Aeugstenwald-Holzflue Forest Reserve above Ennenda in the Linth Valley

Friday June 9, 2023 -- Today we went a different direction again, into the Linth Valley this time, a beautiful valley which we don't access enough!

Since we had done long hikes on Wednesday and Thursday, this one was to be a "short" one, as far as kilometers go. There is a cable car near the city of Glarus which we had not yet tried out, it is called the Auegstenbahn, and it takes you 1000m above the valley floor into the gateway of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Sardona Tectonic Arena, a magnificent mountain region where you can see up close the evidence of the creation of the mountains.

We didn't actually get into that region, but did a loop trail through a nature reserve called Auegstenwald-Holzflue, which required a hefty ascent of 400m, partly through a destroyed forest (allegedly from bark beetles), a hearty ascent on this warm day! On the map, the loop draws in at two hours, but after the ascent you pass through a large section of jumbled boulders from a rock slide from long ago, and it takes a long time to pass through that, so at least 2.5 hours for the hike. On the descent back to the cable car station there is a lovely mountain hostel and restaurant where we stopped for our traditional Panaché.

The highlight of this hike were the stunning views, especially into the Klöntal (Klön Valley) on a short detour to a ridge, and of course to the back of the Linth valley to Mount Tödi and the other Glarus Alp peaks. It is awe-inspiring that you can look almost vertically down 1400m to the valley bottom.... Also, it was fantastic to be in the higher mountain elevations for a change.

Side note: Since this was a steep eastern side of the Linth Valley, we started a little later than usual as we were worried we'd have no sunshine. In retrospect, we should have started an hour earlier, as it would have been cooler and the view would have been clearer.

A short walk from the train station in Ennenda and we can take a cable car up to Bärenboden, 1000 meters above the valley bottom. It was kind of expensive, 19 CHF for a return ticket, but worth it.

The Bärenboden cable-car. Runs only at xx:15 and xx:45 every hour, so we had to wait 15 minutes because we got here at 9:30. You have to phone ahead to reserve a spot.

A look down at Ennenda as we head up the mountain

There were four of us riding up at this time. A nice view up the Linth Valley

The dominant mountain at the back of the Linth Valley is called Mt.Tödi. It is very recognizable.

A placard at the upper cable-way station informs us that this is the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Sardona Tectonic Arena

The official themed loop trail heads up the hill a bit, but we chose to walk north first, to make the first climb through the cool of the forest.

From the cable-car station, the regular trail heads uphill right away, to the Gasthaus Aeugsten, which we stopped at on our way down. But we chose a lower route to start, instead of doing the same stretch twice. This also provided more shade for the hot climb.

A long stretch on this narrow and steeply slanted hillside! (At this point something flew into my shoe and stung me on my foot. It burned quite badly, but I never found out what it was)

A fabulous view to the cities of Ennenda and Glarus at the valley bottom, 1000 meters below!

The first 150m of total 400 meters ascent through the shady forest went very quickly!

On this lesser-used trail we were surprised to find dozens of these Roman Snails. We had to watch carefully not to step on them. Look how huge they are!

Up ahead of us is now the section of forest which has apparently been destroyed by bark beetles.

A window with another fabulous view up the Linth Valley.

It was quite hot climbing through the destroyed forest

This section of the mountain is made of Karst (Limestone). This type of rock developed 150 to 200 million years old.

And finally, the first view of the peaks behind us, part of the Glarus Alps that are contained within the Heritage site.

A rare sighting of a Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel), a migrant bird in Switzerland which is on the "near threatened" list. Urs took this photo

This mountain has a name, it is called Hächlenstock, and its summit is at 2317 meters

Heading off the main trail to the little ridge up ahead, because a friend gave us a tip that you get a good view from there.

Always happy to see the first Gentians.

Heading up to the little crest off the main trail. We have to return and head through the upper part of the forested area.

We definitely had some nice views from this ridge.

The best view was into the Klöntal Valley across to the West, and we even can look down on Lake Klöntal. This is magnificent. The dominant peak on the left is called Vorder Glärnisch.

A view into the Klön Valley

Here is where we had lunch

More lovely blue Gentians

After leaving the ridge and continuing on the trail, we had to pass through a large region of jumbled boulders from an early rock slide. On the map it reads as a 15-minute section (almost one kilometer), but it was not a straightforward trail, and took at least half an hour

Crossing through the jumbled rocks

We found a patch of snow!

This map shows the region of the forest reserve that we walked through

Finally back to a landscape I prefer: Soft meadows and a fountain to cool off my head and fill up the water bottles!

We rested for a bit in a conveniently-located bench in a shady spot

This is the top of the loop, now we have to go down again back toward the cable-car station.

Mount Tödi looms ahead again on our descent

It's always nice to walk next to a stream

Behind me is another pass further into the region of the Tectonic Arena. The pass is called "Rotärd" (Red Earth) and the rock there is different altogether

On this hike we saw many anemones

The view into the Linth Valley as we head downhill. On this section we scared a grouse out of the bushes. It flew away too quickly to photograph, but you don't often see grouse here in the mountains.

Trail no.821: Holzflue Loop Trail

A break to admire the view down to Glarus again.

So pretty

Because we had to give notice of using the cable car 30 minutes ahead of time, we stopped at the Aeugsten hostel and restaurant for something to drink, and phoned in our reservation from there.