St. James Trail between Einsiedeln and Lake Zurich

Wednesday March 22, 2023 -- Another beautiful day for walking, and we outdid ourselves this time. Almost 17 kilometers on the St.James Pilgrim Trail between Einsiedeln and Lachen on Lake Zurich!

On Wednesdays we try to limit our travel time, but because the day was so beautiful, we needed a place where we could get views of the mountains as well. We decided to travel to Einsiedeln, because travel time for us is just over one hour, and because there was a stretch of our favourite "Alpine Panorama Trail" between Einsiedeln and the Etzel Pass which we still had to cover. 

First we had another look at the fabulous Einsiedeln Abbey, founded by St. Meinrad in the year 934 (although the current Baroque building was built between 1674 and 1735) with its renowned "Black Madonna" (no photography allowed in the interior, so I added some photos from the Internet, with credit to the owner ) and its likewise renowned stables (the oldest horse breeding operation in Europe), and from there we walked to the Etzel Pass with views of Lake Sihlsee and the Schwyzer Alps along the way (the view was unfortunately behind us). At the Etzel Pass is a small chapel dedicated to St.Meinrad, a Monk from the Neckar Valley in what is now Germany, who lived here for some time in solitude before moving down to the site where the Einsiedeln Abbey now stands. After the Etzel Pass, we descended through green pastures to the southern part of Lake Zurich called Obersee (Upper Lake), passing by another small chapel on an elevation visible on the many train rides we made along Lake Zurich.

The biggest drawback of this section is that most of the two-hour walk to the Etzel Pass is on paved roads. The Lake Zurich side was better, but we chose this direction because we didn't want to do the 500-meter ascent from the Zurich side.

A peek at the Schwyzer Alps as we head up the hill by train from Wädenswil in the direction of Einsiedeln

The lovely painted Rathaus in Einsiedeln

Obviously the Einsiedeln Monastery is part of the "Grand Tour of Switzerland", so I had to take a photo for my collection! We started here at 10:15 and spent about an hour on the monastery grounds. 

A beautiful Baroque building built between 1674 and 1735. The original monastery at this location was established by St. Meinrad in the year 934

There was no photography allowed inside the church, so I had to look for some photos on the Internet. The photographer on this one is "andy-p"

This photo is from Wikipedia, by Pater Philipp Steiner OSB. This shows the large inner "building" which houses the famous "Black Madonna" (it is assumed the black colour comes from centuries of smoke from the votive candles. The Einsiedeln Black Madonna has quite a history, having been hidden by the Monks nearby and then transferred to Austria after Napoleon's invasion of Switzerland in the late 1700's)

The stables at the Einsiedenl Monastery are still used for active breeding of horses. The horses are called "Cavalli della Madonna" and are considered some of the best breeds in Europe. When the monks first established the monastery here, the horses were mostly bred for travel and for clearing the forests. There was a large market for the horses between 1500 and 1800, especially in the Italian market. 

Our goal is St. Meinrad at the Etzel Passs, and then Lachen on Lake Zurich, a 4-hour hike. Although at least half of the 16 km was along paved road, there were lots of interesting things to see and learn about. 

Almost 17 km walked on this day between Einsiedeln and Lachen

Since this is the St.James Trail (part of the famous Camino de Santiago), there were a fair share of churches and chapels along the route. This one near einsiedeln, St.Gangulf, was locked

Getting close to Easter, lots of properties have decorations. A popular tradition here are Easter Trees, where various, mostly handmade, decorated eggs are displayed. 

Examples of some of the beautiful hand-crafted Easter Eggs on display in private yards. 

The first small hill we have to climb, finally getting out of the city limits into farming country

Our first view of the Schwyzer Alps which grace the south side of Lake Sihlsee

Heading to a look-out point

Behind us is the city of Einsiedeln and the valley called Alpthal, with the Mythen mountains at the very back. 

A close-up view of the Einsiedeln Monastery

Description of the pilgrim trails that pass through Einsiedeln. The map is of the St.James Trails which pass through Switzerland, among all the other European trails which lead to Compostela in Spain (the end goal of the Camino de Santiago)

A view over Lake Sihlsee to the Schwyzer Alps to the South. In particular, that region is known as Hoch-Ybrig

This route follows both Trail no.4: "St.James Trail" (via Jacobi) and no.3: "Alpine Panorama Trail". At this spot called Galgenchäppeli, there used to be a small chapel and a gallows. The decision of life and death was solely in the hands of the Kaiser in the middle ages. Mostly it was women sentenced to death: Thieves were hung, arsonists and witches were burned, murderers were tortured on the wheel, and manslaughter received the honorable death of decapitation. 

