A Section of the Rhine Valley High Trail from Berneck to Rheineck

Wednesday May 31, 2023 -- The best weather forecast was for Eastern Switzerland this day, and since we were worried about early cloud cover in the mountains, we decided to head to the very far northeast corner of the country to complete a section of the Rhine Valley High Trail (Rheintaler Höhenweg) which we had already attempted to do a couple of times, but had to change plans at short notice due to fog etc.

We started in Berneck (a really cute village from which we also started a few years ago walking south along the Rhine Valley High Trail when we had better views, those photos are HERE), but this time we walked northwards, to Rheineck on Lake Constance. Because it was a hot day, we left home early so that we could start at 9:30 (a 2-1/2 hour trip). But in Berneck it was already too warm, and even though our climb through the vineyards was along a very long set of steps (usually a good way to climb), we were glad of the large forested sections, even though most of the trail was on wide forestry roads. The air was too hazy to get a good view of the Vorarlberg mountains of Austria to the east and the Liechtenstein and Swiss mountains to the south, but for a change we had a few good glimpses of Lake Constance (Bodensee). The major drawback was that we could hear the noise from the Autobahn for most of the second half of the walk.

Our original plan was to walk to the tower ruins above Rheineck before heading home, but by that time we were too hot and tired. And looking at webcams showed us, that the weather back home near the mountains had been just as nice until at least noon, so we could have taken advantage of a local hike and left this one for a better fall day....

(Interesting Note: The trail here follows the borders of Canton St.Gallen and Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden, and we crossed the border a couple of times along the way).

The Rathaus (Town Hall) in Berneck, a very pretty building

Keeping "The Thinker" company, like last time, only last time he was unter the arches in the town hall. (See photo HERE)

Various buildings in Berneck. Town Hall bottom left, and the one top right is a secondary school.

A little chapel to check into. 

Some nice stained glass windows in the chapel

After looking around Berneck for a bit, we started on our hike at shortly before 10 a.m. It was a 4-hour, 13-km hike. We caught the 15:26 train, and had about 2-1/4 hours for the trip home. Note that the entire hike was along the border of St.Gallen (Berneck, Au, St.Margrethen, Rheineck) and Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Walzenhausen). Mostly on the St.Gallen side. 

Our trail takes us up through the vineyards north of the town. 

A look down at the town of Berneck

Looks like a mini castle

A stretch of paved road before heading up through the vineyards

Every corner has some pretty details

This part of the Rhine Valley has a good climate for growing grapes. 

Looking back over the town of Berneck as we continue through the vineyards

Some very nice peonies!

Long sets of stairs through the vineyards, and a couple of forested sections to get to the top of the hill. 

Making our way up the hill

All over the country the farmers are harvesting the hay, and baling it in this form, what we call "Marshmallows". (Each of these bales is 200 kg. There have been instances of farmers being hurt or killed by such bales rolling on them)

VIDEO:

Stacking the "Marshmallows"

More lovely flowers

Walking along Trail no.86: "Rheintaler Höhenweg". We are headed toward the Grimmenstein Ruins. We always like to visit fortress ruins (in this case, it was unfortunately being renovated). 

We got to the upper plateau and are headed to the Meldegg restaurant which is perched on the edge with a view to the south. This village is called Wilen, and on this stretch to the restaurant we were actually walking in Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden. 

Our first glimpse of Lake Constance (Bodensee) to the Northeast. Most of the area in the lower regions there is in Austria

From the terrace of the Meldegg restaurant (closed this day) there is a nice panorama view to the south, past the cities of Au and Heerbrugg (Canton St.Gallen) to the mountains in Liechtenstein. On the other side of the Rhine Canal is Austria. Obviously it would have been better had the air not been so hazy. 

In this small corner of the country we are still in Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden, before we headed down into the forest to Gletscherhügel

So many pretty fields of daisies!

Imagine the work to apply all those wooden scales, even if they do come in strips. 

This meadow needs mowing... 

The style of the farmhouses in this region

Another restaurant (Restaurant Gletscherhügel) with a very nice view, of the city of St.Margrethen, which is where you cross the Austrian border. We didn't stop here, but found a nice picnic spot along the forest trail nearby. Now we are back in Canton St.Gallen

About 3.5 kilometers (an hour of walking) was spent in the forest, sometimes along smaller trails like this one, but mostly wider forestry roads. We didn't mind this time because it wasn't all straight in one direction, and we were glad of the "coolness" from the shade. 

