Zurich Oberland and the Toggenburg near Fischenthal

Saturday November 26, 2022 -- This summer we had lots of nice days and many successful hikes, but other times, when the forecast is for mostly sunshine with a few clouds, it often happens that exactly there where we choose to go, is where the few clouds smartly place themselves between us and the sun.

This is what happened on this Saturday. We haven't been to the Zurich Oberland a lot, so late fall is a good time to walk along the hills of the Toggenburg, and through pleasant sun-dappled forests along small ravines with streams and waterfalls. The landscape is quite pastoral as well, and you often get views of the mountains.

But when the clouds cover the sun, it also gets quite cold, and the forests aren't nearly as pretty. And as luck would have it, the clouds hung low on Lake Zurich this day, so not only did we not see much of the lake, the clouds also blocked what might have been a very nice view of the snow-covered Churfirsten and Glarus Alps.

Nevertheless, we didn't have to go too far to this region on the East side of Lake Zurich (near the Bachtel look-out tower and the Fischenthal Valley) and we still managed a 3-hour, 9-km hike.

(Side Note: We had more luck with the view when we did a 15-km hike along the same ridge from the Bachtel Tower to Steg almost exactly six years ago. Those photos are also worth looking at, since they give a view from above of the landscape we walked in this day --> HERE)

-- Further down in this album are some photos of the 5-km walk I did on Wednesday on the West side of Lake Zurich  just a few days earlier, where I unfortunately didn't see the mountains often, but when I did, the view was very clear. 

We started our hike in Bäretswil at the train station, although we came by bus. The railway line here is part of what is called the "Museum" train which makes special tourist runs between Bauma and Hinwil. Of particular interest is that this is the only train station in Switzerland which is fully operated mechanically with a railway control center built in 1912 (on the right). 

Our goal is the top of the nearby hill at Frauebrünneli, where we are supposed to get a good view of the mountains. From there it was another hour back down the hill. 

On the map we saw a small ravine near Bäretswil which we wanted to walk through, that is why we started there. Then once we got to the ridge, we should have had a nice view into the Fischenthal Valley and of the mountains to the Southeast, but there were clouds in the way. We ended our hike in Girenbad, where the clouds finally disappeared and we had some late afternoon sunshine. 

For the first 40 minutes we walked through the little ravine, with only one small moment of sunshine, unfortunately

Some curious onlookers along the way!

Just here at this part of the trail the sun graced us with some "sun dappling"!

Even without the sun, these little ravines are fun to walk through, especially in the summer and fall. 

Along the way we often encounter waterfalls

Finally some sunshine. We had lunch near the large tree. Then the trail goes to the village of Bettswil on the left before continuing up the hill

A farmhouse in the village of Bettwil

Many of these tiny villages have bakeries which also sell groceries, and in this case lots of Christmas specialties as well. And a cream horn for Urs...

A look back at Bettswil before heading up the hill through the forest. 

Once we reached the crest, we had no sunshine at all. This is the view to the east into the Fischenthal Valley (over there there is sunshine!). Straight ahead, but you can't see it here, is the summit of Mt. Säntis

A zoomed view of the summit of Mt. Säntis

We walked this lovely path along the crest six years earlier, also late November, but had more sunshine and a better view!

Here we reached the look-out point called Frauebrünneli. This view is down to the village of Kleinbäretswil. 

This is all we could see of the Glarus Alps, or maybe the Churfirsten?

A zoomed view of some very nice snow-covered mountains to the Southeast. 

Heading down the hill again toward the nearest bus stop in Girenbad. The wooden steps were helpful as the descent was steep!

Somewhere at the back is Lake Zurich

This is how it was for us much of this afternoon: Many of the hillsides all around us were in sunshine, but there was always this cloud just between us and the sun!

A look up at the Bachtel Look-out Tower which we climbed in November 2016. Those photos are worth looking at HERE

This farmland is ideal for us to hike in late fall and winter when there is snow in the mountains

Finally, at 4 p.m. as we were waiting for the bus in Girenbad for the 2-hour trip home, the clouds disappeared and we could see the mountains in the late afternoon sun. 

The red lines are two hikes we did in 2016. The orange one, starting in Bäretswil and ending in Girenbad is the 3-hour hike we did this day. Blue is 2014 and green was 2021. (Yellow was 2020 and purple was 2019). This is all part of the Zurich Oberland and Toggenburg. 

Fischenthal Region on a map of Switzerland. 

This is the view we had on our crest hike in 2016!

Wednesday November 23, 2022 -- Just three days before our hike in the Zurich Oberland, we were surprised by perfect weather but unfortunately hadn't made any plans for hiking, as Urs had other plans for the afternoon. Visibility was spectacular and I didn't want the day to go to waste, so I headed out on my own and ended up deciding on a short 5-km walk near Lake Zurich, as you can often see the mountains around there. 

I chose to start in Schindellegi on the west side of the lake, and walk down to the lake along a section of the themed trail "Zurichsee Rundweg " ("Trail around Lake Zurich"), hoping to have a view of the Alps the whole way, but this wasn't the case. Except for a couple of glimpses through power lines, the best view I had was either from the train there and home, or once I got to Richterswil on the lake. But by that time unfortunately, the sky had clouded over.

Had we expected such nice weather until 2 p.m., we would have given more thought to doing a really worthwhile hike!

On the train ride from Zurich down the west side of the lake, the mountains look beautiful in this clear air. I was looking forward to this view during my hike. 

Getting closer to the starting point in Schindellegi, this was the last glimpse I had of the mountains. 

I figured if I walked down toward the lake, I would have a view of the mountains to the southeast, but there was an entire hillside there! Nevertheless, I did another five kilometers on the "Zurichsee Rundweg" Trail 

On Trail no.84: "Zurichsee Rundweg". It took about 90 minutes to walk from Schindellegi to Richterswil

I did have a view of the mountains a couple of times, but because the area around Lake Zurich is well-populated, it was usually through power lines such as these or other cranes and building posts. 

A look across to the East side of Lake Zurich, nicknamed "The Gold Coast" because rich people like Tina Turner live there!

There were a few farms and pastures along the way. The green grass at this time of year is nice on the eyes (compared to all the brown we experience in the higher elevations)

A look back at the town of Schindellegi where I started on my walk. 

Finally, one really nice view of the snow-covered peaks of the Glarus Alps!

It was still a very nice day for a walk, and the colours of the forests make it a pretty landscape

Starting here in Wollerau, it was all built-up neighbourhoods for the rest of the way down to the train station in Richterswil

It was here at lake level at the train station in Richterswil where I got the best view of the mountains. This is to the East, to the Alpstein Massif and Mt. Säntis. The air quality makes the mountains look much closer than they really are!

The view to the south from the Richterswil train station. It was 2 p.m., and the sky became cloudy, and I "lost" the sunshine. 

The short 5.5-km hike I did this day from Schindellegi to Richterswil is part of the "Lake Zurich Round Tour", of which the peach-coloured and mint-green sections are also part of this trail. We probably won't complete this themed trail, as much is through densely populated neighbourhoods.

On the trip back home by train, the skies cleared again so I got a view of the sunny east side of Lake Zurich and the Alpstein Massif. 

This is the view we always get when we travel from Zurich to Zug. 

An Excursion to the Maggia Valley in Canton Tessin

(This album was posted on December 15, 2022)

Thursday November 24, 2022 -- This is the fourth trip into the Ticino in three weeks! It's really our go-to place for sunshine in winter. But it's getting harder to find trails which we have not yet walked, to keep it interesting.

We hadn't been in the Maggia Valley in a long time, so I suggested that for today's excursion. It's always a bit tricky with these side valleys, as the mountains are so high that shade comes early at the valley bottom. I was sure though, that we would have sunshine from 11 till 3 p.m. based on the direction of the hillside where we wanted to walk near the town of Maggia. But I was so wrong! Looks like the hillside had sun at about 9 a.m. already, and the sun was already disappearing behind the western mountains by 1 p.m.! So we started at least an hour too late. We managed only about half of the 3-hour hike we had planned, as there is no point in coming for the sun and walking in the shade.

There are still many villages which we haven't yet discovered, and we spent a lot of time walking the alleyways of the villages of Someo, Giumaglio and Coglio, the three villages on our planned tour (not counting the town of Maggia itself, where we were originally going to end.) The hike up the mountain between Coglio and Maggia will have to wait for another day. 

