Fantastic Winter Scenery in the Center of the Alps at Andermatt

Sunday January 29, 2023 -- A good day for another snowy winter hike as the weather was absolutely superb in the mountains, although cold (we had on our long underwear!) 

We decided on a very easy 10-km "stroll" in the mountains near Andermatt, which is relatively close to where we live so didn't require a lot of time to get there. The hike actually consisted of two sections, starting higher up the mountain on the road toward the Oberalp Pass and walking down to Andermatt (6 km), and then taking a train to Hospental in the direction of the Furka Pass and walking back to Andermatt (4 km). (We could have done it all in one direction going westward, but it turned out to be quite nice this way).

The vehicle road from Andermatt in the Urseren Valley to the Surselva Valley on the other side of the Oberalp Pass is closed to traffic in winter and converted to a walking "trail" and ski/sledding piste. Sledding down from the train station called Nätschen along this road was one of the first winter outings I did when I came to Switzerland in 2013, and we felt like walking it again. Since it only takes 90 minutes to walk down to Andermatt, we decided to add another hour to our walk on the winter trail between Andermatt and Hospental. We are glad of this decision as the afternoon temperatures were ideal, and we enjoyed a lot of sunshine!

Starting down the road at 10:45 toward Andermatt; the Nätschen railway station is above on the left (not visible). The highest peak ahead of us is called Rossbodenstock, and on the other side of it is Lake Toma, the source of the Rhine River. 

The Oberalp Pass road is closed to traffic in winter and converted to a walking trail / sled & ski piste. It is 6 km to walk down to the train station in Andermatt.

VIDEO:

A bit of a panorama view near where we started. I love the crunching sound of the snow. That's what you need for a perfect winter hike.

Behind me is the beautiful Urseren Valley. At the very back is the route toward the Furka Pass. It was pretty cold up here, but got warmer as we descended.

A close-up view of the Gotthard Massif. Below is the town of Hospental where we started the second part of the hike, and in the middle is the zigzag road ascending from Realp toward the Furka Pass.

Below us is a section of the curving road we are walking down. 

VIDEO:

Perfect slope for small people learning to ski!

The dog was having a lot of fun racing down beside the sled!

VIDEO:

Sledding looked to be going well this day!

This dog was having the most fun of all!

A look down at the new part of Andermatt built by the Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris. And all the car parks are full because there were a lot of skiers up here this day!

Most people were walking UP the road. Below, the Gotthard-Matterhorn train making its way up toward the Oberalp Pass.

There were a couple of Yak farms up here. I guess they tolerate the cold well!

A look down at the town of Andermatt as we get closer to valley bottom. 

Looking down at the trains as they pass us between Andermatt and Oberalp Pass

Various sightings of the Gotthard-Matterhorn Train along the route. In particular we were fascinated by the wagon at the end (upper right) painted with the words "Après-Ski-Bar"

VIDEO:

Some video footage of the trains on the Andermatt-OberalpPass stretch.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Approaching Andermatt, and a look up the Urseren Valley. A large part of the town is still in shadow of the mountains at this time of year. 

Glimpses of Andermatt

When we got back to the train station, we decided to catch this train to the next village over, Hospental, from where we walked back to Andermatt. We noticed it also had an "Après-Ski-Bar" Wagon.

We had a look inside the "Après-Ski-Bar" in the train. This is pretty cool!

Heading by train to Hospental (a 5-minute ride). We could have walked the 4-km stretch in this direction, but we wanted to do it the other direction. 

The second "hike" we did started in Hospental, walking toward Andermatt. We had less than an hour because the trail was very good. We started here at 13:15

A look behind us at the village of Hospental. 

Close-up view of the tower ruins in Hospental

It only took us about 45 minutes from here to walk to the station. 

Walking toward Andermatt we had the Oberalp Pass in our view, as well as the Gütsch Wind Energy Turbines. 

A close-up look at the Oberalp Valley. There is a train just stopped at the Nätschen train station where we started our hike. You can also see the winding road we descended. 

Another look behind us as we continue to get further away from Andermatt

Ahead of us is the town of Andermatt and the Rossbodenstock mountain (on the other side is Lake Toma, the source of the Rhine River). 

Crossing the Reuss River

We had 30 minutes before the train left, so we sat here on this fun "bench" enjoying the afternoon sun (approx. 14:30)

Enjoying 30 more minutes of afternoon sun near the train station in Andermatt

Our view from the chair-lift "bench", looking eastward 

What our combined hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. First we walked from Nätschen to Andermatt then took the train to Hospental and walked back again to Andermatt, before returning down the Schöllenen Gorge (upper middle) to the Reuss Valley. 

All the hikes we have done so far in the Gotthard region. The Reuss River has its source here, near the Gotthard Pass (where the pink, yellow, purple and peach-coloured trails meet on the left). 

A favourite view of mine when traveling by train between the Gotthard and home along the Reuss Valley: The village of Wassen. 

Medieval Fortress Ruins in Haldenstein near Chur, in the Rhine Valley

Wednesday Januar 25, 2023 -- We needed a bit of sunshine again, so we went to Chur which is a large city in the Rhein Valley, and the gateway to many of the popular side valleys of Canton Graubünden (Lenzerheide, Arosa, Rhine Canyon, Albula etc.). Strangely enough, even though we currently have snow in the flatlands in the North, the Rhine Valley there was snow-free for quite a long way up the mountains, especially the Calanda Massif. 

Whenever we travel in that direction we notice lots of fortress ruins along the way, so this seemed like a good day to hike up to three of these ruins. All three are near a village on the west side of the Rhine called Haldenstein, which we discovered also has a really nice castle with rose gardens, which we will return to visit once the garden is open to visitors in April.

