Mannenberg Loop Trail in the Emmental

Sunday March 28, 2021 -- Another beautiful day, so this time we traveled to Canton Bern, which is a really, really large Canton and has a large variety of hiking landscapes, not just snowy Alps. 

We again chose a themed trail which we read about on our main hiking map, and this one promised stupendous views. The trail is an 11-km loop trail called the "Mannenberg Rundweg", and even though at first glance the hill seemed so small we could hardly imagine any view at all, we were wonderfully surprised at the magnificence of the entire Bernese Alpine range from East to West with all the famous peaks, including Mt. Finsteraarhorn which is the highest peak in the Bernese Alps, and my favourite: Mt. Schrekhorn. The air was just slightly hazy, but we really had a tremendous view.

Besides the view, the round tour provided a lot of variety of forest trails, meandering through farming hamlets with the typical Bernese houses, and a final long (and always monotonous) return walk along the Emme River back to the train station in Hasle. (It's this river that gives its name to the Emmental region of Canton Bern). We could have gone the other way, to a nearer train station in Oberburg, but as we arrived in Hasle earlier in the day to start the hike, we happened upon an information placard which informed us that the allegedly LARGEST wooden covered arch bridge in Europe was to be admired 800m downstream from its original location at the new concrete structure that crossed the river from Hasle to Rüegsau. (The original wooden bridge was not able to deal with the increase in traffic, so they dismantled it and re-erected it 800m downstream!). So we really wanted to see this bridge on the return trip!

See, the description promises stupendous views!

Although I often wonder why we need to travel away from Zug for the stupendous views, as this is what we see from our lake access near where we live! (In the center are the same Bernese Alps we went to see!)

It took us 2 hours 20 minutes to the train station in Hasle by Burgdorf. We're heading up the hill to Rachisberg, where the trail loops back down through the farms.

The first view of the Bernese mountains on our way up the hill. Slightly hazy, but still a good view. On the right is Mount Finsteraarhorn, the tallest of the Bernese Alps.

First of many beautiful Emmental farmhouses

And another house with a fantastic roof, a little different than most of the ones we saw otherwise

Here is the spot we picked for our picnic lunch, with this view from far East to far West

The Emmental landscape and the Bernese Alsps

A close-up of my favourite peaks: Wetterhorn, Schrekhorn, Finsteraarhorn

This is Rachisberg farm, where our loop now takes us away from the view of the Alps

Heading along the edge of the forest

One last look south before heading down through the forest to the farms

A few of the animals we saw along the way. Turns out the sheep is a rare and endangered breed from Wales (UK) called the "Balwen Welsh Mountain Sheep". The goat is a rare and protected Swiss Breed called the "Capra Grigia" originating from the Ticino and Canton Grisons. And the cow, well it's just cute!

Another fantastic farmhouse. They all have a small balcony tucked under the overhang, which, among other things, was used to hang up clothes to dry. But any upper rooms would have gotten very little light.

A display of cow bells!

Always lots of buzzards

A particularly old farmhouse totally made of wood

A look back at the several clusters of houses we walked through, admiring the typical Emmental structures

Rounding the corner before our descent to the Emme River, another view of the famous Bernese Alps, including the Eiger North Wall. The mountains are clearer in the later afternoon light.

Mount Schrekhorn

Looking down at Hasle

Spring flowers

Heading down to the Emme River. The town in back is called Oberburg

The final three (boring) kilometers were along the Emme River. Lots of pretty flowers like these on the forest floor

Finally, the first glimpse of the wooden bow bridge. At 68.7 m, this is thought to be the largest wooden bow bridge in Europe. In the center it is 7 m above the river.

Crossing the wooden bridge (which also accepts vehicle traffic) to see if we can get a better view from the other side. In 1955 it was completely dismantled and moved here from its original location 800m upstream. 

 A view of the bridge from the other side of the river

And here we are back at the train station. The bridge behind Urs is where the wooden bridge used to be. The wooden bridge was dismantled in 1955 and rebuild 800m further downstream.

Location of the Mannenberg Loop. Not too far for us to travel. The Bernese Alps that we saw where in the area South of Interlaken. 

An Easy Walk along Half of the "Luzern Chapel Trail".

Wednesday March 24th, 2021 -- With our cold nights and the snow not melting quickly, plus a glorious day with good visibility, we could have done a snow hike in the mountains, but we opted for the snow-free flatlands of the Luzern "Backcountry" (i.e. the relatively level pastoral landscape north of Luzern). Here there was no snow and we still had the view of the mountains ahead of us as we walked southeastward...

We decided to simply follow a suggested theme trail called the "Luzerner Kapellenweg", or "Luzern Chapel Trail", a 21-km regional trail which apparently passes by 17 churches and chapels in the valley of the Rot River. (Although pretty well any trail you select in Switzerland will pass by a ton of churches and chapels!). We started on the North end in Ettiswil and walked only half of the trail, as we took a detour to a beautiful water castle near the start of our hike (Wyher Castle). Our main goal was the uniquely-constructed St.Ottilia chapel, which looked way better on the outside than on the inside (apparently Rococo, but looked kitschy to me). We didn't make it as far as the "mighty baroque church" in Ruswil, although the baroque churches in Ettiswil and Buttisholz were pretty as well. The ones we like best are the late 17th Century constructions with lots of frescoes, which are only often discovered after restoration, as the buildings were often used as headquarters during wartimes and the walls were whitewashed (no interest in preserving art at the time!)

Most of the trail follows the Rot River, so we also saw old grain- and saw-mills (originally powered by water from this river), and we meandered through a series of ponds which are part of the land reclamation efforts from the nearby gravel pit operation. One section of the trail is a bit tricky: There is a herd of cows guarded by a bull who can be rather protective! I forgot to take the standard cow photos because I concentrated on making a wide berth around them!

Because this is a "Chapel Trail", there are lots of photos of churches and chapels. We looked at or into nine or 10 such buildings, but not sure if the castle chapel is included in the 17!

This is the description I found on our go-to map, which seemed to be a fitting choice for a sunny hike in an area where there is no snow. We knew we would not walk the full 21 km, so we aimed for Ruswil (starting in Ettiswil) but ended just shortly before that city.

We started at the north end of the trail, in Ettiswil, and walked about 14 km total, ending shortly before Ruswil

Here is a collage of the 10 churches and chapels we saw or looked into! Actually, the one in Buttisholz (top left) had an additional small chapel called a "Totenkapelle", where they display urns or coffins of departed loved ones, and you can come pay your respects there. Also the one in Ettiswil had a separate small chapel (ossuary) which we did not look at. 

Our hike started on the North end of the "Luzerner Kapellenweg". We followed the trail to Ruswil (didn't make it that far) via Grosswangen and Buttisholz, but took a detour to Schloss Wyher (the water castle)

The first stop was the Parish church "Maria and Stefan" in Ettiswil, built in the Baroque style, 1769–1771

According to Wikipedia, the interior of the Parish Church is "worth a look", which it was. I like the pink marble in most Baroque churches. 

The interior of the Baroque Parish Church of Maria and Stefan in Ettiswil. 

Slightly North of the Parish Church we spotted another chapel, and made a detour there as well. This was actually my favourite of this day's trip. It's a Gothic chapel dating from mid-15th Century

The gothic chapel is simply called the "Sacrament Chapel", and the 18-panel artwork depicts a local religious legend. 

Of particular interest to me are the frescoes and the beautiful wooden ceiling in this small, 15th-Century building. 

Next to the "Sacrament Chapel" is another, younger building (1590) called St.Anna's Chapel

Along the trail we also saw many farm buildings. This one with its roof fully covered by solar panels was particularly impressive!

We took a 30-minute (almost 2-km) detour off the marked trail to have a look at this beautiful water castle, "Schloss Wyher". It has quite the history. First mentioned in documents from 1304, it belonged to upper nobility for 350 years, and for some reason passed to a farmer family in 1837, who let it fall into disrepair. It had just barely been restored by the monument preservation society when the main house was destroyed by lightning fire in 1963!

Next to the water castle is another chapel of note, the "Ludwigskapelle", inaugurated in 1593. Unfortunately it was locked, but a peek through the windows also showed a frescoed interior

After a coffee break at the Ludwigs Chapel, and a glance north down the Rot Valley, we headed back past the castle to the original trail. 