A close-up view of the Grosse Mythen in the south. There is an unbelievable amount of snow there still, on Rotenflue

A small stretch where we finally got off the paved road!

Ahead of us is the Etzel Pass. We crossed the beautiful stone bridge from the right, from where we had paved roads again up to the pas. The house to the left of the bridge is now a restaurant, but was the birthplace of the famous doctor and alchemist Paracelsus. 

I'm loving the yellow colour along the trail. This is coltsfoot

We found another cute farm shop; we purchased cheese sausages this time. 

The beautiful stone bridge "Devil's Bridge" over the Etzel River, and the birthplace of Paracelsus in the back. 

The first bridge over the Etzel River at this location was built in 1117. That bridge is obviously long gone. It was replaced by a stone bridge in 1517, another new bridge in the 17th Century, and then this one was built in 1794, and restored several times. It is under national monument protection. It goes by the name of "Devil's Bridge"

The Etzel River

Looking back at the Devil's bridge. The stone on the right is a monument to Paracelsus

Birthplace of Paracelsus. From the Internet: "Paracelsus is recognized as the most influential medical scientist in Western Europe during the Renaissance. He travelled extensively throughout Europe to learn medicinal and wound healing techniques."

From the Etzel Pass you can see Mount Rigi!

After two hours of walking we got to the restaurant at the Etzel Pass, which is closed on Wednesdays, but we borrowed a table for our picnic lunch at 13:15. In the back is the St.Meinrad Chapel 

View from the Etzel Pass

The St.Meinrad Chapel at the Etzel Pass was first mentioned in the 13th Century, but the original was torn down at the end of the 17th Century and replaced by this one. The inside is pretty intricate for such a small chapel, but it has seen renovations as recently as 2010.

The restaurant and Gasthaus at the Etzel Pass is also a historical building from 1759. The original wooden pilgrim house here was built in the 14th Century, but destroyed in a fire (info from Wikipedia)

It is always interesting to find military bunkers and tank defense lines along the way. The Etzel Pass was a military barricade set up in 1941

Heading down from the Etzel Pass toward Lake Zurich on the north side of the pass

A view toward the Glarus Alps on the very south end of Lake Zurich

Along the St.James pilgrim route, many farms offer accommodations

Spring lambs, and a watchful llama (we recently learned about llamas being used as guard animals for flocks of sheep)

This part of Lake Zurich is called the Obersee

Always interesting touches along the way

And always lots of farm cats!

This view is across the top of a community called Altendorf towards the northwest, and to the Hurden Peninsula and bridge that connects both sides of Lake Zurich (Pfäffikon to Rapperswil)

Ah, more pleasant landscape smells!

The ridge we walked down to the St.Johann Chapel was like a glacier moraine. Here is the first look we got at the chapel. 

Heading up to the chapel to admire the gothic foldable altar pieces which are the special feature here. The church was first documented on 12. August 1476 when the two side altar pieces were dedicated. 

Information about the foldable gothic altar pieces in the St. Johann church. These are some of the few gothic art pieces in Canton Schwyz that survived the Baroque wave of the 17th and 18th Centuries.

Down below is the city of Lachen and a Lindt chocolate shop on the left.

The golden Lindt Bunnies, because it's almost Easter Bunny Time. 

Past the railway station in Lachen are the notable twin onion-towers of the parish church. We didn't get that far, after having walked almost 17 km by the time we got to the train station.

From lake level near the train station, a view back up to the St.Johann chapel on the hill. We got to the train station at about 4:30 p.m.  

Our 17-km hike along the St.James Pilgrim Trail from Einsiedeln near Lake Sihl (Sihlsee) to Lachen on Lake Zurich (Obersee). 

Heading along Lake Zurich now by train, this is the view we have had so many times, which made us decide that this was the hike we wanted to do this day. 

All the hikes we have done to date in the Einsiedeln and Etzel Pass region. 

Location of the Etzel Pass in Switzerland