In the Schächental Valley: Spiringen-Ratzi-Urigen-Spiringen-Bürglen

Wednesday June 16, 2021 -- This week we are having very high temperatures, over 30 degrees, which is not comfortable for hiking. Yet the day was still so nice that we didn't want to forgo an opportunity to go into the mountains.

We decided on the Schächental, or Schächen Valley, one of our very favourite valleys which is quite near where we live. For Urs, it is always nostalgic to walk here, as his grandparents and his mother hail from here. To make sure we avoided the hot afternoon, we left at 6 a.m. and started our hike at just after 8 a.m.

The road into the Schächental leads over the Klausen Pass to Canton Glarus and the Linthal Valley to the East, but even though the pass is now open, the bus is not yet running up to the pass. The village of Urigen is the highest community currently serviced by the bus. We wanted to walk out of the valley from Urigen, a stretch we have not yet done, but this would only be two hours, too short for us.

To lengthen our hike, we took one of those mini- cable cars from Spiringen to a higher altitude, from where we joined the Schächental High Trail for a while. A good choice as it afforded us some wonderful views, and we even encountered a wild rabbit (brown hare), our first. From above Urigen, we descended to that village (with the expectation of ice cream sundaes at the Post Restaurant there, but it is closed on Wednesdays!!!), and then continued on with the original plan to walk out of the valley.

In previous years we have often stopped for ice cream at the end of our hikes, and haven't been able to do that for a while. But lucky for us, the Post Restaurant in Spiringen was open, and the ice cream was welcome on this hot day!

Currently, the Schächental Bus runs only as far as Urigen, but we got out before that, in Spiringen, where there are actually TWO farmer's cable cars to access higher altitudes

Our plan was to take the Ratzi cable car up the hill to save us 600m of ascent, and then walk another 250m uphill to join the Schächental High Trail. The operator had gone off for the day, so we had to buy a special jeton at the grocery store next door, and operate the cable car ourselves

Riding the little Ratzi cable car up the mountain so we could walk on the High Trail

From the top station of the cable car, we're heading in the direction of Mettenen (and Klausenpass), although not quite that far.

From the Ratzi top station, we had about 50 minutes to join the high trail, then 30 minutes on that trail before descending to Urigen along National Trail no.1: Via Alpina. We started at 08:20 and got to Spiringen for our icecream sundaes at 1 p.m. This included our picnic lunch at the chapel near Urigen.

It was a fantastic time to start our hike, early in the morning (just after 8 a.m.), not feeling the heat yet. This view is westward to the entrance of the Schächental Valley

A view up the Schächental Valley... that distinctive peak is called Schärhorn and is near the Klausen Pass

This is something interesting we often see in avalanche regions: A wedge of earth built up behind the buildings so that the snow will be catapulted over the buildings instead of tearing them away in case of avalanche.

This hillside is obviously prone to avalanches, and because of the many farms further down, a lot of effort has been put into avalanche protection!

These were the flowers at this altitude (1750m), but mainly the little purple globes, aptly named Globularia, or Globe Flower

This is our favourite valley to hike in. No matter which part we are in, the view is fantastic and the altitudes are accessible. This is a section of the Schächental High Trail.

In the background, besides Mt. Schärhorn, is the Brunnital (Brunni Valley) on the right where we have also been several times.

Just by luck we spied a brown hare on the trail. For a long time he didn't notice us! This is the first time we have encountered a wild rabbit in our travels.

Although not endangered, the hare population in Switzerland has drastically declined due to agriculture and the use of large machinery in the fields.

VIDEO:

The brown hare we observed in the forest

A view below to all the farms and meadows on this hillside

Trail no.595: Schächental High Trail continues eastward. We are now descending to Urigen and Spiringen along Trail no.1: Via Alpina

At this point, the trail continues to the Klausen Pass, but obviously there is still a lot of avalanche snow here! Plus, no way to get back from the pass because the bus doesn't make the run up there yet.

A self-timed photo before beginning our 1-hour descent to Urigen, with high hopes of ice cream! In the background is the Brunni Valley. The mountains are the North side of the Windgällen/Ruchen massif and form the largest North Face of the Alps (a climber's paradise)

Descending this lovely hillside (450m descent to Urigen)

Another patch of avalanche snow. This snow takes longer to melt than regular snow

Urs scanning the hillside to see which farm might be the one where his grandfather grew up on. We think it might have been there in the circle...

A cliché photo of Switzerland...

This was kind of cute: Urs was being observed by that little cow below....

Being observed by a bovine....

A very nice section along a stream

VIDEO:

On Trail no.1: Via Alpina

And then a particularly pretty section through lush meadows where we could barely see the trail! (Down below is a house with an avalanche "wedge")

Almost disappearing in the meadow grasses!

That meadow we walked through was an exception on this day, as the farmers are otherwise all busy like crazy mowing the hillsides to "Gather hay while the sun shines"

Those leaf blowers are my nemesis, but definitely a huge help to the farmers. We were lucky that by the time we passed Urigen and had lunch at the chapel, it was noon and all the farmers put down their leaf blowers and also went for lunch!!

VIDEO:

How Hay Harvest works with the leaf blower!

One more field to pass through before reaching the Post Hotel and Restaurant in Urigen in the curve of the road below. We are looking forward to ice cream sundaes, and plan to eat our picnic lunch later!

We were somewhat disappointed that the Post Restaurant in Urigen has their day off on Wednesday!!

Just 10 minutes further along the trail from the closed restaurant was this chapel, and as expected there was a vestibule in the shade and a perfect place for a picnic lunch. This is obviously a pilgrim chapel as there were lots of mementos from people whose prayers (for spiritual support) seem to have been answered, including some original artwork from approx. 1930

Another typical Swiss landscape

The trails were literally littered with corpses of these May Bugs (cockchafers). A quick Internet search informed us that the larvae spend four years underground before emerging as beetles, then procreating for about four to six weeks before they die. Sort of like salmon... It must be a good year of May Bugs.

As a side note: These beetles have a voracious appetite and are a real problem in agriculture. Here is a fun anecdote: "In the Middle Ages, pest control was rare, and people had no effective means to protect their harvest. This gave rise to events that seem bizarre from a modern perspective. In 1320, for instance, cockchafers were brought to court in Avignon and sentenced to withdraw within three days onto a specially designated area, otherwise they would be outlawed. Subsequently, since they failed to comply, they were collected and killed" (from Wikipedia)

From the chapel, another descent to Spiringen, where we started earlier with the cable car

Back in Spiringen, but not the end of our hike yet!

In Spiringen is also a restaurant called "Alte Post" (Old Post) which was open (YAY) and we were able to enjoy our sundaes!

Final section before reaching the river: This community is called Witerschwanden, and below is another one of those fun cable cars we have yet to try. It's there we crossed the river and continued through the forest.