The next church along the trail was the parish church in the community of Grosswangen. This would also have required a detour, se we skipped looking into this one. It looked too "modern for us". (Information from the Internet shows it to be built 1863-1867 in the Neogothic Style, with lots of stain-glass windows)

Some colour in the gardens

Every once in a while we glimpse a grey heron. For me, always impressive

On this section of the trail there was a warning, that the cows in the meadow are guarded by a bull. We were so concentrating on making a detour around the herd, that I forgot to photograph the cows! The bull did watch us with an evil eye...

This tiny farming community called Oberroth also belongs to Grosswangen. We are always impressed when people build brand new farm houses in the old style. 

In Oberroth, there was also a small chapel, it is called the "Mother of God" chapel, and is the oldest building in the community of Grosswangen. The chapel has this form since 1575, but one of its walls seems to indicate that there was a much older church here.

Artwork in the "Mother of God" Chapel in Oberroth. Looks like this is carved wood.

Continuing southeast along the trail (a lot of paved roads) always with the lesser-recognized side of Mt. Pilatus ahead of us.

A fantastic day for a stroll in the Luzern "back-country" with not at all a bad view of the mountains (this is the lesser-recognized north side of Mt. Pilatus)

Arriving at the outskirts of the next large community: Buttisholz. The parish church is visible in the background, but there is another small chapel to investigate, right here next to the road.

This chapel on the outskirts of Buttisholz is called "Mariahelf". ("Maria Help Us"). It was so tiny, two sets of benches inside to seat max. 8 people, and another bench under the extension! This one is more "modern", built mid 1800's

A view of the snow-covered foothills of the Alps, and the pleasant pastoral landscape of Luzern's "Back Country".

A particularly impressive house.

St.Verena parish church in Buttisholz, another baroque church of particular interest in this area. There was a church documented here as of 1036, but this one has its current form since approx. 1753.

Inside the Baroque church of St.Verena in Buttisholz

Inside the Baroque church of St.Verena in Buttisholz

We passed through the church from the back to the front. Here is a front view of the St.Verena Church, difficult to photograph in its entirety, especially with the panorama setting on the camera!

Another 1.6-km walk took us to the main chapel of interest on our excursion: The pilgrim site of St.Ottilia's, an unusual structure with four apses and a central bell-tower. The interior was Rococo Style, not really my taste. Built in 1669, it is considered one of the most unusual baroque buildings in Switzerland. 

Interior of St.Ottilia's chapel was very small. Decorations are Rococo (late 18th Century).

Ceiling of St.Ottilia's Chapel in St.Ottilien (Buttisholz)

The most interesting thing we learned about this chapel is that when they renovated the roof in 1986, they discovered a colony of Mouse-Eared Bats which still live under the roof, and at 600 members is one of the most significant colonies of mouse-eared bats in Central Switzerland

Heading away from St.Ottilia's to the final chapel on our route: "St. Ulrich and Afra". This section is the half-way point of the entire 21-km Chapel Trail. 

St.Ulrich's Chapel, a tiny chapel next to a farm-house and barn. This belongs to the community of Ruswil. 

Inside St.Ulrich's chapel, like the chapel in Oberroth, there were these unique wooden painted altars.

The artwork in the chapel is from the 1500's, which makes it one of the most valuable monuments in the community of Ruswil

The chapel stands in this form since 1591, although it is first mentioned in documents from 1468

While waiting for the bus on the main road, the mountains look particularly sharp in the late afternoon sunlight. 

We walked over 14 km in about four hours. This section of the Luzern Chapel Trail is about half of the entire mapped out trail

On our way back home, there was an issue with the connecting train, so we had about 30 minutes to wait in Luzern. There were lots of people hanging around the lake promenade because of the beautiful evening sunshine, so we just walked some more (an additional two kilometers to the 14 we had already done!) ! We did a little round tour to the boat storage, where the steam ships are awaiting their deployment on the lake... and the mountains looked particularly pretty in the evening sunlight!

Two of several steamships which usually make a tour of Lake Lucerne in the summer months.

The mountains look particularly beautiful in the late afternoon light.

On the train ride home from Luzern (20 minutes to Zug) we always pass Lake Rotsee, with the fantastic backdrop of Mt. Pilatus. This is the more recognized side of this mountain!