Hike into the Riedertal Valley from Haldi (to Bürglen) in Canton Uri

Sunday July 14th: We had a very lovely round-trip hike planned in a ravine (Gruontal near Flüelen) not far from home which started with a ride in one of those farmer's cable cars (another one to check off our list) but we had seen the warning on the website: "In summer, best to call ahead, as the phone may not be manned". We DID NOT call ahead. And no one answered the phone when we go there. Maybe in Church? Maybe out in the fields?

We didn't do the hike, because the idea was actually to RIDE the cable car, not to hike up the 40 minutes of walking time we would save by riding the cable car. So this hike will be postponed....

So we walked back to Flüelen, and got on another bus to a place not that far off called Schattdorf, from where we took a regular cable car to the sunny upper plateau called Haldi. From here you can descend into a hidden valley called Riedertal, something we also had wanted to do for a while. There is a popular pilgrim's church in this valley (mid 16th Century), and a very pretty one at that. The interior was wall-to-wall Italian Gothic Frescoes, which is something I really like. The hike was a bit rough though, with a steep descent into the valley. But the weather was good, not too hot, and the hike not too long, so we got home early for a change, which was actually intentional as the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Interesting side note: Urs' mother was born in Bürglen, and he remembers coming up this valley with his grandmother when he was small, but he remembers it as much more level....

In Flüelen, waiting for the bus to take us to the entrance of the Gruonbach valley, from where we first had to walk 20 minutes to the cable car, which would take us up to the cleared space on the hillside to save some of the uphill hike into the valley.

We even took a self-timed shot of us in the cable car, in expectation of the 1-minute ride. But no one answered the telephone at the number we were supposed to call. So we had to give up and think of something else to do.

After walking 20 minutes to the cable car station, then another 30 minutes back to Flüelen, we decided on a short hike nearby, starting on the plateau called Haldi, then walking into the Riedertal Valley and out to Bürglen.

At Schattdorf this is the cable car you take up to Haldi. We were lucky with bus connections, so we didn't have too much of a delay to start with our NEW PLAN

Up on this plateau you get a nice view over Altdorf and Lake Uri (Urnersee). You can actually do a very nice 7-km round tour up here, which I have done a few times already.

Right behind my left shoulder on this photo is the Surenen Pass to Engelberg, a crossing we did on Aug.23, 2017. Right now there would still be too much snow for that.

After an hour from leaving the cable car station (and 20 minutes steep downhil) we reached the bottom of the Riedertal Valley

Great set-up for the goats!

According to information boards along the way, this was the summer home of a Swiss expressionist painter named Eduard Gubler (early 1900's), whose father apparently restored the chapel we were going to visit

The Riedertaler Chapel

The Riedertaler Chapel (16th Century), filled wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-floor with gothic frescoes.

This was a serene and comfortable place for our lunch break

And then we had this visitor who would not go away. I think he even followed us when we continued on the hike later.

Cute butterfly, totally interested in us, or the salt on our hands...

You can actually feel the tongue, it tickles

Heading on to Bürglen, walking North out of the valley

Another look back up the valley

Arriving in Bürglen, alledgedly the birth place of Wilhelm Tell, although no one is sure if he really even existed. But definitely the birthplace of Urs' mother.