From Valzeina in the Schrankenbach Valley (Prättigau), to Landquart

Thursday Oct. 8, 2020 -- Back in May this year we were in the Prättigau Region of Canton Grisons, walked along the cliffs on the North side of the gorge that separates the Rhine Valley from the Prättigau. From there we could see on the South side a little valley which we needed to discover. That's where we went this Thursday.

We knew that the weather would be overcast in the morning, with forecast to clear with sunshine in the afternoon, so we were glad that the earliest we could get into the valley (final stop = the tiny village called Valzeina) was at about noon. It was so disappointing that the sky just refused to clear... we even sat on a wet bench at the edge of the cliff looking down into the Rhine Valley while eating our lunch, waiting and waiting.... and then we started our descent through the forest and wouldn't you know it, that's when the sky cleared, when we no longer had a view into the Schrankenbach Valley! But still, the view North along the Rhine Valley was spectacular, especially as we could see where we had descended to Malans in May.

When we got down to the Landquart River, our original plan was to walk eastward through the gorge to where we had originally caught the bus (30 minutes along paved roads), but there was more sun westward, so we walked out to the town of Landquart along the Landquart River (60 minutes on forest trail), but in retrospect it was a rather tedious 4 km, and walking through the gorge might have been more interesting...

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First we had to wait 40 minutes in the tiny town of Grüsch, for the bus to take us to Valzeina. We admired some of the buildings there:

Village of Grüsch below Seewis

Village of Grüsch below Seewis

Village of Grüsch below Seewis (on the hill above, you can just see the ruins of a fortress)

Zoomed view of the ruins of the Solavers Fortress (13th Century)

Then a 16-minute bus ride to the furthest stop in the back of the valley: The tiny town of Valzeina, with a church and a "Hofladen", which is a small shop in a private home where the farmer offers homemade goods (we purchased cheeses as we often do).

Tiny town of Valzeina

We always love to peek in to the farmer's shops, usually in a cellar room, or as in this case, an add-on to the original farmhouse

This looks like it might have been the entrance to the original house, but with an add-on they have created an entire room where they sell their homemade goods.

We usually buy cheese and/or sausages out of the fridge. You write down what you bought in the book, and put the money in the little safe box

The "Hofladen" in Valzeina, a cute add-on to the original farmhouse

We started our hike about noon, first 15 minutes to the crest of the mountain, where we could look down into the Rhine Valley 700m straight below. From there a walk along the crest which should take 30 minutes, but we gave it an hour in the hopes of the skies clearing. At 13:30, as we were descending through the forest, we finally had sunshine.

A look into the back of the Schrankenbach Valley. It would have been so much better if the sky had been blue!

A look past the church down the valley into the Prättigau region

As we got to the crest (only about 15 minutes' climb) we got this super view into the Rhine Valley (below is the town of Zizers) 700m below. The mountain range with the white cap is the Calanda.

Heading North along the crest, a look back at the village of Valzeina below. Always hoping that the clouds would finally dissipate!

After waiting almost an hour, we decided we should start our descent. Who knows when the better weather would move in? This is the last look up the valley

Heading along a meadow before the descent through the forest, a couple of donkeys raced down the hill to greet us!

VIDEO:

The Donkeys ran down to greet us!

There was a huge storm just four days earlier that caused lots of flooding and other damage in several regions of Switzerland. These fallen trees are pretty recent, probably from that storm

This fallen tree is a bit older, someone carved a step in the trunk so it would be easier to cross!

Finally! At 13:30 (90 minutes after we left Valzeina), the sky started to clear! This view is down into the Prättigau, to the North of the Landquart River.

The peak of the Calanda looking fabulous!

As we reached the clearing above the gorge and the Landquart River, we get a sun-drenched view of the Rhine Valley toward the North. And right across is the forest we descended in May when we walked above the Gorge on its North side.

Making our way down on the Prättigau side. Below is the city of Grüsch, where we started our excursion in a small post-bus for the 16-minute ride up the valley

What a lovely surprise, one clearing with a view back up the Schrankenbach Valley to those snow-covered peaks that earlier blended into a milky sky. Now you can see them so much better!

A zoomed view of the mountains at the back of the Schrankenbach valley, the ones we could barely see earlier when they blended into the milky-white skies.

More recently-toppled trees

Finally, we got down to the Landquart River, at the mouth of the gorge (called Chlus). One option would have been to walk eastward through the gorge, but the trail there (30 minutes) is a paved road. 

We decided to walk along the Landquart River for four more kilometers to the train station in Landquart. This vantage along the River gives us a good look of the crest that we walked. At the arrows is where we got the fantastic views down into the Rhine Valley

There was a tree fairly swarming with these admiral butterflies

Crossing the Landquart River to its North bank.

A look behind us (eastward) toward the gorge, and the cliffs on the right where we walked along part of the crest, and then down to the river.

Our trail as mapped on Google Earth. Starting at Valzeina, we walked up to the crest, then along the crest for a short distance before descending through the forest.

Both hikes which we did in this lower end of the Prättigau region this year.

This is what the Schrankenbach (Valzeina) Valley looked like as seen from the North side, where we were hiking in May of this year: