Hiking in Switzerland – Gabrielle and Urs

April 8, 2015

Quick Hike after Work: Kerns to Sarnen South of Lucerne

(This post created on June 5, 2025, from a text posted to Facebook)

Wednesday April 8, 2015 -- Spring is finally here with some warmer weather and the longer days... so we decided we can even meet up after work for an evening hike somewhere other than our regular walk along the lake. So last Wednesday I met Urs in Lucerne at 4 pm, and by 5 pm we started our 2-hour hike in Kerns, a village near Lake Sarnen somewhat south of Lucerne. (Actually, there was a cheese shop there that I wanted to buy a special cheese from, but of course they were closed on Wednesday afternoon!)

So we hiked up the hill to a small chapel to eat our pasta salad, then walked along the St.James Trail (Part of the Camino de Santiago within Switzerland) and went to see the "High Bridge", which is the highest covered wooden bridge in Europe (100m above the river at the bottom of the gorge. I couldn't photograph the gorge because it was in shadow, but my knees got weak looking down.). From there we walked back down to Sarnen, and were home by 8:30 p.m. It was a lovely 8-km hike, but I couldn't do it every evening!

Having met at about 4 p.m. in Luzern, the train now takes us on a 25-minute trip to Sarnen. Along the way we enjoy the view of Mt.Pilatus, which is the main mountain in Luzern.

Heading south along Lake Alpnachsee, the view is to the Obwalden Alps of Central Switzerland.

This is the view of the Obwalden Alps from the bus station at Sarnen, as we wait for the bus to the starting point of our hike in the village of Kerns.

Starting at 4:50 p.m. in Kerns (which we reached on a 20-minute bus ride from Sarnen), we first headed up to the little chapel at St.Antoni, a 30-minute walk from here. (I had done this same stretch the year before on my own, and wanted to show the little chapel to Urs).

Starting at just before 5 p.m. in Kerns, we headed up the hill to the St.Anton Chapel, then along a piece of the St.Jame Trail and down to the "Hohe Brücke" and after that down the hill again to the train station in Sarnen, where we caught a train back to Luzern at just after 7:30 p.m. In all it was a 7½-km walk...

Walking along the main road in Kerns (A look behind us to where the bus stop was).

Those cute little wooden buildings are called Spycher. They are actually grainaries with living quarters above them. We see them all over Switzerland.

The mountains had just gotten new snow a few days before, and they look fantastic!

Leaving the main road now for the smaller path which goes up the hill. Lovely weather for this early evening walk!

Some very pretty farm-houses here.

Eating homemade pasta salad on the porch of the little St.Anton Chapel (5:30 p.m.). This chapel was originally built in 1540, but rebuilt in 1639.

These photos, taken on my May 2014 visit to this chapel, show some very interesting frescoes around the entrance door.

Inside of the little chapel. The right side altar still dates from the 1639 build, but the left side altar is from 1860. The most recent restoration from 1974 exposed some very nice paintings and frescoes.

A look back at the chapel as we continue on our walk after a 20-minute break here, heading south.

Walking along the St.James Trail in Canton Obwalden.

Along the St.James Trail. Our shadows are getting long!

A really nice foot-path here.

Looking to the north, we get a very nice look at Mt.Pilatus.

Panorama view to the north: Mt. Pilatus on the left, Mt.Stanserhorn on the right.

Down below we catch sight of the bridge over the ravine. We're headed down that way. Lake Sarnen (Sarnersee) is in the background.

Down below on the right is the bridge. Far in the distance and just barely visible is the church in Ranft, the village where Nicholas von der Flüe, (later Switzerland's Patron Saint) was born and had a family before he moved into the ravine to live as a hermit.

At 6:50 p.m. we got to the "Hohe Brücke" (High Bridge) which spans the Grosse Melchaa River, which comes down out of the Melch Valley. One of 200 covered bridges in Switzerland, this one happens to be the highest covered bridge in Europe, lying exactly 100 meters above the river. The bridge was built by the military in 1943 during the Second World War.

A look at the bridge from its south side. (Afterwards, we are continuing down the mountain along that path on the left).

The highest covered bridge in Europe: "Die Höhe Brücke" ("The High Bridge"), with a 30-meter span 100 meters above the Grosse Melchaa River.

As we head down the hill, we get views of Lake Sarnen.

A small trail follows the edge of the forest. It's 7:20 p.m. now and the sun is about to go down.

Here on the way down into the town of Sarnen is an outdoor "worship" site. It's called a "Lourdes Grotto". The sun has gone down now.

This is what our walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps.

Heading back along Lake Alpnachsee toward Luzern at 7:45 p.m. Same view as about three hours earlier....

