Three Monasteries on short hikes near Mellingen (Aargau) and Menzingen (Zug)

February 29 and March 1st, 2020  Two short weekend walks = one of our normal 12 km hikes, but over two days. Because we just wanted some fresh air, and didn't have any long weekend trips planned.

On Saturday we walked about 5 km along the Reuss River near the city of Wohlen, starting in a small and quaint medieval-looking town called Mellingen. The interesting thing about this stretch of the Reuss River between Bremgarten and where it flows into the Aar River at Brugg is that in a popular vote of 1965 it was decided that there should be no more construction along this section of the river, no motorboats, and no dams or blockages so that the river can flow as it will. We even saw evidence of beavers (they do try to tackle some very large trees!). It was slightly cold and windy, but we really just wanted a bit of an afternoon walk.

On Sunday we had no big plans, as the weather was supposed to be bad. But as the day was shaping up to be sunny we headed nearby to Menzingen in the direction of Aegeri again for another short walk through pastoral landscapes and around monastery grounds so we would be back home early in the day.

The main feature of both these walks was that the trail was mostly paved or forest trail, which was interestingly not too annoying but ideal for this time of year as it has been raining a lot and our preferred trails are simply too muddy.


Ca. 6 km along the Reuss River near Mellingen (near Wohlen) on Saturday:
(1 hour, 15 minutes to get there)

Just a little over 5 km walking along the Reuss River, mostly on nice forest paths, after visiting the town of Mellingen. 

The town of Mellingen on the Reuss River has roots that go back to the 11th Century

Before heading on our walk along the Reuss River, we crossed the bridge to have a look at the little town (two streets).

Height warnings for the low archway on the city gate didn't prevent vehicles from removing some of the cement!

Looking down the town's main road to the other city gate with the clock tower.

The two roads around Mellingen's old town center

On this wall is transcribed in Latin what was originally declared here to the town citizens in 1296: The Dukes of Austria, Habsburg and Kyburg who ruled the area at the time, gave the citizens all the same rights and freedoms as the citizens of the city of Winterthur, as a reward for their loyalty and good behaviour

This little castle was originally owned by servants (butlers) of the House of Kyburg from the early 14th Century to the 16th Century. It was rebuilt in 1575 and renovated in 1968

Separate portions of the castle were built in separate centuries! 

The original Carnival Parade?

The first documented mention of the Catholic Parish Church in Mellingen was 1045. This Early Gothic construction is from 1675. 

Heading South along the Reuss River after leaving the town of Mellingen. The rest of the 5 km walk was mostly through forest paths with glimpses of the river. There was also a cold wind blowing.

Information boards tell us that the Reuss River between Bremgarten and Brugg (where it joins the Aar River) is one of the most attractive sections of the Reuss River and it is allowed its natural flow here.

Originally we had planned to walk further along the river, but because of the cold wind, we decided to end here at Gnadental, a former monastery, now a care facility. 

Walking a small section of the Reuss River near Wohlen, Canton Aargau

Ca. 6 km walk from Menzingen to Aegeri (near Zug) on Sunday:
(30 minutes by bus)

A 6-km Sunday afternoon stroll in the area between lakes Zug and Aegeri, just a 30-minute bus ride from home. We started in Menzingen and walked via Gubel Monastery to Unterägeri

There is a very large working monastery in Menzingen, the main feature of this town. That's where we started on our walk. 

Close up view of the monastery in Menzingen, with its copper dome

The landscape is slowly starting to look spring-like

A view westward toward Lake Zug and the town of Cham

The Gubel Monastery. It was a popular walking destination for this Sunday afternoon.

The first fleabanes? (Tiny daisies)

We sat on a bench on the monastery grounds and admired the landscape to the South, with the back of Mount Wildspitz, and the forested area that we are going to cross before heading down to Unteräegeri behind that.

Cute little shed?

A typical farmhouse of this area

There used to be a sandstone quarry here, and this house was built in 1874 to replace an old barn to serve as accommodation for the quarry workers. The cornerstones of the house and the stairway are all made of the sandstone from the quarry across the road

 

Looking down at the town of Unterägeri before descending to the bus

This is near where we live, so we have done a lot of hiking in this area. Recently we started in Unterägeri and walked along the East side of Mt. Zug to Allenwinden. This time we started in Menzingen and ended in Unterägeri (both the yellow paths)

Warm February Temperatures in the Boggera Gorge near Biasca

Sunday 23 February, 2020 -- This day was the large "Rabadan" or Carnival Parade in Bellinzona, the second largest Carnival in Switzerland next to Lucerne's (150,000 visitors), and after catching the end of this parade a couple of years ago, I really wanted to see some of the "Guggenmusik" bands play there again (bands from all over Switzerland participate in the parade, and they are really very good).

