Two-Day hike high up in the Churfirsten Mountain Range

Weekend of August 14 and 15, 2021 -- This was a tough one to organize. For weeks now we have had little good weather, and finally, on this weekend, there was sunshine and high temperatures forecast for both days, which meant we could do one of the 2-day trips we have long planned to do.... The biggest problem was that it was the last weekend of school holidays, and all the alpine hostels in the higher elevation areas we wanted to hike in were fully booked. And we feared that most of the other areas for day trips would be swarming with other avid Swiss hikers...

We travel often along Lake Walensee in Eastern Switzerland on our way to Canton St.Gallen or Grisons, and always admire the fabulous Churfirsten mountain massif, where we have also done a lot of hiking, but mostly lower down nearer lake level. We have long wanted to walk higher up nearer the craggy peaks, but any trail from public transit to public transit would take at least 6 hours or 1000m ascent, simply too much for us in one day. But we found a mountain farm offering basic rooms where we could overnight on a two-day hike with two four-hour stretches on each side, and this farm happened to have a room free. Furthermore, to get to the start of the hike on the high plateau called Palfries, you have to reserve the trip in the former military cable-car, and there just happened to be only two of four spots free for the entire Saturday morning, namely for the 08:45 trip. 

So it all seemed to work out for us, to get there in any case. You'd have to say we were happy it wasn't raining for a change, and with the drier weather this week, the trails were no longer muddy, but it's the heat I'm no longer used to that made the hike somewhat difficult for me. And it was a shame that the air was hazy, as the views from up under these fabulous peaks is simply stunning. It might have been a better choice to do this hike in the fall, when this hillside gets more sunshine than lower in the valleys... 

(Photos from DAY2 are now available HERE)

(Also, we did a round-hike on the Palfries upper plateau in May 2018, those photos are HERE. We had better visibility that day)

From Sargans we took a bus to the cable car station at Ragnatsch. On the way there we got a good view of the Churfirsten Mountains, especially where we were going to walk on the second day. This valley bottom is called the Seez Valley

The Palfries Cable Car used to be for military use only, but they opened it to the public in 2016, so not so long ago. It transports 8 people at a time about 1000m above the valley bottom. 

The Palfries cable car is popular, especially on weekends, and you have to reserve your spot online ahead of time. It transports 8 people every 15 minutes. 

From the cable car station it's a 15-minute walk to the parking lot (Palfries is also accessible by car on a toll-road). From here, we are walking to the Sennis Kurhaus / Spa Hotel (ice cream expected!) and ultimately to Lüsis, so over four hours of walking. It was 9:15 when we started from here.  

Taking the mountain trail toward Malbun and Sennis. We have walked this section before

Somewhere we missed a trail marker and ended up walking 100m higher up than originally planned, without any particular problem, to the base of Mt. Alvier, where surprisingly many people were ascending (an hour from here to the Alpine Hostel). We went left toward Lüsis, practically alone on this trail

A glimpse of Lake Walensee below as we head westward along the Churfirsten Range

A few alpine roses

Across the Seez Valley is the entrance to the Weisstannen Valley, which is a valley we have also visited twice. 

There is a large protected moorlandscape up here. The waters collect together to form the Berschnerbach River which flows into the Walensee Lake 1300m below

Ahead is the farm called Malun. We plan to stop there for an early lunch. From last time, we know there is a view bench near the farm. 

I am somewhat disappointed that we have only this hazy view of Lake Walensee, but it's better than fog, clouds or rain!

Colorful Fireweed, and in the background is the mighty Mt. Mürtschenstock on the South side of Lake Walensee

Ah, we found the view bench! 

Behind us is the farmstead at Malbun

Something poisonous

Heading downhill we got to the Sennis Spa Hotel at about noon. This is actually a popular destination for people who come up with the Palfries cable car (you can easily do a round trip from here back to the cable car, which is what we did the last time we were here).

At 12:30, Urs got his dessert at the Sennis Restaurant! I just prefer the cold Panachés

From the Sennis Kurhaus we had to go uphill again to continue along our way, the only ones going in this direction. This view is behind us. This farm is called Büchel

A look back at the entire Palfries-Malbun region we just walked through 

Ahead of us and below we have the first real view of Lake Walensee and the mountain flanks we are walking along on Day 2. From here, we had quite a steep descent, which I would not have wanted to do if the trail had been wet. 

Through the trees we get a look at the upper plateau with the smattering of summer homes called Lüsis, and the farm where we are spending the night, before continuing the next day below those peaks

After a steep descent of about 300m, we round the corner to another summer hamlet called Verachta

This tiny group of summer houses is called Verachta

From Verachta, another 45 minutes on a fairly level trail to Lüsis. We have come about 3.5 hours from the cable car station at Palfries

A fairly easy, although quite warm, final stretch to Lüsis, high above Lake Walensee

These pretty flowers called Monkshood are actually very poisonous

Before the last stretch into Lüsis we rested on a bench. This photo is unfortunately very dark, probably because we are now looking into the sun. 

This sign is Lüsis indicates that our planned trail to Hochrugg tomorrow (via Alp Tschingla) will take 3 hours 45 minutes, PLUS from there we had to walk another 30 minutes or so to the bus stop at the Walenstadtberg Klinik. That fabulous tower in the background is called Tristencholben. 

Below us is the farm called Berggasthaus Lüsis, where we are spending the night in what turned out to be a very basic room with no electric outlets (had to charge up our devices in the hallway and shared bathroom!) And way below is the city of Flums. On the upper left is where we crossed from the Malbun region. 

DAY1 of a 2-day hike: About 14 km, and over 4 hours of walking in the heat, below the craggy peaks of the Churfirsten Mountain Range. 

A nice sunset dinner of Cordon-Bleu and various salads at the farmhouse where we stayed.

This is unique: The owners of the farmhouse also offer an outdoor sleeping experience! Too expensive for us, but there were guests in that bed next morning when I went out to photograph the lake after breakfast!

Shortly before sunset, the view from the Lüsis Gasthaus across Lake Walensee below. 

What our DAY 1 hike looks like on Google Earth Maps. We started in Palfries at the top of the cable car line, and overnighted in Lüsis, before continuing on via Alp Tschingla the next day. 

The area of Switzerland where the Churfirsten Mountains are located

A Tour of St.Georgenberg and an easy Walk to Walenstadt

Wednesday June 23, 2021 -- Our choice for this day was again determined by the weather forecast, as the area around Sargans and Lake Walensee in the Eastern part of Switzerland was the closest place which promised a bit of sunshine.

This stretch is one we often travel by train, and near the town of Walenstadt at the East end of Lake Walensee below the Churfirsten mountain range is a small hill with an old chapel perched upon it, a landmark that catches the eye as we pass by. It had always been our intention to hike up there and check it out.

As it turns out, this hill called St.Georgenberg is a site of historical importance, not only because the St.George Chapel is one of the only Romanesque buildings in Switzerland with a rounded apse, but because archeological digs have discovered that the Romans had built a settlement on this strategic location, a settlement which was also lived in during the middle ages. Even older than this, found items indicated human activity here as far back as 4000 BC.

We did an easy walk, up the hill to the Chapel (which unfortunately was locked), then around the hill reading the information placards about the findings here, then northwards to the train station at Walenstadt. For us a short hike (2.5 hours and just over 8 kilometers) but it was hotter than expected due to this seemingly unending humid storm weather, so OK not to spend hours and hours walking. Sometimes it is also nice just to enjoy interesting buildings, flowering gardens and villages which we've never been to before. And the Churfirsten Mountains are always worth a visit.

This is a view we enjoy a lot, a ride along Lake Walensee with lovely Churfirsten mountains along the North side of the lake. The train is heading East toward Walenstadt and Sargans

At this point, at about 11 a.m, the sky is still blue here, but the clouds are coming over the peaks from the North side. (As an aside, we found out that about an hour later, a wingsuit flyer lost his life right about here while we were headed up to the chapel on the hill).

Although this photo was taken later in the day, this is usually what we see from the train window when we travel from Walenstadt to Sargans or Chur. It intrigued us enough to decide to go up there on today's outing. 

From Walenstadt we took a bus to Berschis, a small village at the foot of the hill called St.Georgenberg. The chapel which we always see when we travel to Sargans and Chur by train is perched on that little hill. 

