Walking through the villages at the base of Monte Gambarogno

November 30, 2019 -- Final hike of the month on a sunny day. At this time of year and throughout the winter, our hikes aren't so much about distance, but rather about enjoying sunshine and discovering new places and something beautiful, such as artwork or clever architecture, or some interesting trail without snow that one can still walk on.

Back near Locarno we are finding it harder and harder to find trails we haven't walked yet. We probably should rather have "repeated" a hike in the sunshine again, but we chose the shady side of Monte Gambarogno, i.e. on the East side of Lago Maggiore, because there were villages here we hadn't discovered yet. And although it was the shady side of the hill, because we started at noon, we still got some late fall sunshine mixed with shade, and it wasn't really cold at all. 

We started at the Italian border again, across the lake from Brissago (a recent hike where we started at the border there as well), and walked up the hill to a village called Scaiano, from where we walked northward parallel to the lake, taking lots of time to discover several villages before descending to Gerra on the lake. Total walking time should have been about two hours, but we took much longer, walking up and down the alleyways and taking breaks in the sun. 

On the bus ride along the East side of Lago Maggiore, heading to the Italian Border. On the opposide side is Brissago, where we recently did a similar hike.

Heading under the railway line to hike up a steep and slippery trail to Scaiano (20 minutes)

With the recent rains and this being the shady side of the hill, the trail was quite wet and we had to step carefully.

Once we got to Scaiano, we had some sunshine as there is a perfectly situated side valley here, where the sunshine reaches through to this village

In front of the village church we found a bench exactly in the sun's path, so this is where we had lunch. Plus we wanted to wait till the villages on this side of the hill got a bit more sunshine. In the back across the lake is Locarno

Zoomed view of the church at Sant'Abbondio, which we will pass along the way. 

Village of Scaiano

View across Lago Maggiore to Brissago

Walking up and down the alleyways in Scaiano, enjoying the sunshine even on this shady side of the hill!

 

In many of these villages there is a huge communal washing fountain

 

Down the road from Scaiano is the next village called Caviano (and the next one over, called Sant'Abbondio with its church on the hill)

 

Walking up and down the alleyways in Caviano

We hiked up the hill a bit for a view over the village of Caviano before heading North to the next village of San Abbondio. The village on the promontory at the left is in Italy

The church in Sant'Abbondio. Here we stopped for a coffee break

 

Enjoying the sunshine and palm trees at the church in Sant'Abbondio

 

Village of Sant'Abbondio. Here we also walked to the top of the village before continuing North through a 45-minute forested section

Heading North with another view of the church at Sant'Abbondio

After 45 minutes on a very nice forest trail, we arrived above Gerra. Most of the section in the forest was in the shade, but when we got down to the village (where we caught the train) we had the last bit of afternoon sunshine.

 

Down in Gerra, this is called the "Public Beach Access".

This tree in the water was a surprise. Then we remembered that this area got lots of rain in the past couple of weeks, so the lake level must be about 30 cm higher than normal!

High lake level due to lots of rain in the past couple of weeks.

Short but interesting and pleasant (not too cold) walk along the base of Monte Gambarogno on Lake Maggiore. We started at the border with Italy, and ended in Gerra.

Hiking along the West side of Lago Maggiore meant quite a bit of late fall shade!

A Short Walk along the Rhine River near Chur

Sunday Nov.24 -- This was another short stretch to walk for us, but the idea was to get outside for some fresh air and exercise. The weather report was about the same for everywhere, very cloudy with few sunny breaks, and we could have stayed closer to home, but we went toward the Graubünden region of Switzerland because there were Foehn winds blowing this weekend, which usually means warmer weather. 

We ended up doing only two-thirds of the trail we had mapped out. The plan was 12 km along the regional trail called "Senda Sursilvana", the section from Tamins to Chur with the last stretch along the highway and through the large city of Chur. First we visited the church on the hill in Tamins, a church we often see when passing through by train, and then a long walk on comfortable forest roads with the stunning yellows and reds of the autumn leaves turning. We were glad to have experienced this. Often when we get around to low-land hikes, the trees are already bare.

By the time we got down to the level of the Rhine River (at this location we are only about 80 km from its source, so pretty close to its beginning, compared to its total length of 1233 km), we could hear the highway very cleary, which isn't much fun, and I find walking along rivers rather monotonous, so we ended our walk after 8 km in a very quaint town called Felsberg, situated directly beneath an almost vertical mountain which apparently at some point experienced a landslide, and looks like it just might come down some more! Meandering through, we found another farmer's shop, they lured us in with promise of ice cream, but we left with their homemade cheese and sausage instead!

