April 14, 2018 -- There was nothing particularly spectacular about this Saturday afternoon hike we did.... we picked it because it was close to home, and we knew there would be some views. Most of the hike was through forests, though, and although the week before we had done a different forest hike with lots of sunshine showing through the leafless forest, this particular forest was a dense fir forest and therefore rather shady and cold.
And for this time of year, there was still quite an amount of snow up here near the Raten Pass, a low pass road (1077 m) between Lake Aegerisee and the Rothenthurm High Moor in Kanton Schwyz. But the weather was fairly mild and it is always a thrill to do a "mountain" hike in early Spring. Except for the ascent to the restaurant on Mount Gottschalkenberg, the rest of our hike was along the "Aegeri Valley Panorama Trail", with some very nice views down both sides of the ridge, i.e. Lake Zurich to the North and Lake Aegeri plus the Uri Alps to the South. Furthermore, this trail is a piece of National Trail no.3, the "Alpine Panorama Trail", of which we have already done the other section from the Raten Pass to the pilgrim city of Einsiedeln.
 |
| From the bus stop at the Raten Pass, one can immediately start on the Aegeri Valley Panorama Trail (Panoramaweg Aegerital), but we decided to walk up to the restaurant at the top of Mount Gottschalkenberg first |
 |
| As usual, we did not stop at the restaurant as there are usually too many people smoking. But we had a look around at the interesting set-up |
 |
| On a clearer day, you would get a really nice profile of the Glarus Alps from here |
 |
| Starting at the Raten Pass, we first walked up to the top of the hill called Gottschalkenberg (a short and easy ascent) and then joined National Trail no.3 across the ridge and down to Unterägeri. This was an almost 12-km hike |
 |
| Now joining both the "Aegeri Valley Panorama Trail" and National Trail no.3: "Alpine Panorama Trail" |
 |
| In the winter of 2017-2018 there were some pretty extensive storms which did a lot of destruction in Swiss forests. We saw a lot of uprooted trees and large trees "snapped like matchsticks". |
 |
| Large, seemingly healthy trees, were snapped by gale-force winds this winter (2017-2018) |
 |
| It made our walk quite interesting to always have to be scrambling over the downed trees! |
 |
| Along the ridge we got a couple of peeks down to Lake Zurich to the North |
 |
| Most of the view was to the South over Aegeri and Lake Aegerisee. Here to the Southwest is the standard view for this region: The low ridge (Mount Zug, where we live on the other side) and Mounts Rigi and Pilatus in the background. |
 |
| And to the South across Lake Aegerisee to Morgarten (site of an important historical battle in 1315 where the young Swiss Confederacy vanquished a much stronger legion of Austrian Habsburgers) |
 |
| Although the section through the forest was rather cold, out in the open it was a mild Spring day |
 |
| Farmers with mountain cabins or barns often offer refreshments to hikers and bikers along the popular trails |
 |
| Another view SE across Lake Aegerisee |
 |
| A beautiful old farmhouse at place called Schneit, on our way down the hill |
 |
| Some sort of meeting of old tractors! |
 |
| An album would not be complete without at least one cow photo! |
 |
| In the background is one of my favourite mountains: Mt.Schärhorn (Schäre = Scissors, looks like Scissors) |
 |
| Sandstone "Trail Cross" on this trail which was the old trail between Aegeri and Einsiedeln |
 |
| Back down in the town section called "Unterägeri", this is one of several old farmhouses typical of the area |
 |
| Catholic parish church in Unterägeri |
 |
| The orange trail is the one we did, from Raten Pass to Gottschalkenberg to Aegeri (Unterägeri). We have walked many kilometers over this terrain, as it is very close to our home town of Zug |
No comments:
Post a Comment