warm to eat on their terrace with the mountain view.

After lunch we headed on to the lookout and from there all the way down to the next cable car at Eggberge in the Reuss Valley.

Hünderegg summit, 1873m....  and no snow.

Looking South into the Reuss Valley as the sun is about to set at 3:30 pm, just before our descent with the Eggberge Cable Car.

Looking North, the valleys are still decked in thick fog.

 The 13-km hike from Tristel to Eggberge took us 3.5 hours.