Before starting on the hike, though, we made a quick stop to have a closer look at one of very few remaining old thatched-roof houses, the oldest form of house building in Canton Aarau. These houses are under cultural heritage protection, dating from approx. the mid 17th Century. The plan was to skip one train (30 minutes), take a couple of photos and head back to the station. A pleasant surprise: The house in Muhen is actually a museum, and though not officially open, members of the heritage society were preparing the museum for the next day, so they let us have a look! It was a very neat experience.
The actual hike started about 7 km away in a little village called Schlossrued, with a castle and grain mill and former grain house, the latter two dating from mid 17th-century and still in operation (grain house is now a restaurant). We bought some spelt bran, an old-world grain, with the idea to make some bran muffins soon.
From the castle we hiked over a pastoral landscape down into the next valley (Wynetal) and up a steep hill to the look-out tower on Mount Homberg for some pretty nice panorama views of the Central Swiss Alps, and finished off with a descent into the next valley, the Seetal Valley. We lucked out with a very nice day for it as well. It was a long hike, 15 km, but the trail lived up to its name. AND we just by accident came upon another thatched-roof house just off the forest trail. That was a nice surprise as well.
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| In the village of Muhen near Aarau is this wonderfully well-preserved thatch-roof (made with tight bundles of straw) house which is also a museum. It is unclear exactly how old the house is, but estimated date is mid-17th century and the oldest form of house construction in these parts. We were lucky to have been allowed to look inside. |
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| How the inside of such a house might have been, and a photo of how this type of roof was constructed. |
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| Our 15-km hike on the Aargau View Trail started in Schlossrued and ended in Beinwil on Lake Hallwilersee (descending to the Wynetal Valley in between) |
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| The castle in Schlossrued is not the original, which burned in 1775. The building on the right is the old grape press built in 1780 (the hills used to be covered in vineyards), later they added a dance hall on the upper level. |
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| This is the original mill, built in 1658, heavily renovated in 1802, and the old waterwheel replaced by a modern turbine in 1948. They still mill grain, specializing in old-world grains such as dinkel and spelt. |
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| Heading up the hill to the castle with a view onto Schlossrued. The building in the center was the original grain storage, built in 1636 and now a cozy gasthaus |
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| From up here on the View Trail you can see North and West to the Jura Mountains near France |
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| This foundling was transported here over 100 km by a side arm of the Reuss Glacier approx. 150,000 years ago. |
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| Beautiful farming country up here. We could not figure out from the unopened flowers on these bushes what kind of harvest this is going to be. |
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| We often come across many such elaborate "Insect Hotels" |
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| First glimpse of the Central Alps to the South, most prominent is Mount Titlis which has snow all year round. |
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| Heading down into the Wynetal Valley to Gontenschwil. We are still in the midst of blossoming here. |
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| And such pretty narcissi, we don't see these a lot (mostly the yellow daffodils) |
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| The best time of year when the leaves in the forest are that pale green |
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| Just by accident we noticed this old straw-thatched house, just 200m off the main trail. So we did a detour. This house also dates from mid 17th century and is under cultural heritage protection. |
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| Strohdachhaus Leimbach, built mid 1600's and under cultural heritage protection. |
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| After 30 minutes' steep uphill climb we finally got to the Homberg Observation Tower. Not a tall one as towers go (only 17m high, built in 1910) but fun to go up |
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| From the tower some very nice panorama views across the Seetal Valley |
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| The Seetal Valley with Lakes Hallwil and Baldegg, and the Swiss Alps with Mount Rigi right in the middle |
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| Heading down to Beinwil am See, it was another long 40 minutes descent after an already long hike! |
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| Goal of our hike: The town of Beinwil am see on Lake Hallwil |
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| Beinwil am See on Lake Hallwil (Hallwilersee) |
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| And by the time we headed home on the train the air had cleared up substantially for some very sharp views of the alps |
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