Winter Walk from Sedrun to Disentis in the Surselva Valley

(This post published on February 6, 2025)

Sunday January 24, 2016 -- Sunday afternoon walk. We thought we should try to get in one winter mountain walk this winter, as the weather is still relatively mild and even when it snows, is melts quite quickly again. 

The Surselva Valley runs along the top of the Alps in a SW to NE direction, and it's here where the Rhine River has its source. The Oberalp Pass Road is closed to vehicle traffic in winter and some of the small towns here can only be reached with the Gotthard-Matterhorn train in winter, if coming from the west. 

We walked from Sedrun to Disentis (well-known for its monastery dated to 720), a popular winter trail and easy 2½ to 3-hour walk on prepared walking trails. It was a pleasant walk with mild temperatures, although I would have liked more sunshine!

A look down at the town of Andermatt and the Urseren Valley as the Gotthard-Matterhorn train ascends toward the Oberalp Pass. This is on the west side of the Oberalp Pass

Stunning snow-covered landscape.

Here the train descends into the Surselva Valley on the east side of the Oberalp Pass. In the center at the back is where the Rhine River has its source.

South of the valley at the village of Tschamut, we get a look at this fabulous dam at Lake Curnera. 

Tschamut is one of the villages that can only be accessed by train in winter, if you are coming from Andermatt, as the Oberalp Pass is closed in winter. 

Cute little church along the way. 

We got to Sedrun at just after 11:20. The walk to Disentis usually takes about 2½ hours, but in winter somewhat longer.  

A train from the Gotthard-Matterhorn railway passes us as we start on our walk toward Disentis. 

The winter trail from Sedrun to Disentis is 9 kilometers and takes from 2½ to 3 hours to walk. 

Shortly after Sedrun we cross this fabulous railway viaduct. It is called Bugnei Viaduct. This viaduct has been in use since 1926. 

The Bugnei Viaduct was built between 1913 and 1925. The bridge is 120 meters long. There are nine 10-meter arches.  

The winter walking trail runs parallel to the railway line, and along the way, several trains passed us in both directions. 

A really nice prepared walking trail between Sedrun and Disentis. We are just reaching the village of Mumpé-Tujetsch. 

Lovely old Walser houses along the way. 

The village of Mumpé-Tujetsch

We are walking along the valley trail called "Senda Sursilvana" (Trail no.85), as well as the St.James trail through Graubünden (Trail no.43).  

Urs bought some local honey here!

More beautiful houses. 

Around the corner from Mumpé Tujetsch, we get the first look at our destination, the city of Disentis. Before getting there, we will pass through the small village of Segnas on the left, whose train staion is in the middle of the pasture below!

Another train is just entering the Segnas train station, on the way to the Oberalp Pass

The little red train looks so cute within the white landscape. 

According to the description of this winter trail, the three mountains on the left are a distinctive trio reminiscent of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau Trio of the Bernese Oberland. 

That livestock guardian dog is looking comfortable with his charges!

Walking through the village of Segnas with its lovingly-restored Walser houses.  

Far to the south we can see the Medel Glacier. The village in the foreground is on the south side of the Rhine River and at the entrance to the Medel Valley, where there is a road that goes over the Lukmanier Pass. The village is called Mumpé Medel. 

Another lovely sight of the next red train heading toward the Oberalp Pass. 

We got to the Disentis train station at 2:30 p.m., after just over three hours of walking. This is a cute clock hanging on the station wall.

This is what our 9-km walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps. 

From Disentis we took the train to Chur (instead of back via Andermatt), which includes an impressive ride through the Rhine Gorge. 

Beautiful carved cliffs in the Rhine Gorge. 10,000 years earlier there was one of the world's largest rock slides here, and over all that time, the Rhine River has carved out this gorge. 

Views over Lake Lugano from Monte Brè

(This post created on February 6, 2025)

Wednesday January 13, 2016 -- So winter finally came after all and our great November and December weather is over... 

But there's always South of the Alps. On Wednesday Jan.13th the only place with sun forecast was for the Lugano area, so we did our little day trip in that direction, and walked from the little village of Cureggia to the top of Monte Brè (5 km). Sunny, great view, but icy cold wind. The walk through the forest and up the hill was nice, though, and these Ticinese villages are always interesting to walk through.

View from Lugano station, waiting for the bus to take us to Cureggia, for our walk to the top of Monte Brè.

View to the west toward the Malcantone Region as the bus heads up the hill. 

We got to Cureggia at 12:09, from where we started on our walk to Brè, about an hour from here. 

Before starting on our walk, we walked around Cureggia first. This is the back of the church. 

Close-up view of Monte San Salvatore from Cureggia. 

Little town church in Cureggia, Switzerland.

This was just a little walk for us, under two hours, and not even five kilometers!

View to the Gulf of Lugano from Cureggia, Switzerland.

Walking through the forest from Cureggia to Brè. First forest flowers!

Walking through the forest from Cureggia to Brè.

On the trail from Cureggia to Brè. View across Lugano and to the Valais Alps in the background.

The little town of Brè. In summer there are lots of flowers and palm trees in the alleys

The little town of Brè.

We had to walk another 30 minutes up the moutain to get to the look-out point on the summit. The walk from Cureggia was about an hour.

A look back at the village of Brè as we head up the mountain. The snow-covered mountains in the back are in Italy, on the east side of Lake Como. 

Along the way is a look-out point with a panorama placard where we can read the names of the surrounding mountains. 

Panorama view from the look-out point. Below on the right is the Ristorante Vetta, which we walked down to before doing a loop back to the village. 

Close-up of Ristorante Vetta and Monte San Salvatore below. 

Down at the restaurant terrace. The restaurant was closed, as it is only open on weekends in winter. 

Panorama view from the restaurant terrace. 

This view is to the north toward Monte Tamaro

City of Lugano

VIDEO:

Panorama over Lake Lugano

Returning to the village of Brè along the road from the restaurant. 

Beautiful view over the Italian part of Lake Lugano to the east. 

The snow-covered peaks are in Italy, on the east side of Lake Como. 

Back at the look-out platform. There was quite an icy wind blowing!

The church in Brè. The bus stop was in front of this church, from where we took a bus back to the train station in Lugano. 

Church in Brè, where we caught the bus back to the train station in Lugano. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Map.

This is what it looked like on the north side of the tunnel, when we traveled through Wassen near Göschenen in the morning on our way south!

First Hike of 2016: In the Toggenburg from Alp Selamatt to Unterwasser

(This post published on December 15, 2023)

Friday January 1, 2016 -- Life continues as before, a new year of travel and experiences begins! We decided to continue a tradition that we started two years ago, meeting up with some friends for the first hike of the year. This year it was a 10-km walk in the Toggenburg, on the north flank of the Churfirsten Mountain Range and South of the Alpstein Massiv (very near the Eastern border of Switzerland). 

The first hour, which involved a 2-km section along a themed trail called the „Klangweg“ (or “Sound Trail”) was cold and foggy, and then we had some sun and some views. This is a ski area, but snow was still massively lacking. The two ski runs consisted of two strips of fabricated snow, and a T-Bar with a tiny strip of snow beneath it....  Also, for me there is too much mountain shadow on this side of the Churfirsten mountains at this time of year, so going forward, I’ll have to consider sun exposure when doing a New Year’s Day walk!

Our walk started with a 2-km stretch between Selamatt and Iltios along a themed trail called the "Klangweg" (Sounds Trail) where you can "play" around at the sound stations.

Description of the popular "Klangweg", where you can experiment with sound at various stations along the way.

First we took the cable car from Alt St. Johann to Alp Selamatt, then walked along the "Sound Trail" to the cable car station at Iltios. We then continued all the way to the Oberdorf ski station before doubling back and then descending to Unterwasser, where our friends had parked their vehicle. 

After the fog cleared a bit, this is the first sunny view we had into the valley of the Thur River. You can just start to make out the summit of Mount Säntis on the left. 

A look across the valley to the hillside between Unterwasser and Wildhaus. 

The North side of the Churfirsten Mountains.

Walking on snow-free roads

This is the ski station at Oberdorf. It is a disappointment that there is no snow for skiing. The summit on the left with the tower is Mount Säntis

A lovely farmhouse with the Alpstein range as a backdrop

The Alpstein range to the North, with Mount Säntis in the center back. At 2500 meters it is the highest Mountain in Eastern Switzerland

A close-up view of the summit of Mount Säntis with the weather station. 

Heading down the road to Unterwasser at the valley bottom. It's 2:45 p.m. now and the shadows are getting long, and the low clouds are moving in again. 

We often pass cute wooden sculptures along the way. 

Close to valley bottom now, we are now walking in full shadow of the mountain, whereas the hillside above Unterwasser (it is a housing development called Wäldli) still has sunshine.  

What the hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. We took the cable car up from Alt St.Johann and walked across the North Flank of the Churfirsten Mountains, then down to Unterwasser.