March 14, 2015

From Saint-Blais to Saint-Ursanne in Western Switzerland

(This post created and published on January 8, 2026)

Saturday March 14, 2015 -- We don't get out to the French part of Switzerland often, but the 12-km hike from the top of the ridge near St.Blais down into the valley of the Doubs River (pronounced "Doo") in Canton Jura was what we wanted to try out today. (After both of us still battling colds, we didn't want anything too strenuous). There was still a lot of snow in this part of the country near the French border except for right in this valley, which was great, but the North wind was cold. Our destination was the pretty little medieval town of St.Ursanne, which Urs had never seen [also his namesake, as (according to legend) it was named after Saint Ursicinus, a seventh-century monk who lived as a hermit here.] Most of the buildings in this quaint village date from the 14th to 16th Century.

From 1793 to 1815 Saint-Ursanne belonged to France. http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/st-ursanne-clos-du-doubs.html

We started at about noon up on the ridge at St.Blais where we were going to have lunch but the only restaurant was out of business. The total ca.13-km walk took us 3½ hours and the 530m descent was hard on my knee. By 5 p.m. we were back on the train for the 3-hour trip home.

We started in a town called St.Blais where we had planned to have lunch in a restaurant we found on the Internet, but which turned out to have long been out of business. Then we walked for about two hours always slightly downhill along a crest mostly through the forest. This is the first view of the viaduct in St. Ursanne and the valley bottom where we are headed.

After the first 2 hours of pretty slight downhill we reach the point where we descend into the Doubs Valley. The descent was hard on my knee.

About halfway down and the river is still way down there.

There's the ridge we walked and came down from. It doesn't look as high from here as it really was.

Finally down at the valley bottom, we approach the Doubs River.

Finally down at the valley bottom, we cross the "Pont des Ravines" (Bridge of the Gorges) over the river Doubs.

Sheep are weird. Their baas actually sound like they are burping really loud.

VIDEO:

The burping sheep!

The train viaduct into St. Ursanne

On the south side of the river we pass along the main road of a small "suburb". Looking up the road to the northeast we can see the location of the train station next to that factory building, quite a long way out of town. We got here at 3:45 p.m. after walking for almost four hours.

Our first view of the town as we approach from the other side of the river. Most of these buildings date from 14th through 16th century

Remains of the old town wall.

Medieval town of St.Ursanne, named after a monk who lived here as a hermit (Saint Ursicinus) in the 7th Century.

To get to the main part of the old town, you have to cross Pont St.Jean over the Doubs River.

The statue on the bridge is of St. John of Nepomuk, patron saint of bridges.

Collegiate church that was built between the 12th and the 14th century. Of course we went to have a look inside.

Details of the Collegiate Church in St.Ursanne. There was a cool crypt in the lower part of the building.

The cloisters, built over the grave of Saint Ursicinus in the 9th century.

We didn't want to walk all the way to the train station, but as there is a bus that stops here in the village, we walked around the town while waiting for the bus.

Walking around the village of St.Ursanne while waiting for the bus to the train station.

Before leaving town we stopped in to buy local bread.

A look westward along the river toward the Pont St.Jean bridge.

And a closer view of the old city wall past the roofs of the houses.

By 5 p.m. we were on the train heading across that large viaduct we had seen earlier as we arrived down at the river. A hazy look down at Pont St.Jean. From here it's a three-hour trip home.

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. We started in St.Blais and walked along a crest, mostly through forest, and then descended to the Doubs River, and into St.Ursanne.

Where St.Ursanne is located within Swizerland.

March 8, 2015

Short Walk on the Schützenried Winter Walking Trails at Lake Sihlsee

(This post published on December 31, 2024)

Sunday March 8, 2015 -- Urs had ordered a model train online, and was planning to pick it up from the seller at a Model Train Exhibition which was taking place on March 8th in Einsiedeln in Canton Schwyz, an exhibit he was also looking forward to visiting. But he was very sick this weekend, so I offered to travel there to pick up his locomotive, and I decided to combine the trip with a short walk along Lake Sihlsee nearby, on prepared winter walking trails across the large moor called Schützenried, also a very popular cross-country skiing area.

It was decent weather with good visibility, and ended up being a 5-kilometer walk for me, starting at about 11 a.m., and then getting back onto a bus in Unteriberg some time around 12:30 for the trip back to Einsiedeln to pick up Urs' train.

Starting on my walk at Steinbach at 11 a.m. on the west side of Lake Sihlsee, heading south toward the Ybrig Region.

The lake is frozen and covered in snow.

There is a walking path along the Minster Canal

This large plain is a moor (Schützenreid) and is popular with cross-country skiers.

Panorama view of the Schützenried moor.

I followed the walking trail along the Minster River to the bridge at the four-way junction. I could head to the right toward Unteriberg, but I decided to continue straight along the Minster River on a trail that would take me to Unteriberg as well, slightly more quickly.

After a walk of about 90 minutes, I headed back to Einsiedeln. This is a view southwards from the bus as we pass across Lake Sihlsee from east to west.

This is the walk I did this day, starting in Steinbach on the west side of the lake, and walking to Unteriberg. It was about 6 kilometers and 90 minutes of walking.