Roundtour Hike from Biel-Kinzig to Chinzig Chulm and Geissgrat in the Schächental

Sunday November 21, 2021 -- Lately there is so much fog in the flatlands, especially above the lakes, but we were lucky with some spectacular weather above the fog on the weekend! 

One particularly nice place to go which is usually above the fog is at the entrance to the Schächen Valley (Schächental) near Altdorf, one of our favourite valleys and relatively quick to get to. The hillside below some fantastic rocky outcroppings is populated with many farms and accessed with a large variety of cable cars, all of which we have ridden many times. Webcams from near the summit of the cable car at Biel-Kinzig had shown us relatively little remaining snow from previous snowfalls, so we chose to hike to a pass called Chinzig Chulm, one of the many renowned passages taken by the Russian General Suvorov on his campaign to defeat Napoleon's troops in Switzerland. (That history is worth a read, HERE at this Wikipedia article).

We had already done the hike up to the pass in July 2020, following the Via Suvorov Trail down the other side to Muotathal (a lengthy 5-hour hike at the time.... those photos can be viewed HERE), but this time the plan was to follow a ridge called Geissgrat to the next pass over, from where we could then return to the cable car station. The only problem is, even though one side of the mountain looks like there is no snow, you don't know exactly how ice-free the trail is, nor what the conditions are on the other side. But we figured we'd make the 470-m climb to the pass and see what happens. As it turns out, there were a handful of icy sections on the way up, but we managed just fine.

Once at the top, the entire upper region of these Schwyzer Alps was beyond breathtaking! We had dressed for cold weather, but quickly stripped down to T-shirts, it was that warm! The amount of snow along the ridge had us worried, though, and we almost decided to return along an easier trail, but speaking to other hikers up here, we found out that the snow-covered trail was well-trodden and easy to walk. We were so glad we had inquired, because it turned out to be a really nice crossing within a spectacular karst landscape, with incredible views. A really successful 3-hour round-tour hike without actually knowing ahead of time if we could complete it!

The excursion starts with two cable-cars from Brügg-Bürglen in the Schächental Valley below (currently not in fog!) to the summit station at Biel-Kinzig, about 1000m above the valley floor!

First uphill stretch to the little chapel... it sure looks different right now than when we did this in July 2020, when everything was GREEN!

Our 9-km and 3-hour loop hike started with a steep uphill section to access the passage at Chinzig Chulm (General Suvorov came up here with his army from the other side. Trail No.55 is the ViaSuworow trail created in his honour). Then we crossed the GeissGrat ridge on a snow-covered trail, and descended via a wide gravel road back to the cable car station. 

Way up there is the Chinzig Chulm Pass. We can see a bit of snow on the trail, but decided to go up anyway. 

A good spot for a snack before tackling the steep part. We were dressed for ca. 6 degree weather, but soon had to peel off all our jackets and sweaters, because it was so warm up here!

Here is the trail up to the Chinzig Chulm Pass, about 45 minutes from here. 

A glint of sunlight caught my eye on what we knew was a Via Ferrata route (for rock climbers). A zoomed look shows a bench bolted to the cliff! A place to rest and enjoy the view while climbing. Now that's unique!

The rocky outcroppings are stunning. 

First batch of snow, but it was easy to cross. There were lots of steps as well, which makes an ascent quite quick, but we had to be very careful of the ice. 

Making our way up slowly through snowy and icy sections

As we approach the pass, we get this great look down at the cable car station where we started, and at the fog down in the Reuss Valley

Final stretch! 

Alpine Choughs are the pigeons/seagulls/sparrows of the mountains!

A plaque commemorates Russian General Suvorov's passage over Chinzig Chulm in the fall of 1799. NOTE: The story of General Suvorov and his Swiss/Italian campaign is worth reading about. The Wikipedia Article is HERE

A look behind us at the passage we crossed (you can just see a couple more people coming up through there). 

I can't believe that it was warm enough in a T-shirt!

Panorama view from the bench where we enjoyed our picnic lunch

Best spot for a picnic lunch!

We had such good visibility to see all the details of this "barren" landscape! The valley on the left is the one that General Suvorov and his troops ascended from Muotathal to Chinzig Chulm in fall of 1799. 

Now we're headed out along the Geissgrat Ridge, looking back at our picnic spot at the cross, now taken by someone else! We were told by another hiker that the snow-covered trail was easy to walk and definitely worth the effort!

We were surprised that it was possible to pass through here despite the snow. This is a large karst region, absolutely fascinating.

Walking the well-trodden trail along the Geissgrat Ridge

Karst landscape. In the background is the Silberen / Charet region of Schwyz, unique in Switzerland as the largest eroded limestone region in the country. (The Muotathal Hölloch cave system below that is one of the largest in the world with 200 kilometers of tunnels)

Walking along the Geissgrat ridge, with Mt. Schärhorn and the Uri Alps in the background. 

Another view to the West, to the fog-filled Reuss Valley and the sunny Biel-Kinzig and Eggbergen region. You can just see the road below, which we are taking on our way back to the cable car station.

Down below is the military road, which we are taking to get back to the cable car station. 

Self-timed photo of the two of us in this splendid landscape. 

We are so glad we came this way! It would have been a shame to miss this. 

I thought this might be the passage down, but it is still a bit beyond here!

First we had to cross this natural bridge!

So fascinating how this limestone has been carved out by water!

And here is the second pass, to get to the military road

From here the rest of the way back to the cable car station, almost five kilometers, was along a road

A look up at the cleft where I originally thought we needed to descend!

The road was very popular with mountain bikers

The fog down below is now moving up the Schächental Valley

Amazing to think that we were up there on that ridge (The pass is at the arrow). 

At the Gisleralp farm they recently completed building this cheese dairy (2019), and obviously it was a popular spot for an afternoon break! (We think this must have been an organized event). 

Shortly before the end of our hike the sky clouded over. This was in the forecast. So we timed it fairly well to have a lot of sunshine. This is a look up the Schächental Valley, with its side valley called the Brunnital. 

There were many people waiting to descend with the cable car, several families with small children, enjoying a Sunday afternoon in the sun like we did. We were lucky to only have to wait three runs of 7 minutes each for our turn, and just made it to the bottom in the fog with five minutes or so to spare until the bus came. 

The fog is moving up the Schächental Valley.

And now our cable car is disappearing into the fog.

Our 3-hour round tour hike as viewed on Google Satellite Maps

Many hikes we've done in this area!

The beautiful Schächental Valley is not far from where we live in Zug. With public transit, including 2x15 minutes waiting time and the cable car ride, we can be there in 2 hours!