Hiking in Switzerland – Gabrielle and Urs: February 2023

February 22, 2023

Easy Mountain Hike near Lake Sihlsee (Unteriberg)

Wednesday February 22, 2023 -- Urs has a daughter who was spending a week at a friend's vacation home in Canton Schwyz near Hoch-Ybrig ski region, and she wanted us to come by for a coffee, so we worked a 10-km hike into the plan!

The valley toward Hoch-Ybrig is one of several valleys which branch out from the large flat area of Lake Sihlsee near Unteriberg, and an area where we unfortunately have not yet done much hiking. The vacation house is reached by a winding paved road from the valley bottom at a village called Waag, but since I don't like to walk uphill on paved roads, we approached the house from above, first ascending the mountain along a trail further to the north, and passing via the highly visible "Hirschkapelle" on the hill above the Waag Valley. The hike started with a 20-minute walk along the channel of the Minster River, followed by a really nice dry forest trail, and then a snow-covered section which was easy enough to navigate as it was along a forest road.

After a coffee and a tour of the house (which is about 200 years old and still has some of its original large beam walls and low ceilings), we descended on the paved road back to the bus stop on the main road at Waag.

The weather forecast was actually for very cloudy weather, but we had an unexpected sunny day, which made the trip rather enjoyable.

Heading south by bus along Lake Sihl (Sihlsee) from Einsiedeln toward the Schwyzer Alps. There is little water in the lake, and because the lake is so shallow, the water is frozen.

At the back part (south end) of Sihlsee, the lake has almost no water at all. Granted, the lake is shallow here; in fact, the deepest point on this side of the bridge is 10 meters below road level.

We started our hike (at 11 a.m.) where the Minster River Canal crosses the main road to Unteriberg. Our goal is on the mountain at the upper arrow, and we ascended at the farm on the left. But first we had to walk about 20 minutes along this canal.

A look into the other side valley at the south end of the lake. This is called the Sihltal (Sihl Valley) named for the river which flows from here into Lake Sihl. We have never walked in that valley, and hope to hike there this summer. That Massif is called Fluebrig.

A look back along the Minster River to the North. The entire plain on both sides is a popular cross-country skiing site when there is snow! I was here in March 2015, it looked like THIS. (Photo also at bottom of this album)

A relatively "short" and easy hike for us, with an easy ascent through the forest at Breitplangg and a pleasant descent along a paved road on the Waag side.

Ascending the hillside called Breitplangg (name of the farm) with a view across the plain to Lake Sihl.

A zoomed view of the shallow lake to the north

The ascent through the forest was comfortable (dry trail) and there were actually lots of "steps" along the trail.

A view down to the Minster Canal and the town of Unteriberg. The mountain on the left of the town splits into two valleys. Our goal is the left-hand valley.

A zoomed view of the highest point of our hike at the cross and tower ahead. There is a lot of snow to cross, but as it turns out there is a road, which was fairly snow-free.

Around the corner and such a fantastic view of the peaks of the Fluebrig Massif in the next valley over, the Sihl Valley. We are walking along a hill called Karenstock.

Here is the junction where we are now headed up into the snow-covered section, which is actually a long marshy couloir. The ground was very wet where the snow had melted.

Where there was snow on the road, it wasn't too difficult to walk.

After the farm at Schlund, the road was paved. The road goes around the hill to the right, and we ascended to the cross from the other side.

The highest point of our hike. On the right is the snowy section and road we had walked. Right behind Urs, the lower hill is called Karenstock, where we walked lower down.

A look to the North from the summit at the cross. Our hike started near the middle of the photo, where the road crosses the river.

The south part of the hill below us is called Hirschweid, and this chapel can be seen from all the way down in the valley below.

Hirschweid farm next to the chapel. Urs is taking a photo of me and the chapel.

This "chapel" is actually much larger than we expected! It is called "Our Lady of the Ascension" but better known as the "Hirschkapelle" or "Hirsch Chapel" (named after the "location" on this hill, called Hirsch).

The chapel was built in 1905 by a local politician named Franz-Wiget, who lived here in Hirsch. So it's a rather "young" building.

Our lunch picnic on one of the two benches in front of the chapel at 13:15 (a bit late, but there were no benches along the way until here). We didn't stay long because the wind here was cold.

Our view from the chapel to the valley below (on the left) and to the village of Oberiberg on the ridge ahead (another valley behind it). You can just see the tip of the Grosse Mythen from here.