The day coincided with a very warm weather forecast for the area just North of Bellinzona, so we combined this with a short hike which we have been thinking about for a while now, to discover the Boggera Gorge, the most popular in Ticino for canyoning adventures (we also discovered this on a hike nearby a couple of years ago and you can watch videos of this on the Internet) so we set off for Osogna near Biasca and hiked up the easy 45 minutes to the river, then followed the inofficial blue arrows on a very steep trail up the canyon till we found the starting point of the adventure: A particularly beautiful waterfall and ice-cold pool typical for this area. That's all we really wanted to see, so after our picnic lunch there, we headed back on a different trail and caught a bus/train back to Bellinzona.... 

... where the parade was already in full swing. The bands and floats start at the train station, so we had a quick look and decided the volume was simply too loud for us, so we walked 10 minutes up to Castello Montebello, a beautiful fortress overlooking the city of Bellinzona. We thought maybe we could hear the music better from up here, but from higher up it was simply a cacaphony of noise from all the bands and (unfortunately) the floats whose canned music drowned out that of the marching bands.

So we headed home without having actually watched the parade, and found out later that 1) the next day (Monday), the highest temperature in Switzerland of 24.6 degrees was recorded in Biasca , and 2) the Corona Virus was discovered nearby in Italy and it was suggested that one avoid large gatherings... haha, considering that several special trains with many hundreds of viewers came across the border from Italy that day for Rabadan... if there is any spread of the virus to Ticino, the damage is surely done. Maybe it was better, after all, that we stayed away from the crowds.

It took us 45 minutes to walk to the mountain chapel called Santa Pietà and then a couple of minutes more to the river Boggera which carved out the ravine where there is some good canyoning. Then we climbed up a very steep trail on one side, and fortunately found a better trail to go down the other side!

A trail through the woods just like we like them. It was very warm, good weather for short sleeves, and no jackets necessary in any case!

A small chapel hidden in the woods. From below along the main road you can't even see it. 

Spending a bit of time at the chapel before heading on to the river

View North up the valley toward Biasca

Across the valley is Lodrino and the granite quarry of Iragna. We walked that hillside above the quarry a couple of years ago.

And down below is the Ticino River. The air was quite hazy this day, so ideal for a forest walk instead of a panorama trail!

Heading on toward the Boggera Gorge

At the river is one of many waterfalls and pools typical of this area

A series of pools is carved out of the granite and heads straight down to the valley floor. Popular for canyoning.

Fascinating how the action of the water carves out the stone

 

After climbing a very steep and unofficial trail, we reach the top pool where canyoning usually starts. Apparently it is imperative to register that you are doing this activity, and it is not permissible at night!

VIDEO: 

The Waterfall at the start of the Canyoning Route

Urs crossing the river here!

A lovely pool and waterfall, would definitely be refreshing in summer! At this time of year, the sun doesn't reach here. 

After our picnic lunch we headed back to Osogna along the regular trail

First forest violet!

In Osogna down at the valley bottom is also a beautiful pool, very popular in summer, also for jumping off the cliff, as the pool is deep below the waterfall. 

Heading through the village of Osogna to the bus to return to Bellinzona

Altogether we spent three hours in the area, although walking time was probably about two hours. We also lost the main trail for a while on the way back. Discovered that there is an entire military fort (bunkers, artillery) built into this hillside

It took us a little over two hours for our excursion, and we headed back to Bellinzona at 14:00 (30 minutes by bus/train) to arrive at the parade about 1/3 way through. But it was too loud for us, so we walked 10 minutes up to Castello Montebello:

Another red frame for my collection of "Grand Tour of Switzerland"! (This one reads "I Castelli di Bellinzona" -- i.e. "The Castles of Bellinzona). Behind me is Castello di Montebello

From the walls of Castello di Montebello, you get a good view of the beautiful Castel Grande, the main feature of downtown Bellinzona

And way down below is the only indication we got of the large parade that goes down the main street in Bellinzona

Hahaha, zoomed view of the parade, and people watching from their balconies! And all we heard was lots of noise from various bands and floats, a real mess of sounds

We had visited this castle many years ago, but I had wanted to see it again anyway

On the vast grounds of the magnificent Castello di Montebello

View across Bellinzona and the Leventina Valley

One last look at Castello di Montebello on our way back to the train station.

This is probably the most we saw of the Carnival, people all dressed up leaving the train station to join the masses watching the parade.

And since I didn't get any pictures or video of the Rabadan Parade this year (even though that was a reason for going), here is a video of one of the Guggenmusik bands that we saw at the end of the parade in 2018:

VIDEO:

Rabadan Guggenmusik Band

Bellinzona Parade