The Grimmenstein ruins were a bit disappointing... as they are currently being reconstructed. Sometimes you wonder why they don't just let them fall apart, as this one looked like a dilapidated pile of rocks. But a nearby sign indicated that this ruins is a protected historical monument. 

Another hour to our destination at Rheineck. We started in Berneck and passed by both the Meldegg Restaurant and Gletscherhügel. 

This is the Weinberg Castle, with a very nice view of Lake Constance. We detoured to the castle in the hopes that they had a restaurant where we could have a cup of coffee, but it turns out they only do wine tasting. 

The Weinberg castle is from at least the 15th Century and was renovated in the 1980's, converting the castle into a winery. 

Now we get views down onto the city of Rheineck on the left of the Old Rhine Canal, the end of our hike. On the right of the canal is Austria. 

A close-up look at the old town of Rheineck and the church which we had a look at before getting to the train station. 

Rheineck, Switzerland on the left of the canal (called the "Old Rhine" here), and Gaissau, Austria on the right. Unfortunately there was a lot of vehicle noise from the Autobahn. 

Instead of a cable car or bus, there is this small train which runs from Rheineck up to a community called Walzenhausen, 270m above the lake. Our trail met up with the railway line, and we watched the little wagon go up the hill. (Whereas Rheineck is in Canton St.Gallen, Walzenhausen is in Canton Appenzell A.)

It also baffles me that nature would create some birds with these exorbitantly showy feathers. 

We don't often see such stone farmhouses

Approaching the city of Rheineck, we glimpse the ruins of the castle "Old Rheineck". We decided we'd walked long enough and didn't want to detour there after all. 

What determines if a house is a castle or not? The structure or the people who live there?

St.Jakob's Evangelical Church in Rheineck, which was shared by both Catholics and Evangelicals until 1932 when the Catholics built their own church. 

I'm getting good at recognizing architecture. I knew right away that this was Neo-Gothic

Very interesting how the history is written on the wall!: St.Jakob's church was first documented in 1433, and rebuilt in the 16th Century as a Gothic church. The parish church was both used by Catholics and Protestants as of end of 16th Century, but a new Catholic church was built in 1932. Architectural changes were made in 1722 to Baroque, and end of 19th Century to partly Neo-Gothic. 

Heading through Rheineck toward the train station

Details of the town of Rheineck

Main street in Rheineck.

Location of our hike at the border of Austria in the far northeast corner of Switzerland

Solothurn Jura: Beinwil to Büsserach along a Crest Trail

Monday May 29, 2023 -- This being a religious holiday and another nice day, we again went out for a hike, and still having a hard time thinking of something where there would not be too many people.

We went into the Northwestern part of the country, traveling south from Basel City into the Solothurn Jura, a hilly region with steep cliffs of Jura rock called "Flue". Following a suggestion we found on an Internet hiking website, we were expecting a challenging hike across one of these ridges, followed by a visit to a large castle ruins.

It was a real let-down, as not only was the hike not challenging, most of it was along wide forestry roads with only a couple of small meadows. More than half was through the forest, and even though the trails along the two crests were narrow, they went on straight as an arrow with little views. Worst of all, once we got to the castle at the end, we found out it is only open for viewing on the final Sunday of every month....

The notable experiences on this four-hour hike were the beautiful ceilings in the former monastery buildings at the start of our hike in Beinwil (SO) and watching a farmer harvest his dried grass and press it into what we call the "marshmallows". The landscape with its rolling hills was pretty, and best of all, it wasn't too hot, and there were barely any other people along the way. 

The hike starts at the former monastery in the community of Beinwil in Canton Solothurn

The first thing we did before setting off on the hike was to look at the interior of the monastery church. It has a beautifully painted ceiling made of wood panels. 

At a slightly higher elevation there was a small chapel (St.Johannes), so we had a look here as well. The chapel was built in 1513.

The chapel also had a beautiful ceiling of painted wood panels. The altar is from 1607, and the four paintings were originally hung on the walls, but then put together to form the "leaves". When the leaves are closed, another picture is formed from the backs of the paintings. 