A look back at the chapel as we descend along the trail to the paved road.

This is the house we have come to look at (and to enjoy an afternoon coffee on the lovely terrace).

This used to be an old farmhouse which is at least two hundred years old. I had no trouble with the low beams, but the taller people had to duck their heads when walking in the main living area. People used to be much shorter a couple of centuries ago, and the rooms could also be heated better when the ceilings were low.

Some nice details inside this beautiful old home, like the original solid wood beam walls, a tile wood oven with surrounding bench, and a beautiful cupboard from 1785 with typical paintings which we call "Bauern Malerei" (Farmer Painting)

View from the house up the valley toward the ski region called Hoch Ybrig

Time to head down to the valley bottom to catch the 15:49 bus back to Einsiedeln. Here is a look back at the lovely house on the hill

In a curve of the road we could look down at the village of Waag where we were catching the bus. The river through this valley is called Waag!

We had plenty of time to get to the village of Waag (not visible, but straight ahead at valley bottom) so we took a detour past the little lake on the left and around the hill

Bridge over the river Waag. We took a small detour this way as we still had plenty of time before the bus came.

From the bridge, a look up to the Chapel on the hill on the left, and the house we visited behind the small clump of green trees.

Our hike as viewed on Google Satellite maps. There are three valleys here.

Now on the bus on the way back to Sihlsee and Einsiedeln. We got a look at the hillside where we walked this day.

Not a good time to have boats moored on this quay! The lake here is at most 10 m lower than street level.

A look back past the lake to the valleys in the south. Weather forecast did have for cloudy skies later in the afternoon, but we really lucked out this time with the sunshine.

The hikes which we have done in this region. There are several different options for us that we could still do....

I did a 6-km winter walk on my own in March of 2015, and at that time there was still lots of snow and loads of cross-country skiiers! The red line shows approximately where we hiked this time.

Another look at the winter trail along the Minster River in Winter.

And in summer once we traveled all the way to the back of the same valley (where the river Waag flows through) for a hike in the Hoch-Ybrig area. This is what the lake looks like in summer, with the boats on the boat quay!!!

In summer, on the stretch between the village of Waag and the very back of the valley, this was the first time I noticed the little chapel on the hill, and have always wanted to go up there for a look!

February 20, 2023

Luzern Carnival (Fasnacht) 2023

Monday February 20, 2023 -- This isn't a hike, just an outing I did for the day to go have a look at the Luzern Carnival Wey-Parade.

Carnival is a big deal here in Switzerland (it is called Fasnacht) and every community has events and a parade, consisting of elaborate costumes, floats and music bands playing something called "Guggenmusik". The best-known Fasnacht celebrations are in Basel, Bellinzona and Luzern.

We have caught parts of the Bellinzona Carnival (Rabadan) twice now, but I had never been to the Luzern Parade, so I took a short trip there this day. Here is a summary of some of the costumes and music bands in the parade on this Monday:

Luzern Parade on Güdis Monday 2023

To be honest, I liked the Bellinzona celebrations better, and even preferred our local Fasnacht celebration in the nearby town of Baar, which we have watched twice before as well. Some photos of those two locations are included at the bottom of hiking excursions which we did on the day the parades were held:

Rabadan Parade Feb.11, 2018

Parade in Baar, Mar.3, 2019

February 18, 2023

Brünig Pass to Brienz beneath Brienzer Rothorn

Saturday February 18, 2023 -- The beautiful days in February just don't stop coming! So another opportunity to get out for a hike.

The south flank of the Brienzer Rothorn range along the north side of Lake Brienz in the Bernese Oberland receives a lot of sun in winter, and snow melts there fast. In April of 2017 we hiked at the base of this mountain parallel to the lakeshore on the "Camino de Santiago" (St.James Trail) starting in the town of Brienz (renowned for its wood carvers) almost all the way to Interlaken (those photos are HERE). What I have long wanted to do was the section between the Brünig Pass and Brienz, so this was a good day for it.

We left the St.James Trail (National Trail no.4) about half-way there to walk higher up the mountain, and descended to the lake only in Brienz West. That way we had a view for a longer time. We had lots of sunshine, and the first one-hour section which was mostly through the forest still had some snow, but not difficult to navigate. There was a lot less walking on paved roads than I had expected.

