Along the old Roman Trail from Mühlehorn to Näfels in Glarus

Wednesday June 3 -- The final nice day in a long stretch of nice days, after this there will be rain and snow again.

So we decided on an easy 12-km morning walk less than two hours from home, on a mountain called Kerenzerberg which is on the South side of Lake Walensee, and also in the Sardona Geology Park. We have hiked many times along Lake Walensee, but only on the North side because that is the sunny exposure and offers us lots of opportunities in winter also. On the South side of the lake the communities are in shadow for many weeks in winter and early spring, so right now was a good time to walk there.

There is a 13-km themed trail called the "Kerenzerberg Roman Trail", the trail being part of the trade route between Zurich and Chur -- in addition to the waterway on Lake Walensee -- in the times of the Romans. Specifically, there were several look-out points up and down the valley in this area.

A surprising bit of information: Highschool children in the 19th century used this trail to get from the hillside villages to their school in Niederurnen. That would mean at least 2 hours walking each way?

There was a nice cool wind which made for pleasant walking, and some nice views on the lake. We started early again, and timed it perfectly to get to the train station in Näfels with two minutes to spare, making it home in time for an afternoon nap, and just an hour before the rain started.....

Heading to Näfels via Filzbach on Trail no.820: "Kerenzerberg Römerweg" (Roman Road). We found out later that had we taken the other side of the ravine uphill at the start, we would have had a much nicer cliff trail with a suspension bridge.....

Heading uphill along the ravine, with a look back at the church in Mühlehorn on Lake Walensee

Crossing the one and only Roman Bridge along the trail. (In the picture are sluice gates for diverting the water).

 

We had some very nice views along Lake Walensee from up here. On the left is the Mountain Range called Churfirsten

 

Up ahead is the little town of Obstalden, it was very pretty

"Main Square" in Obstalden

Town Church on Main Square Obstalden

From Obstalden we had to go uphill again. Right across the lake behind the church are the Seerenbach Falls, with a section near the top being the longest drop of any waterfall in Switzerland

Also across the lake, the upper plateau of Amden, where we have been often, in Summer and Winter

Another beautiful view to the East, with the Churfirsten Mountains on the left. At the base of these mountains, about half-way down the lake, is a town called Quinten, accessible only by boat or on foot.

From this side along the trail you get a good view of the Seerenbach falls (unfortunately not a lot of water right now). This placard informs that Section 2, with a drop of 305 meters, is the highest waterfall in Switzerland

Location of the highest drop of the Seerenbach Falls across the lake. At this point we could only see the lower waterfall. The high one had very little water

 

We found a very nice place to have our early lunch / late breakfast at 10:45

View back toward Obstalden from our picnic spot

This placard explains that until the road was built in mid-nineteenth Century, this trail was the main trail for the mountain people to get to the capital city of Glarus, and also the school trail to Niederurnen.

There were several sections of the trail enclosed by lovely old dry-stone walls

 

In Filzbach, the school-house bells were ringing for the kids' lunchbreak!

 

At this spot was one of the many Roman look-out spots. Ancient remains of a citadel were found, which appear to date back to about 15 B.C.

 

The view of the town of Wesen at the East side of Lake Walensee, from the Roman Look-Out spot.

Most of the rest of the 6 km to the train station in Näfels was through the forest

A few clearings along the way give us glimpses of Niederurnen and the mountains at the mouth of the Linth Valley

Wide open plain at the mouth of the Linth Valley, where the Linth River (Canal) leaves Lake Walensee and heads northward toward Lake Zurich

We spotted this beautiful Sand Lizard on a wall, he sat very still to be photographed, did not run away. This is one of four types of lizards found in Switzerland, and they are endangered due to habitat loss. The male's sides turn bright green during mating season

This beautiful and usually hard-to-spot Sand Lizard sat still for us. I wonder if the many ticks on both of his shoulders made life hard for him?

There were a few clearings where we had views into the Linth Valley

Some beautiful Columbines, they are found all over in the forest, in pink, white and dark purple

Below is the town of Näfels, our destination, although the train station is right at the bottom of the hill we are on (We did not go into the city). On the high plateau above the city is a hidden lake called Obersee, accessible over a narrow winding road. It is said that the landscape up there looks like Canada (by which they probably mean Northern BC)

 

Town of Näfels

Easy morning walk on the Kerenzerberg Roman Trail, from Mühlehorn to Näfels. 12 km, 4 hours. Nice cool wind to walk in. We started at 8:30 and caught the train at 13:50, and were already home by 15:15, just in time for an afternoon nap!

 

We have done many hikes on the North side of Lake Walensee, but this was the first time on the South side, not counting the "inland" hike to Lake Murgsee which we did last year.