Dreibündenstein Panorama Trail from Feldis to Brambrüesch near Chur

(This post published on Dec.4, 2022)

Sunday October 30, 2022 -- The last hike in October, one of very many we did this month because it was the warmest October on record.

We were going to walk in the vineyards of the Rhine Valley in eastern Switzerland near Lake Constance, but this time we were smart and checked the webcams and saw there was thick fog there. In Sargans at 9:30 we made the decision to keep on going south (instead of north) along the Rhine Valley to Chur, because... no fog THERE! 

It having been such a warm October, some cable cars and chair lifts were still in operation, and we knew of one that was running for the last time this season. First we took a cable car (full!!! others had the same idea) from Rhäzüns on the Posterior Rhine River to the mountain village of Feldis 800m higher up, where we spent a while looking at this quaint Grisons village. From there we rode the chairlift -- this was the one running for the last time this season -- another 500m uphill, which meant we could start our hike much higher up! After a small detour for a view into the beautiful Rhine Valley, we joined Regional Trail no.739: "Dreibündenstein Panorama Trail", a trail which highlights that this mountain (Furggabüel) is the meeting point of the three original Leagues of Raetia which joined to form the free state of Grisons (or Graubünden) in 1524 (?). (The coat of arms of the three leagues were joined to create the canton flag in 1933 // Graubünden only joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1803).

The wind was blowing hard and cold as we reached the stone monument, and even harder as we summitted Mt. Furggabüel. I was glad to get going down the other side to Brambrüesch, where we caught the gondola cable-way to Chur 1000m below! 

From Rhäzüns on the Posterior Rhine, we took a cable car up to Feldis, a small village on a sunny high promontory. (This view is from the cable-car soon after leaving the station)

Rhäzüns Castle, first mentioned in 1288, guards the entrance to the Domleschg region of Canton Graubünden. The castle is privately owned and you cannot even access the grounds. 

A look down at the towns of Rhäzüns and Bonaduz. The river below is the Posterior Rhine, and the other valley is where the Anterior Rhine River flows through the Rhine Canyon. The two Rhine rivers meet here near Bonaduz

Passing the cable car descending from Feldis to Rhäzüns

This tiny cabin can hold 14 people per 7-minute trip! There were about 12 in here when we took it up (all from our bus, probably)

The themed trail no.739 "Dreibündenstein Panoramaweg" starts here in Feldis, but we saved about 500m of uphill climbing by taking the chair lift to Mutta (Alp da Veulden)

A view over the rooftops of Feldis. We spent at least half an hour here, also visited the church, as usual. 

Main square in Feldis

Some creative artwork with wood being done here!

Some features of the village including an old cable-way cabin (the cable-way was renovated in 2005) and coats of arms on this 1774-built house

Two very distinct styles of buildings here in the village, many in the Valais style with wood...

... and the typical stone structures of Grisons houses.

This was a very tiny church! The churches in Canton Graubünden are mostly Protestant (Reformed) and the interiors are usually very plain and feature lots of wood. 

Alleyway from the church back to the main square

End of October, it's great to see the cows still out in the mountain pastures!

A look back at the village of Feldis as we walk about 1 km to the chair lift. 

The chair lift from Feldis to Alp da Veulden saves us 500m of ascent. Because of the warm October, they ran this one longer than usual (operation usually ceases mid-October until ski-season). This was the last day of the summer run. 

Lots of things to observe on a chair-lift ride!

At the top of the cable-car station on the high alpine pasture called "Alp da Veulden"; this is a look into the Domleschg Valley. The main mountain here is Piz Beverin on the right. The Posterior Rhine flows down this valley. 

The "Dreibündenstein Panorama Trail" goes from Brambrüesch to Feldis. (We started on the Feldis side, but saved ourselves about 500m ascent by taking the chair lift from Feldis). It was actually later than usual when we started on our hike at noon.

Description of the "Three-League-Monument Panorama Trail". It is described from Brambrüesch to Feldis, but we walked it the other way around. 

We started our hike by walking toward the west, so we could get a look down at Feldis on its sunny promontory! The dominant snow-covered mountain in the background is Mt.Tödi in Canton Glarus

Close-up of the village of Feldis below

Heading northeast now parallel to the Rhine Valley, these mountains are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Tectonic Arena Sardona. This is the region of the Glarus Thrust, one of the world's most accessible examples of the earth's overthrust. 

(As a side note, this is the hike we did in May of 2020, over the Kunkels Pass starting in Tamins below. I really enjoyed that hike, possibly because May is quite early for mountain hikes, and this was the spring of COVID, and with the good weather we did lots of hiking just the same. Those photos are HERE). 