Here we just got off the bus in Tamins. The church on the hill is visible from across the valley where we often pass by train on our way to other destinations in the area. Today, we planned on visiting it. 

 

First a walk through the small Graubünden village

This interesting building is a restaurant. 

 

The inside of the church

View North to the Rhine River and the city of Chur which is our planned destination, after walking through the forests on the hillside on the left.

This was the plan, 12 km and 3 hours to walk to Chur. But we only walked as far as Felsberg and caught the train on the other side of the river

Heading North out of the village of Tamins, a view of the church on the hill. The snow-capped mountains would look so much better against a blue background. 

It was pleasant walking through the autumn forests. Not cold, and lots of colour

Some very beautiful fall colours

This is a magnificent oak tree. There is a large oak forest here.

As we head down to the Rhine River, a look South to the Domat Ems Hydro Power Plant

From here at Domat Ems to Felsberg we walked about 2 km along the shore of the Rhine River, but we didn't continue on to Chur

 

Across the Rhine River is another old church on a small hill, this is in Domat Ems (no river crossing at this place)

Along the Rhine River

 

Trail along the Rhine River between Domat Ems and Felsberg

Instead of continuing to Chur, we took a detour into the small town of Felsberg. Also visited this church.

 

At some point there was a landslide here, bringing down some pretty large boulders

 

We found a farm shop where we could purchase their products. Where the prices are marked, you just put the money into a small cash box attached to the wall. We bought cheese and sausage from the fridge on the left. 

Very typical beautiful Grisons-style door and building paintings

Very pretty old renovated buildings in the village of Felsberg. We were quite pleased with our decision to make this detour.

 

From this vantage point it looks like more of the hillside could come down soon. I would not want to live here!

Crossing the Rhine River: To continue to Chur (highrises ahead) we would have to walk along the river here next to the highway, so we decided to simply catch the next train from here back to the city. 

What we ended up doing: Only 8 km and 2 hours, but at least we enjoyed those. The weather wasn't so great to enjoy more walking. 

Next year, we will walk across the Kunkelspass into that other valley behind Tamins. Somewhere we have not yet visited!

This is the area near Chur which we explored this day, about 2.5 hours from home, and near the source of the Rhine River

A Short Walk along the Waldstätterweg: Greppen to Hertenstein

(NOTE: This post was actually created on Jan.1,2021)

Wednesday November 27, 2019 -- I had some business to take care of in the town of Küssnacht am Rigi, which is a town only a few kilometers from home at the base of Mt. Rigi and on Lake Lucerne, and a starting point for lots of hikes along the lake.

We started with an extra-large pizza lunch in Holzhäusern on the way, then walked for an hour along the lake-side trail from Greppen to Hertenstein, where we boarded a boat for the trip to Lucerne, from where we took the train home.

This wasn't really a hike for us, just an afternoon walk in order to get some fresh air on a partially sunny late November day without snow. For me it was of interest as it's another short section of Trail no.98: The 115-km trail that runs around the perimeter of Lake Lucerne, of which we have done almost the entire trail in many sections. 

From the bus stop on a section of Trail no.98: Waldstätterweg, it's only an hour to Hertenstein, where we plan to catch a boat. Just a nice walk on a late November afternoon

First along the trail is a lovely farm with its own outdoor café. So many farms here have solar panels to create their own electricity

Many of the private farms around the area offer other services to supplement their income. This one has a cute café

This farm also has an inhouse shop offering local products, but mostly they sell their own distilled spirits.

Heading down the road to the trail

Walking Southwest along Lake Lucerne, with Mount Pilatus in the background

Everything here is still lovely and green at the end of November!

Late afternoon sunshine in the forests

Pastoral landscape

Clouds are unfortunately moving in

Sun is setting and the clouds are moving in

Late afternoon at Hertenstein on Lake Luzern. In the background is Mount Pilatus

In the background, there is still some sunshine on Mount Rigi (with the town of Weggis below)

A view to the West to the mountains in Schwyz and Nidwalden

Our ship arriving

A boat ride to Luzern. This boat has a small foot pool at the back! (too cold outside, we went inside for a warm drink)

Just a little over an hour to walk along this section of the Waldstätterweg (no.98) from Greppen to Hertenstein

We are still missing a couple of sections of the Waltstätterweg in this region

And this was the yummy four-cheese pizza which we had for lunch. We shared a large size and had some left over!