East side of Mount Zug from Lake Aegeri to Allenwinden

Saturday Feb.1, 2020 -- No hikes for over a week! The last one was Jan.22 (10 days ago) and before that Jan.15th. So even though the weather wasn't really the best for hiking, it was a fairly mild Saturday, and we wanted to walk, so we did another section of the "Alpine Panorama Trail no.3" which passes near where we live. A 30-minute bus ride took us to the town of Unteraegeri on Lake Aegeri, just the other side of our local mountain: Zugerberg. Just over two hours of walking on mostly paved and forest roads (ideal for today as recent rains have made the meadows soft and muddy), and a small glimpse of the Glarus Alps later, we got back on the bus in Allenwinden, after passing through several farms and learning about horses in Switzerland (there are 74,000) and five types of sheep.

Where we got on the bus in Allenwinden is where I started on a different walk in December, on a nice sunny afternoon at that time, walking to a fortress ruin which we didn't yet know about, and heading down the mountain through Inwil to Zug. Those photos are HERE.

Main square in Unteraegeri. Everywhere are preparations for Carnival (Fasnacht)

Many farms in the area are part of what is called the "Agricultural Information Trail" with plenty of information about farms and agriculture in Switzerland, and the opportunity to see the operations up close.

Farming country near Lake Aegeri

An old barn converted to apartments

Following Trail no.3. Some of it was muddy!

We spotted a "Peeping Tom"!

Peeking into a barn with "Roux du Valais", an endangered breed of sheep native to Switzerland

Always so cute when there are babies!

The farmer has information posted about this type of sheep, which almost went extinct in the 80's, but were brought back by a group called "Pro Specie Rara" who work with interested farmers to breed endangered species

Removal of these Christmas decorations looks rather laborious

This one looks like the king of his property

Usually we don't like trails on paved streets, but because of recent rains and muddy trails, this worked out fine for this day.

It is called the "Alpine Panorama Trail" because there are often glimpses of the Alps.

There is still snow on this shady side of Mt.Zug

As an exception we ignored the warning signs, because the alternative was a huge detour, and our trail was a wide forest road. Turned out they had been clearing debris from a recent storm, but being Sunday the machines weren't in operation, and there was no issue on this 1 km stretch of forest road.

In Spring these rolling hills are full of blossoming cherry trees

Last stretch through a small ravine before getting to Allenwinden, where we reached the bus stop just three minutes before the half-hourly bus!

An 8-km section of Trail No.3 "Alpine Panorama Trail", partly on paved roads and forest roads, not too much through the muddy meadows. Travel time only 30 minutes each way to home, and we got back before the afternoon rains (in the morning we still had sunshine).

In December I did a short 90-minute walk starting in Allenwinden and walking to Zug. This time we started in Unteraegeri and ended in Allenwinden

  December's hike started in Allenwil and ended in Zug. The recent February hike started in Unterägeri and ended in Allenwinden

We have covered a lot of ground in this area because it is easy and quick to get to by public transit