To enter the chapel you walk over the gravestone of one Mr. Franz Xaveri Walter, former governor of Beinwil, born 1792 and died in 1861

One more look at the chapel as we now head up the hill

A look down past the chapel and former monastery in Beinwil

And a final look at the monastery compound as we head around the corner

We started at the bus stop near the monastery at 9:30. This was a long hike, over four hours and about 13 km. We got on the bus at Büsserach at about 15:10. That means we took 5-1/2 hours for the 4-hour hike. 

The first four kilometers to the restaurant at Meltingerberg were almost exclusively on paved roads or wide forest roads. On this section our map showed a shortcut, but we found out that the trail didn't exist here, even though it is part of an official themed trail called "Via Surprise". It was definitely a surprise!

Mama and baby, and they even chew at the same time! These pretty goats are a breed called "Pfauenziegen", or "Peacock Goats", a breed originally from Cantons Graubünden and Ticino. 

This is the nicest time of year with all the pretty meadow flowers

Even though the hike to this point was on paved roads, the landscape sure is lovely. 

After four kilometers along paved roads and forestry roads, we get to the restaurant at Meltingerberg. After this the trails changed to forest and meadow trails. 

Finally a narrow meadow trail, the kind we like!

A final look across the "valley" to where we had come from, before heading into the forest for a 30-minute stretch along a crest, without a view

After the 30 minutes in the forest, more meadows. After the long period of rains, the meadow grass has grown very high. 

This was a good section

There are lots of butterflies now, mainly this kind, the Tortoiseshell Butterfly

With finally a few nice days, the farmers are all busy cutting, drying and baling the grass. We stopped here for a while to watch how the grass is gathered and wrapped into what we call "marshmallows"

VIDEO:

Watching a hay baler

 

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"Marshmallows" of harvested and dried hay wait on the shorn fields to be brought into the barns. 

It's a lot of work harvesting mountain hay!

Before starting on the second and longer ridge, we get a look to communities to the East

Whereas some of the hay has already been "packaged", at other places it is being cut and dried

You don't often see bulls in the fields, but this one is MASSIVE!

One last look at the rolling hills before heading onto the next crest and into the forest. 

The sign says that the crest trail is "steep and narrow" and we were expecting an adventure. Unfortunately it was just a regular crest trail like many we have done before, a good narrow trail, but a never-ending 45 minutes in the same direction without only 2 places with a view, before we even got to the interesting part. 

One of three places where we actually had a view

A view to the west now. The community on the far left is the one we descended to. 

Another warning that the trail is steep and small, and that there was a ladder involved!

After a boring 2-1/2 kilometers through the forest we finally got to the "interesting" part. Since we have walked often on such terrain, it wasn't particularly exciting for us. 

Another view of Büsserach and the other communities to the north, which we passed through later by bus on our way to the train station in Zwingen. 

Shortly before the descent to the fortress. 

The third and final view from the crest, this time to the south to a community called Erschwil, which we passed through on our way to Beinwil, to the start of our hike. 

The ladder!

The only glimpse we had of the fortress tower on our descent at the west end of the ridge. This is one of those times when you would see more in winter, without the leaves!

The castle is called Neu Thierstein and was built in 1294 by the Earl of Thierstein as his residence. 

We headed up the stairs to the large doors in the castle walls, but they were locked. That's when we checked the Internet and discoved the fortress is only open to the public on the final Sunday of each month. What a disappointment!

At our destination in Büsserach

Impressions of the community of Büsserach, and the old mill buildings, where the bus stop was. 

On the bus now heading north, the community flag depicting the Neu Thierstein fortress mocks us as we leave without even having seen the interior...

Our 4-hour hike as depicted on Google Satellite maps. In 2017 we did a different hike nearby, starting in Meltingen and walking through the Chaltbrunnen Gorge. Those photos are HERE. Interesting is that Meltingen is in Canton Solothurn (as was our hike this day), but the Chaltbrunnen Gorge is in Canton Basel Land. 

Location of our hike in Switzerland. 

Our trip started with a ride in the TGV on its way to Paris via Basel! (7:30 a.m. in Zurich)