A short Hike Through the Jonental Valley in Canton Aargau

(This report was completed in January 2020 to catch up on earlier excursions for which I never got around to doing my albums).

Thursday June 20, 2019 -- This day was a public holiday in the Catholic Cantons in Switzerland (Corpus Christi), so both Urs and I got the day off of work. It was looking like a rainy day, but we wanted to use this day off to do a hike anyway. So we packed up our umbrellas along with our picnic lunch and set off to a destination not far from home, less than an hour by train and bus, to a small ravine we read about called the Jonental Valley.

We had also read that there was a small pilgrim church under Heritage Protection "hidden" in the forest there, and we are always interested in these kinds of monuments. It was also mostly a walk through the forest, so we figured it wouldn't be so bad if it rained. We were actually very lucky that the heavy rain stopped just as we got to the start of our walk in the village of Jonen. Theoretically, the walk was a round tour to get us back to Jonen, but as we got to the furthest point of the loop, and after a pleasant picnic in front of the chapel, the rain started again, and since we were near a bus stop, we just decided to end the hike there, completing only 5 km of the originally planned 9 km, but still we were satisfied with this outing on an otherwise rather drab day.

Plus I have to say, everything was especially lush and green!

Always the most prominent feature in whichever location we start our hike! Parish church in Jonen, Canton Aargau

On the bus ride here it had rained heavily, but just as we got off the bus in Jonen, the rain stopped

Lots of such little farm towns in this area

Heading into the Jonental Valley on the Freiämterweg, a 190km network of hiking trails in this area known as the "Freiamt"

We passed a pond with some pretty water lilies

Our umbrellas were useful for the light drizzle

Jonental Chapel, one of the most significant "Mother of God" pilgrim  chapels in Canton Aargau

Here at this peaceful spot we had our picnic lunch

A look back at the chapel and rectory as we continue our walk along the Jonen River

There were lots of little wooden bridges and passerelles like this, but slippery due to the rain

Everything was fresh and green and smelled great after the rain

We are always thrilled to see and cross these old wooden covered bridges

These guys enjoy the rainy weather

We caught sight of some deer, this baby got separated from its "elders" and is desperately running back and forth to find out where they disappeared to!

And also a blue heron lifting off the river near where we got on the bus in Zwillikon 

We had actually planned to walk further (to Affoltern or back to Jonen) but we were met with a fresh downpour in Zwillikon, and decided to call it a day!

Short easy walk, just over 5 km, from Jonen to Zwillikon in the Freiamt area of Canton Aargau