In particular, we enjoyed looking at all the beautiful chalets in this region. This ended up being a 13-km and 4-hour hike once again, and we had to hurry on our final stretch along the lake to catch the 4:30 p.m. train, getting to the station in Brienz just as the train pulled in.

Side note: To get to the Brünig Pass by Train from Luzern is the same stretch past Lakes Sarnen and Lungern which we did a week earlier, and we were quite amazed at how much the snow had melted in the Turren region where we had done the winter hike the week before.

The train travels along the east side of Lake Sarnen with a view of the Giswilerstock Massif

The magnificent Bernese Oberland Alps as a backdrop behind Lake Lungern

Always a pleasure to travel along the beautiful Lake Lungern. A week earlier we were in the region on the upper right (Mt. Wilerhorn) which now has much less snow.

A familiar view north over Lake Lungern as we head to the Brünig Pass. This is a stretch we have traveled often.

Brünig Pass, the start of our hike (11 a.m.) at 1003m above sea level, so not really a high pass

National Trail no.4 (St.James Trail) descends straight to the lakeshore at Hofstetten, but we stayed higher on the trail. In total we walked for 4 hours, about 13 km, from the Brünig Pass to Brienz.

The vehicle road on the south side of the Brünig Pass

A look to the east toward Meiringen and the Hasli Valley

Behind this beautiful house, we leave the road and head up to the forest.

Walking in the forest is nice when the sun shines through leafless trees.

Remains of snow on this farm (Brääch) in a hollow in the forest

For about 20 minutes we had to walk through the snow

Fortunately there was no snow on the descent through the forest to Brienzwiler

Pleasant and mild weather for our 45-minute walk through the forest. Unfortunately we didn't have a view of the lake for a long time.

Emerging from the forest above the village of Brienzwiler, this is the first view we had of Lake Brienz. We had our picnic lunch here.

Our view of Lake Brienz from our picnic spot. Our trail took us through that village (below on the right) later on.

The first of many attractive wooden chalets as we enter Brienzwiler from above.

Always lots of cats

And once in a while, a good photograph of a red kite (milan)

A few of the lovely chalets in Brienzwiler

We came from the Brünig Pass and are heading to Hofstetten and Schwanden from here, after a walk around the village. The train station for Brienzwiler is 25 minutes from here!!!!

Main street in Brienzwiler

The village grocery store!

Many of these beautiful buildings such as this one were originally built in the mid- to late-16th-Century.

A look up the hill past the houses of Brienzwiler to the path we took through the forest from the Brünig Pass.

A look to the East to the snow-covered peaks of the Hasli Valley

Historical church in Brienzwiler. We did not make the detour there

The date on this house is 1591!

This is part of trail no.4 St.James Trail (Jakobsweg, or Camino de Santiago). Along the way there are accommodations for pilgrims...

People used to be quite short in the 16th Century!

I'm so excited to finally see colour in the forests and gardens!

A fabulous farmhouse in Hofstetten. This is where we left the St.James trail and headed higher up the hillside.

A look back past the roofs of Hofstetten on our way to the next village called Schried

Another beautiful house in Schried

Another mailbox to match the owner's house!

Finally a view across Lake Brienz toward Interlaken to the West. We enjoyed this view from a sunny bench near the forest.

A zoomed view of the south shore of Lake Brienz

An unofficial route through the forest was better than walking on the paved roads.

The forests and villages here are full of wood sculptures, as the area is well known for its professional wood carvers.

Next village: Oberschwanden

Heading back down to the paved road.

Next hamlet called Glyssen, was just a single row of about six houses!

A particularly beautiful house with the backdrop of the Brienzer Rothorn ridge.

Spring lambs, a definite sign of spring. The spotted one is unusual

VIDEO:
Lots of lambs in this barn!

A look back at the row of six houses which form the hamlet called Glyssen. The lambs were in the barn on the left.

Another view to the east. The weather was so mild, we could walk without jackets!

A look down at the east end of Lake Brienz

Our trail took us right under the mountain railway line for the steam train from Brienz to the Brienzer Rothorn Ridge. We have ridden this train before, the the photos are HERE.

West end of the city of Brienz. Our original plan was to walk to the church there, then head back along the lakeshore, but we ran out of time for that.

Church on a hill at the west end of the city of Brienz. We didn't get up to see the church, had only just enough time to make it back to the train station to the East, about 20 minutes to walk from here along the lakeshore.