In May 2020 we crossed the Kunkels Pass from Tamins and walked down to Vättis

Heading toward Alp da Veulden

Alp da Veulden looking north to the spectacular craggy ridge of the Rätikon (Prättigau), which forms the border with Austria. 

This is Alp da Veulden, a scattering of barns on another sunny plateau. The view is southwest down the Rhine Valley

End of October and there are still pansies flowering in the alpine meadows!

This is also Alp da Veulden. There should be a lake here, but it's all dried out from the summer heat. We are heading up to that hill. We had our lunch across from the "lake". 

On the other side of this large barren expanse, the trail goes straight up the hill to the monument at the top. 

A look behind us to the hill around which we walked earlier. Very rarely have we walked an uphill trail that is most a straight line like this one. It is also a county border (from two of the original three leagues that now form the large canton Graubünden)

Up ahead is the stone monument marking the boundaries of the original three Leagues of Raetia which now form the canton of Graubünden. 

On the other side is the valley wherein lies Lenzerheide

There was a very, very strong and cold wind blowing here at the stone monument! We didn't stay long

The three-sided stone monument "Dreibündenstein". This stone is new, but there was a monument here originally in 1722. On the right is the flag of Canton Graubünden/Grisons, a combination of the coats of arms of the three original leagues. The first of the leagues -- formed in 1395 -- was called the "Grey League" and gives its name to the Canton (Grey = Gris/Grau = Grisons/Graubünden)

On the summit of Mt. Furggabüel (this is the house mountain for the city of Chur) it was even more windy and cold, so we hurried down the north side. Our trail continued down and over the little forested hill in the center of the photo. This is a ski lift in winter. 

So glad that the sun has come back again! Below is the middle station of the ski lifts, called Hühnerköpfe

At Lake Spundis we left the themed trail which heads down the hill to the right, and we hiked up the ridge called Spundiskopf

A look back at the lake called Spundis Lake, as we head up to the Spundiskopf ridge. (Panorama Trail goes down to the left). We came down from this mountain, Mt. Furggabüel

From the crest called Spundiskopf we got some nice views of the Rhine Valley below, the city of Chur on the right, and the Calanda Massif straight across. 

Enjoying the views and late afternoon sunshine at the end of October!!!

From Brambrüesch we took the gondola cableway down to Chur. This is very popular with mountain bikers, and most of the cabins had one or two bikes hanging on them!

Our hike between Alp da Veulden and Brambrüesch as seen on Google Satellite Maps

Down below in the city of Chur from the bus on the way to the train station. 

Part of the old city of Chur

We've also done many hikes along the Anterior and Posterior Rhine Valleys

Region of the Domleschg in Switzerland

As an aside, here is the webcam picture of the region of Berneck/Rheineck near Lake Constance (Bodensee), which we originally wanted to hike this day. In fact, the hike would have been right in the level of the fog, which didn't let up till 4 p.m., and we were supposed to start the hike at 10:15.

Another Section of the "Four Headwaters Trail" in the Bedretto Valley

Saturday October 29, 2022 -- This October has been the warmest October in Switzerland since they began recording the temperatures 150 years ago! And today was more wonderful "T-Shirt and Shorts" hiking weather!

Back in August we did a two-day hike on the North side of the Gotthard Massif, crossing over into the Bedretto Valley to hike another section of the Four-Headwaters Trail ("Vier-Quellen-Weg"), an 81-km themed trail which takes you to the sources of four of Switzerland's major rivers. We have now completed most of this trail, minus a 2-day section we don't seem to be able to get done, and this final 7-km stretch in the Bedretto Valley. We had heard that the larches are glowing yellow right now, so this was our goal for the day.

Starting at the current final bus stop at All'Aqua at the back on the valley (in summer the bus continues over the Nufenen Pass), it took us only an hour's easy hike up to the popular hostel called Piansecco, from where we walked a stunning and varied and not at all difficult seven kilometers to Alp Cavanna, which is where we joined the trail in August after descending from the Cavanna Pass at the time. From here we then had another 600m descent (one hour) to the village of Villa Bedretto, from where we caught the small van-bus back out of the valley again (to Airolo). 

In fall and winter, the bus doesn't run that often in this valley, so we had to time our hike well: 5 hours and 15 minutes to do a 4-hour-15-minute hike, and even with a lunch break along the way, we still managed to get to the valley bottom with 20 minutes to spare!

(Photos of the August Hike are still a work in progress. But here are the photos of the section of this valley which we walked from the Nufenen Pass to the Piansecco hostel in September 2018 --> HERE)

Heading up from the valley bottom at All'Acqua to the hostel at Piansecco. We started at 9:30, and it took us an hour. We started in the shade, but soon had sunshine

Our first view down the Bedretto Valley. Valley bottom still has shade. The Ticino River flows down this valley. It has its source near the Nufenen Pass. 