We knew there would still be sunshine outside of the valley, so we took the next bus out and added another sunny one-hour hike through the residences and forests of Ponte Brolla to Solduna, so we still got our 3 hours of walking before heading home from Locarno. The sun was going down there at 4 p.m.

Heading by train toward Locarno, this is what the Magadino Plain and the area around Lago Maggiore looked like at the end of November. 

Castello Visconteo in Locarno

At Ponte Brolla, the bus enters the Maggia Valley. We returned here for our second "hike" of the day. 

Heading North in the Maggia Valley along the Maggia riverbed. This is one of the best-preserved floodplains in Europe, and we walked here in July 2020, on the other side of the river, (also starting in Someo, and also not making it back to Maggia! -- Those photos are HERE)

Arriving in Someo, the start of our hike. We first visited the village, then walked to this church, which was unfortunately locked. 

This small stretch is technnically less than 2 hours, we took about 2-3/4 hours visiting the three villages of Someo, Giumaglio and Coglio, plus the waterfall in Giumaglio, and a hike up onto the mountainside. 

Walking through Someo. We started at 11 a.m. 

Village of Someo

Heading south to hopefully look inside the church, before heading up into the colourful forest above the village here. 

We were disappointed that the church was locked. Based on the lovely painted portico, we figured the inside must have been worth looking at. 

Now THAT's a small door!

Heading up the trail behind the village of Someo into the forest, with the lovely fall colours. You can see that the shadow from the mountain has already reached the river.

We found this mountain cabin with a picnic table, a good place to have our lunch!

"Borrowing" someone's picnic table for our picnic lunch, a sunny spot in the forest high above the Maggia Valley. 

These mountains used to be large chestnut orchards. Imagine the work involved to build these terraces (probably before the forest grew up). 

Another mountain farm building, before heading back to the valley bottom. 

It is fascinating how the buildings were sometimes incorporated into the boulders. 

Back down at valley bottom, we are headed to Giumaglio, which apparently gets more sunshine 

Walking up and down the alleyways of Giumaglio

A look north along the beautiful Maggia Valley

1 p.m. in Giumaglio

There are always many such interesting alleyways between the houses here, lots of interesting things to look at.

Looking down another side alley. 

A short distance now along the Giumaglio River to the Froda Waterfall and pool (Pozzo)

The forests here are full of such lovely pools, called "Pozzi". 

From here we clambered up the hill on the left, as we couldn't find a trail. There were a few buildings up there that we wanted to look at. 

The village of Giumaglio sure has a good location for maximum sun exposure in winter!

Checking out how these outdoor cellars are built into the spaces under the huge boulders. 

By the time we made it down to Coglio at 1:45 p.m, the village was in the shadow of the mountain, and the hillside behind it, which we had planned to climb and walk to Maggia town, was also in shadow.  We decided to take the next bus back to Ponte Brolla, at the entrance of the Maggia Valley.

Various hikes we have done in the area near the town of Maggia in the Maggia Valley. 

As the Maggia Valley is a narrow valley with steep mountains, there are many places that only receive sunshine for a couple of hours per day in winter. Where we were at 1:45 p.m., there was already no more sunshine, so we took the next bus out of the valley again. Along the way we saw that there were wider places with more sunshine; we could have stopped there as well, but headed right to the entrance of the valley at Ponte Brolla and walked on a forest trail there, parallel to the Maggia River, enjoying another hour of sunshine. 

Our second hike on the sunny side of the Maggia River, from Ponte Brolla to Solduno, one hour and another almost 3 km. 

A look westward along the region called Pedemonte. There is a lot of sunshine here in winter. 

A pleasant sun-dappeled forest trail, just how we like it.

Down below is the Maggia River on its way to Lago Maggiore

These people have to park their cars on the roof of their apartment building! (Accessed via a bridge from the main road...)

Some lovely fall colours in this olive tree and fantastic gingko!

Palm trees in abundance!

Catching the Centovalli Train back to Locarno. 

We have done many hikes in the region of the Maggia Valley and here in the Pedemonte, mostly in winter because there is a lot of sunshine here. 

Area around the town of Maggia where we did the first hike.