After climbing the hillside to see the three ruins (one of which was simply a stone wall built across a cave in the cliff face and not really worth the extra 100m to climb up to), the logical thing would have been to return to Haldenstein (more sun...) but we don't like going back the same way, so we chose a longer route to the north, passing the elegant Calanda wind power plant, and hoping to reach the next train station by following the trail on the west side of the Rhine River. We knew part of the trail was closed, but the map claimed there was an alternate way, which turned out to be possibly a 2-hour detour up the hill! So we had to return the way we had come (there were no other bridges to cross the river) and ended our hike back in Haldenstein where we had started. In all it was four hours of walking, about half of it in the shade of the mountain, and even with the sunshine, there was a very icy wind blowing! But we got fresh air and exercise...

We started near the train station in Haldenstein, on the east side of the river, and started by crossing the Rhine River here.

From the height of the Rhine River, we got a good look at two of the three ruins we were going to hike to. This one is called Burgruine Liechtenstein, about 220m above the river. (It is believed to be older than the 12th Century).

Entering the village of Haldenstein directly toward Schloss Haldenstein (Haldenstein Castle) and above it on the hillside: The Burgruine Haldenstein. 

A close-up view of the two fortress ruins Haldenstein on the left, and Liechtenstein on the right. 

The trail leads right through one of the castle towers. 

A peek into the castle gardens, which open to the public in April 

Walking into the castle aereal

Some details of the Haldenstein Castle. It looks like at least part of it were built in 1546!

Village church

The inside of the village church was beautiful, so tasteful with the wood finishings, and the huge organ was fabulous. This would be a reformed or protestant church. There are not a lot of Catholic churches in Canton Graubünden. 

Heading out of the church grounds to walk around the village a bit. 

North of the village is the cliff where the Liechtenstein Fortress perches. 

First we will head out to the Haldenstein ruins, then a detour to Grottenstein, and then to the final ruins called Lichtenstein (where we had our lunch)

We prefer not to take the same trail back, so after the third ruins (Liechtenstein), we followed a road down the shady side of the mountain and headed north past the wind energy plant. 

Heading up the hill, this is a view to the other (east) side of the Rhine River. 

We bought some pastries in the village bakery and sat here in the sunshine eating them, with a view past the roofs of Haldenstein to the city of Chur

The road led to above the Haldenstein ruins, then we descended to its base, before returning to the main trail to go to the second set of ruins. 

This is an unusual triangular construction! Also, the tower was built on a rocky outcropping. We couldn't figure out if there was a way in. The fortress was built in the 12th Century and apparently half of it fell off in 1769 due to an earthquake.

Back on the main trail, we get a view up to the ruins of the Liechtenstein fortress (perched on the cliffs 220m above the Rhine River), but we are heading up to the left to see Grottenstein first. 

Next stop: Grottenstein ruins. This required a detour of about 45 minutes from the main trail

It turns out that the Grottenstein Fortress was built into a cave in the cliff walls. 

Standing on what remains of the wall (22 meters) of this fortress. 

What remains of the fortress is this 22-meter long wall built at the opening of the cave. This fortress was first mentioned in documents of 1672, and was most likely used as a refuge in times of war. 

Next stop is the Liechtenstein Fortress... First mention of the name of the powerful von Lichtenstein family was discovered to be 1180, and it is assumed that this, one of their residences, was already in existence by then.  

A very steep path up the hill leads to the ruins. 

Looking out through one of the windows in the ruins, down to the Rhine River

And a look over the town of Haldenstein to the city of Chur. 

A close-up look into the castle grounds of the Haldenstein Castle.. 

Here's where we had our picnic lunch (12:30) at the ruins of Fortress Liechtenstein. 

From here we also got a look across the mountainside to the ruins of Haldenstein

Back down off the little hill

Way across the valley on the other side of the Rhine, we spied this interesting little house in a large field, surrounded by a stone wall. Very private!!!

We spent the next 40 minutes on the north side of the hill in the shadow of the mountain, making our way back down to river level. 

We might have been in the shadow of the mountain here, but there was little wind (more when we got to the bottom) and the view was pretty impressive, especially the elegant Calandawind Turbine. 

Heading north now along the west side of the Rhine River, hoping to find a passage to the next bridge at Untervaz. There was a very cold wind blowing here, obviously a good place for a wind turbine!

An interesting passage along the cliff next to the river. 

We got to the closed path at 2:15 p.m., only to discover that the "alternate trail" was on the east side of the river, with no bridge to cross! The sign does indicate an uphill trail to Untervaz from here and we started the climb, but not knowing how long this would take, we decided to turn back.

Later, looking at our map, there is no uphill trail marked on the map, although there is an obvious, well-trampled trail with steps leading from the closure point. Later we figured the trail must go to that road, a 45-minute climb for sure, and then still a long way back down the road. 

Heading back south again along the mountain trail toward the wind energy plant and on from there back to Haldenstein. 

Afternoon winter sunshine on the mountains on the east side of the Rhine River.

Final stretch along the river to the bridge at Haldenstein... the train station is on the other side at the bridge. 

A final look at the Liechtenstein Ruins as we pass below the cliff on which it is perched. 

Lovely afternoon sunshine on the village of Haldenstein and the Haldenstein Ruins. 

A final close-up look at the Haldenstein Fortress ruins

We started shortly after 10 a.m. and returned to the train station at 3:30 p.m. Total walking time was about four hours. 

This shot is from the webcam across the valley in the city of Chur, right about the time we were having lunch at the Liechtenstein Fortress (Area of the three fortresses in that circle). There is almost no snow on the Calanda massif. 

Location of the Rhine Valley at Chur, in relation to where we live.