We discovered a small trail behind the larger community church of Berschis, and followed the trail up the hill. This trail is not marked on our maps.

From the trail up St.Georgenberg, we see the steep walls of the Churfirsten mountains. 

This lizard looks big, but it's just a common wall-lizard, which we see everywhere. 

Below the chapel is what is called a Lourdes Grotto, an outdoor religious place of worship for Catholics. From here a small steep trail heads to the top of the plateau, on the North side of the hill.

This is the trail emerging onto the plateau! There is no trail sign on this side, and if we had come up on the South side of the hill, we might not have found this trail!

Flumser Chapel and St.George Chapel. This is one of the few churches in Switzerland with a round apse. The first thing we did when we got here is look for a bench on the shady side (there was one!) where we had our picnic lunch. Unfortunately, the chapel door was locked. 

According to an information placard, this is the oldest chapel in Canton St.Gallen. It was built in stages over several centuries. The first part (the round apse) dates from the 11th or the 12th century.

This is a section of one of the information panels, which details the building stages of the St.George's Chapel. There were six items of interest to discover around this small hill, including the Lourdes Grotto, and an ancient well called Ughüür Brune.

From the St.George Plateau, we look down toward Walenstadt to the North, where we are heading afterwards. (Our view from our picnic spot on the North side of the chapel). There are already more clouds along the peaks. 

Directly to our East is a small crevasse through which you can see the summit of a mountain... below which is another plateau in the Palfries area. We have walked up there before. 

And to the South, we see down the Seez Valley toward Bad Ragaz (where we recently were when we went into the Tamina Gorge). From here we descended on the South side of the hill, learning about more Roman archeological discoveries here. 

Now we're walking back toward the Lourdes Grotto on the North side of the hill, but lower down. We've decided to cross the road below and head up to the upper barns for a better view. 

A relatively short and easy hike for us. Starting in Berschis, we walked up to the top of the hill called St.Georgenberg, then headed Northwest through Tscherlach (very nice little church there) and through some pretty vineyards, and to the train station in Walenstadt.

Heading Northwest in the direction of Walenstadt

We decided on a detour up the hill instead of directly along the paved road. That way we could see over the village of Berschis, and even got a glimpse of Lake Walensee.

Also, from higher up we could see the little chapel on St. Georgenberg.

St.Georgen Chapel from its North side (till now we have only seen it from the other side out of a train window)

After following the Berschnerbach (a small river which has its source 1200m higher up on the Palfries Plateau) we look back at the more modern church in Berschis (we had a quick look inside before finding the unmarked trail behind it, leading up to the chapel)

Some pretty flowering bushes we passed along the way!

This little chapel in the next town (Tscherlach) had a very interesting interior worth looking at. This large chapel called St.Johannes was built in 1641

Very nice painted woodwork inside the St.Johannes chapel in Tscherlach

Because the interior of the chapel is so small, the organ is in the apse. I was curious about how the organist would get up there. I think there is a 40-cm space behind the altarpiece! I was able to access the small balcony by an equally narrow wooden staircase!

It was very hot, and there were kids playing in the town fountains!

Between Tscherlach and Walenstadt we walked through several vineyards

Another look back toward Berschis (zoomed view) gives us a good look at the little hill called St.Georgenberg, with the Berschis parish church beneath it. This wasn't a very large uphill hike for us!

Passing through the vineyards

On the trail between Berschis and Walenstadt

Another good look at the steep cliffs of the Churfirsten mountains. The peaks are no longer visible. 

By the time we reached Walenstadt, the sky was getting overcast, which was OK because then it wasn't so hot. 

A quick stop at the Walenstadt parish church. The tower was the most impressive part.

A kestrel watching me from a ledge on the church tower!

Some pretty exotic plants in this garden! I've never seen such a healthy-looking banana tree in these parts!

A look back at the church before heading to the train station in Walenstadt.

Town square in Walenstadt

This painted house next to the train station is a familiar sight to us, as it is all that we had previously seen of Walenstadt, when the train stops here!

We had 20 minutes to wait for our train, so we sat on a bench in the shade at the nearby hospital. Look at the size of that tree!