We arrived at the hostel at 10:30. They are just closing down for winter.

We took a snack break at the hostel, and I changed into shorts!

This trail is called the "Sentiero Alto Val Bedretto" or "Bedretto Valley High Trail", of which we have done two sections, one from Nufenen Pass to here, and another section on the East end of the trail. This is also part of Trail no.49: "Four Headwaters Trail"

Starting in All'Acqua it took us an hour to walk up to the hostel at Piansecco, then two hours along the beautiful "High Road", and another just over an hour to descend to Villa Bedretto from Alpe Cavanna. We still had 20 minutes to look around the village before the bus came. 

The start of our hike along the south flank of the Gotthard mountains direction down-valley. It was a fantastic, very warm day with beautiful views and fall colours

The whole way we had the valley on our right and fantastic rocky cliffs on the left. 

Early morning shade in the Bedretto Valley

The warmest October in recorded history. 

Looking east down the Bedretto Valley to Airolo, which is the city just south of the Gotthard motor-vehicle tunnel (and original train tunnel from north of the Alps)

Looking down at the trail where it continues on the far side of this ravine, it is hard to imagine how we will get down there! We had our picnic lunch down there at the arrow. 

We had to descend on this mountainside of fallen rocks along a long zigzag path

Crossing at the back of the ravine... look at the colour of the water in that pool beneath the bridge!

A look down the ravine from the little bridge. On the right is the rocky hillside we descended, on the left the place where we stopped for our picnic lunch. 

Superb location for our picnic lunch!

A look across the ravine to the zigzag path we descended

Most of the larches had rust-coloured needles, but some of them were bright yellow

From here a path descended to another of the villages at valley bottom: Ronco

An interesting, possible moor-type landscape? Behind the row of trees is a steep descent to valley bottom, although this is not where we descended. 

Above us always these spectacular rocky peaks of the Gotthard Massif

Below, the first glimpse of the village of Villa Bedretto, which is the goal of our hike (this is a very close-up view!)

Coming into another side valley from where there is another trail down to the village of Bedretto, we get the first look at the mountain ridge we crossed in August, the Hüenderstock on the right. 

A large group of paragliders had boarded the bus with us in Airolo (they didn't expect a small van-bus and so didn't reserve ahead, and we barely all had room in the bus). The whole group climbed up from Villa Bedretto and we saw them in the sky as we passed here. 

On the other side of the Bedretto Valley is Val Cristallina, which Urs has hiked before. 

Pizzo Rotondo / Pizzo Pesciora. Heading around the bend now to Alpe Cavanna

These flame-coloured larches are what we came to see

A look up the Bedretto Valley toward the Nufenen Pass. The Ticino River flows below

Another look down the Bedretto Valley. Of note is the large stone wall below, which was built to protect the village of Villa Bedretto below from avalanches

Imagine the amount of work involved in building this stone wall for several hundred meters down the mountainside !!!

This is Alpe Cavanna, and we descended from Passo di Cavanna in August. This time, we are descending (road on the right) 600meters to Villa Bedretto. Mostly through forest for an hour. 

There are always interesting fungi in the forest

Near the bottom now, above the village of Villa Bedretto. We entered the village through that dike on the left. 

Heading past the village into the ravine (Cavanna River) so we can pass through the dike near the road below. 

Higher up the stone wall protects from avalanches, here it's a dike on the east side of the village

Passing through the dike into Villa Bedretto

Looking down at the church in Villa Bedretto

We still had enough time to check out the village before the bus came. 

Even the church bell-tower is built with a tapered side to the mountain, in case of an avalanche

The church of The Maccabean Saints in Villa Bedretto 

Here's the bus from All'Acqua to take us back to Airolo (2:45 p.m.). It was the same bus driver, and he told us he wasn't happy that the paragliders hadn't pre-reserved earlier! He also said it was totally unnatural that the valley looked like spring this late in the season. 

As we head back to the main road in the bus, a look back at the village of Villa Bedretto and the mountainside where we did our hike. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps

On the way home by train in the Reuss Valley, we pass the village of Wassen each time. This village is just a short distance north of the Gotthard tunnel, and the train does a 180-curve twice, so that the village is seen three times on the trip

Nearer to home, i.e. just before the Arth-Goldau train station is another of my favourite views, namely Lake Lauerz and the Mythen Mountains 

Here are all the parts of the "Four Headwaters Trail". We are missing only the part between the Gotthard Pass and Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass. It is a 2-day stretch and requires overnighting in an Alpine Hostel, which is usually booked out all summer. By the time we can go in fall, it often has already snowed. 

All the hikes we have done in the area of the Bedretto Valley and the Gotthard Pass

Where the Bedretto Valley is located in Switzerland