Panorama Ridge Hike from Mostelberg to Rothenthurm

Saturday November 14, 2020 -- Still more beautiful late fall weather with clear skies and good views, but most cable cars are now going through overhaul before the skiing season! But we found one that was still running on weekends! Well, we actually mapped out the hike we wanted to do before checking... then we lucked out.

Mostelberg is a small vacation village just one hour from where we live, a popular family ski area when we have enough snow, and very popular for hiking along the Schwyzer Höhenweg (Schwyz High Trail near the Mythen mountains). We have also already done several hikes in this area (there is also a lovely winter trail with loads of sunshine and views), but this time we mapped out a lesser-used trail along the crest of the low rolling hills.... turns out there were still more people than we expected! The hike itself was not difficult: Besides a lot of mud (seems to be the way it is this time of year), there were no long uphill stretches, mostly up and down over several lower peaks, but distance-wise it was longer than expected -- 15 km and five hours of walking! My feet were very sore after this one. But again good views across to the Uri and Bernese Alps and especially in this "flat-land" area near Zurich.

There is a 374-meter long suspension bridge near the cable car station at Mostelberg (completed in 2010), which used to be the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in Europe until 2017, surpassed at the completion of the 494-meter long Charles Kuonen suspension bridge near Zermatt, which was the longest in the world until apparently this year when a 516-meter one was opened in Portugal. I crossed the Mostelberg one once in 2014, and wanted to cross it again. This meant hiking the first uphill section in the shadow of the mountain, which is usually acceptable. Afterwards we had lots of sunshine, and the only "hillside" shadow we had was on our final descent from Nüsellstock to Rothenthurm, about 30 minutes....

We were lucky that the Sattel-Hochstuckli gondola aerial cable-way is still in operation on weekends in November! (Overhaul taking place from Mon.-Fri.). The cable-way saves us 400m ascent.

Our ultimate goal is the Nüsellstock peak above Rothenthurm via an undulating ridge, but after that it's still 90 minutes to descend, so a good five hours of walking!

Opened in 2010, the "Skywalk" was the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in Europe until the Charles Kuonen Bridge was opened in 2017. After crossing the bridge, we had to climb through the shady forest to the sunshine above.

(On a side note: This is what the bridge looks like from the South):

Many people were going to the summit of Hochstuckli, but we walked below that summit to reach the "crest" of undulating hills till Nüsellstock, from were we descended to Rothenthurm.

About 200m above the bridge we get the first views over the region of Canton Schwyz.

A close-up of the Uri and Bernese Alps to the southwest.

And a super-zoomed view of Mts. Eiger and Mönch, the most well-known of the Bernese Alps.

Directly to the North we can see the town of Rothenthurm (our final destination). This large expanse is the largest upper moorland in Switzerland, and a popular region for cross-country skiing when there is snow in winter!

To the Northeast: Lake Aegeri (Aegerisee). The steam "cloud" in the far back might be the nuclear power plant at Niedergösgen near Aarau.

Another beautiful view over the Uri Alps and Mt. Fronalpstock on the left.

Most people we met on this stretch were headed to Mt. Hochstuckli, the rise on the right. From here we also get the first glimpse of the distinctive Mythen peaks.

Nice trail, lots of sunshine. We are headed South directly toward the Mythen Peaks!

The trail to the East of Mt. Hochstuckli was very wet and muddy. We think this is generally a wet area, as parts of the trail are covered with wooden planks.

And then we arrived at the passage with this great view of the North side of the Mythen Peaks. From here we could descend to join the Schwyzer Höhenweg which passes to the left of these peaks (we've walked that already), but we are heading uphill to the left.

And also a fantastic view down toward the towns of Schwyz and Brunnen, and Lake Lucerne and Seelisberg; Mt. Fronalpstock on the left, and the extension of Mr. Rigi on the right.

Here's where we had our picnic lunch, with this view of the Mythen Peaks to the South.

And from here we continued northwards again, up and down over several of these small peaks.

A look behind us to the sweep of the Alps to the Southwest.

Many people enjoying the view on one of these small peaks

From here we can see North to the city of Einsiedeln on Lake Sihlsee.

A barn with a bench in the sunshine for a much-needed break for my feet! By this point we had already been walking about three hours!

The sign at the barn informs us that we still have two hours to go to our destination! It's like an entire second hike ahead of us!

A really good view to the West of Mt. Rossberg above Sattel and Goldau, which is part of the Mount Zug Range (our home mountain). And on the left: Mts. Rigi and Pilatus, which you can see from most everywhere in Northern and Eastern Switzerland!

Another peak, this one is called Höch Tändli 

Descending Höch Tändli across this sunny meadow, we can see Lake Zurich (to the North) in the background.

Zoomed view of the summit of Nüsellstock, our final peak before the descent to Rothenthurm. Those people lounging on "our" bench were still there when we got to the summit!

We got to the summit of Mt. Nüsellstock at 14:00 and still have over 90 minutes to go!

A nice clear view to the Toggenburg Region in the North, the city of Einsiedeln, and Lake Sihlsee. Unfortunately some very dark shadow below that we need to cross!

And looking down below us, we see the town of Rothenthurm, which we are now descending to. And in the back, Lake Aegerisee

Thirty minutes in the shade, and then we reached a nice sun-dappled forest trail.

A look up to the summit of Mt. Nüsellstock. We descended on the shaded side.

Below us the valley bottom. The mountain on the left is Hochstuckli. About halfway up is the town of Mostelberg, where we started our hike. 

And the final stretch down to the town of Rothenthurm. It's now 15:30 and shadows are moving quickly over the town, so it's a good time to end our hike!

Our 5-hour hike mapped on Google Earth. We started in Mostelberg at 09:40, and caught the train in Rothenthurm at 15:45.  That's 6 hours for a 5-hour hike, which means only one hour of breaks along the way. That's quite an achievement!

Because this area is near where we live, we have done a lot of hiking in this region!! This was the first time we attempted the hills between Mythen and Einsiedeln because we have to walk a minimum of five hours, which is a long hike....