A Short Section of the Toggenburg High Trail from Gähwil to Wil

Tuesday December 17, 2019 -- Sometimes an outing just doesn't really work out as planned.

There are currently very strong Foehn winds blowing in the Alpine valleys, which blow away the clouds and create Foehn windows with sunshine and mild temperatures and super clear air, but the wind is annoying. We traveled two hours to the Northeast corner of Switzerland to Rheineck (near the Austrian border on Lake Constance, away from the Alpine valleys), in the hopes that we'd be spared some of the wind there, but it was not to be. (Turns out that the Rheintal Valley near there got up to almost 20 degrees that day, with winds to about 167 km/hr). The winds hit us as soon as we got off the train, and we decided it wasn't going to be pleasant walking in that, even if we had a sunny window later on (it was too early to tell).

So we headed back in the direction of home, checking our hiking map and randomly choosing a 12-km stretch in an area where we hoped there was no wind. As it turns out, we ended up traveling almost four hours to get there, although ironically it would have been only a two-hour trip if we had chosen that as the original destination.

There wasn't much new or exciting to discover on this hike along the Toggenburg High Trail, mostly forest trails with just one short and interesting stretch at the bottom of a ravine with a waterfall and bridges. Besides that, the highlight of the day were the lop-eared rabbits and the black-nosed sheep on the farm at the very start of the hike in Gähwil. Plus, there was no sunshine and everything looked sad, and by the time we got to Wil it was 4 p.m. and getting dusk already, so we didn't bother going into the old town, which we had visited on a sunny October day in 2013 which was a much nicer experience (photos below...).

Our original plan was to take this special little train with wooden benches from Rheineck to Walzenhausen (the village on the hill in the back) and start our hike from there, but the wind was so strong that it would not have been pleasant. So we will put off this hike for another season.

Heading back in the westward direction we decided on a section of the Toggenburg High Trail (Regional Train no.48), with an easy 12 km to walk back to Wil. Usually, the Toggenburg is a very pretty pastoral area, but there was no sunshine and it was very cloudy. At least it was mild and not windy.

This is looking back down at the town of Gähwil where we started our hike, on our way up the hill to join the Toggenburg High Trail.

I always photograph the churches in each village we come through. This one in Gähwil has a very interesting shape, and is dedicated to St.Galle (appropriate, as we are in the Canton of St.Gallen), and St.Idda, a local Saint with a very stormy history.

Highlight of my day, looks just like my beloved bunny I had a few years ago...

It is always a treat to see Valais Black-Nosed Sheep, no matter where we are in Switzerland! They are just the cutest with their black faces and spots on the back of their knees!

It took us about 30 minutes to walk up to the Toggenburger High Trail from Gähwil. From there we walked to Dietschwil and Wil, but some other time we will walk to St. Iddaburg.

To the West, also on the Toggenburg High Trail, is the castle of St. Iddaburg. "Saint" Idda (late 12th Century) was allegedly accused of adultery by her husband and he pushed her off the cliff here, but she survived and lived in the forest for years. That's why she became a local Saint.

(We did a loop tour hike on the other side of that castle earlier this Spring, here are the photos from that one: https://swisstravelgirl.blogspot.com/2019/03/fischingen-abbey-and-highest-point-in.html)

To the East of us is the village of Kirchberg St. Gallen, and the Austrian Alps way in the background. Over that way is where we originally planned to hike.

To the Southeast we had a very nice clear view of Mount Säntis in the Alpstein Massif, and the clear skies created by the Föhn winds blowing at about 160 km/hr over there!

Also the Churfirsten Mountains to the Southeast

We passed through only one other village between Gähwil and Wil, this was called Dietschwil

From Dietschwil the trail headed down into a little ravine, the most interesting 20 minutes of the hike!

A good spot for our picnic lunch

An interesting little waterfall (Giessenfall) and pool of water over a wall of Molasse (German = Nagelflue)

This was the most interesting section of the hike, 20 minutes along this little stream!

On this section of the Toggenburger High Trail between Dietschwil and Wil is a Nature Reserve with endangered plants and animals. No bikes allowed, and yet the muddy trails clearly showed several bikes went through here. Always there are people who think the rules don't apply to them...

And since it was already dusk by the time we got to the city of Wil, we opted out of visiting the old town again, since we had already been there under better weather circumstances back in October 2013, for which I dug out a few of my nicest photos at that time: