Hike over Mt. Buechberg near Lake Zurich

Tuesday October 13th -- In this "blog" I try to keep track of all our excursions, even if they don't work out quite like we hoped, and even if they were really boring. Just to have a record (with photos, of which I usually take many).

In the past week (vacation week) we have not been too lucky with the weather or weather forecast, so once again on Tuesday, as we arrived at our planned hiking destination near Sargans, the clouds were low on the mountain where we wanted to walk (near the Sargans Castle), and instead of waiting, we just headed back northwards to the Lake Zurich region.

We could have simply walked along the lake enjoying the sunshine there, but I was afraid that would be too boring, so I suggested walking over a small hill near the lower part of the Lake (actually called "Obersee" here, or "Upper Lake") because an Internet suggestion promised views of the lake from above. As it turns out, it was a VERY boring two hours of walking through thick dark forest, at times without even sunlight shining through. Few views except at the end as we descended the hill. Not the best choice on a cold autumn day. 

Besides the overabundance of dark forest (would have been good as a hot summer-day walk), there were a few clearings which are protected nature reserves, specially prepared for the conservation of small animals such as hedgehogs, salamanders, and pond-dwellers. At one such marsh we found the only lone bench on our trail, conveniently located in the sunshine, where we were able to enjoy our picnic lunch. So at least there was that.....

After leaving Sargans (to the left, somewhere in the clouds) and heading northwest to Uznach, we took a bus to our starting point at Schloss Grynau on the Linth Canal. This view down the Linth Canal is into the Linth Valley, where the clouds are also hanging low on the mountains.

A conveniently-located historical Hotel-Restaurant on the main road. The 13th-Century Grynau Fortress (tower across the road) is a military fortress that can be visited.

The 13th-Century Grynau Fortress is now part of an expansive series of military bunkers on this small mountain

One of a series of military bunkers which we saw as we climbed up the "mountain"

This year there are lots of interesting fungi in the forests

One of a handful of ponds which we passed along our walk across Mt. Buechberg

Here are the Ammesmoos Ried we found a bench in the sunshine where we enjoyed our picnic lunch. The information placards explain how these marshes are groomed to ensure that small animals thrive.

The only view we had on our crossing of the hill, again to the South. No views to the lake on the other side. The town below would be Tuggen.

The trail we are walking is actually a Regional Trail, no.84: "Round Tour of Lake Zurich". Not the most exciting part of the trail! Our goal is Nuolen, having come from Grinau.

The most interesting part of this hike were the fungi!

This dark, damp, and moss-covered area was also actually interesting...

Finally, as we got off the mountain above the Nuolen Golf Course, we actually had a view, and not a bad one.

From here we can look up the Wägital Valley to the mountains called Gross and Klein Aubrig, behind which we crossed into the Upper Sihl Valley earlier this year.

A nice view westward across Lake "Obersee". On the other side of the isthmus (or better, Pfäffikon's peninsula and bridge to Rapperswil) is Lake Zurich.

In almost every field/meadow in Switzerland, there sits a cat. Some trying to remain unobserved!

Descending to Nuolen, where we caught a bus near the church. We had 45 minutes to wait, so we first walked to the lakeshore, also a reedy area.

A look back at "Mt. Buechberg" (barely a hill) which we crossed.

From the lakeshore, a highly-zoomed photo shows the castle at Rapperswil.

As it turned out, this was an almost 3-hour hike. We mostly followed the "Lake Zurich Round Tour Trail no.84". Perhaps if we had followed it exactly, we might have had more views, but not toward the lake, in any case.

This is a photo as we are leaving Sargans again to head back Northwest toward Lake Zurich. We had actually taken a bus to Oberschans on the far side of this mountain, where we wanted to start our hike. But I don't fancy walking in fog, so we came back. From Webcam footage, it was like this all day, so it was good we didn't wait.