Along the old Roman Trail from Mühlehorn to Näfels in Glarus

Wednesday June 3 -- The final nice day in a long stretch of nice days, after this there will be rain and snow again.

So we decided on an easy 12-km morning walk less than two hours from home, on a mountain called Kerenzerberg which is on the South side of Lake Walensee, and also in the Sardona Geology Park. We have hiked many times along Lake Walensee, but only on the North side because that is the sunny exposure and offers us lots of opportunities in winter also. On the South side of the lake the communities are in shadow for many weeks in winter and early spring, so right now was a good time to walk there.

There is a 13-km themed trail called the "Kerenzerberg Roman Trail", the trail being part of the trade route between Zurich and Chur -- in addition to the waterway on Lake Walensee -- in the time of the Romans. Specifically, there were several look-out points up and down the valley in this area.

A surprising bit of information: Highschool children in the 19th century used this trail to get from the hillside villages to their school in Niederurnen. That would mean at least 2 hours walking each way?

There was a nice cool wind which made for pleasant walking, and some nice views on the lake. We started early again, and timed it perfectly to get to the train station in Näfels with two minutes to spare, making it home in time for an afternoon nap, and just an hour before the rain started.....

Heading to Näfels via Filzbach on Trail no.820: "Kerenzerberg Römerweg" (Roman Road). We found out later that had we taken the other side of the ravine uphill at the start, we would have had a much nicer cliff trail with a suspension bridge.....

Heading uphill along the ravine, with a look back at the church in Mühlehorn on Lake Walensee

Crossing the one and only Roman Bridge along the trail. (In the picture are sluice gates for diverting the water).

 

We had some very nice views along Lake Walensee from up here. On the left is the Mountain Range called Churfirsten

 

Up ahead is the little town of Obstalden, it was very pretty

"Main Square" in Obstalden

Town Church on Main Square Obstalden

From Obstalden we had to go uphill again. Right across the lake behind the church are the Seerenbach Falls, with a section near the top being the longest drop of any waterfall in Switzerland

Also across the lake, the upper plateau of Amden, where we have been often, in Summer and Winter

Another beautiful view to the East, with the Churfirsten Mountains on the left. At the base of these mountains, about half-way down the lake, is a town called Quinten, accessible only by boat or on foot.

From this side along the trail you get a good view of the Seerenbach falls (unfortunately not a lot of water right now). This placard informs that Section 2, with a drop of 305 meters, is the highest waterfall in Switzerland

Location of the highest drop of the Seerenbach Falls across the lake. At this point we could only see the lower waterfall. The high one had very little water

 

We found a very nice place to have our early lunch / late breakfast at 10:45

View back toward Obstalden from our picnic spot

This placard explains that until the road was built in mid-nineteenth Century, this trail was the main trail for the mountain people to get to the capital city of Glarus, and also the school trail to Niederurnen.

There were several sections of the trail enclosed by lovely old dry-stone walls

 

In Filzbach, the school-house bells were ringing for the kids' lunchbreak!

 

At this spot was one of the many Roman look-out spots. Ancient remains of a citadel were found, which appear to date back to about 15 B.C.

 

The view of the town of Wesen at the East side of Lake Walensee, from the Roman Look-Out spot.

Most of the rest of the 6 km to the train station in Näfels was through the forest

A few clearings along the way give us glimpses of Niederurnen and the mountains at the mouth of the Linth Valley

Wide open plain at the mouth of the Linth Valley, where the Linth River (Canal) leaves Lake Walensee and heads northward toward Lake Zurich

We spotted this beautiful Sand Lizard on a wall, he sat very still to be photographed, did not run away. This is one of four types of lizards found in Switzerland, and they are endangered due to habitat loss. The male's sides turn bright green during mating season

This beautiful and usually hard-to-spot Sand Lizard sat still for us. I wonder if the many ticks on both of his shoulders made life hard for him?

There were a few clearings where we had views into the Linth Valley

Some beautiful Columbines, they are found all over in the forest, in pink, white and dark purple

Below is the town of Näfels, our destination, although the train station is right at the bottom of the hill we are on (We did not go into the city). On the high plateau above the city is a hidden lake called Obersee, accessible over a narrow winding road. It is said that the landscape up there looks like Canada (by which they probably mean Northern BC)

 

Town of Näfels

Easy morning walk on the Kerenzerberg Roman Trail, from Mühlehorn to Näfels. 12 km, 4 hours. Nice cool wind to walk in. We started at 8:30 and caught the train at 13:50, and were already home by 15:15, just in time for an afternoon nap!

 

We have done many hikes on the North side of Lake Walensee, but this was the first time on the South side, not counting the "inland" hike to Lake Murgsee which we did last year.

Hike from Birgisch to Bitsch high above Naters and Brig

Monday June 1, 2020 -- Day 2 of our two-day trip to Canton Valais... After an extra-long 17-km and 6-hour hike the day before (for that story, click HERE), we spent a wonderful restful night in a beautiful room at the St.Ursula Monastery guesthouse in Brig, and started our day with a good buffet breakfast in the bright dining room... surprisingly lots of guests had stayed there, and we heard none of them in the night!

Before heading to the train station in Brig to catch a bus 10 minutes to our starting point of Birgisch on the opposite side of the Rhone Valley, we walked up to the Jesuit College Church again to get a good photo of the hillside we had planned to hike that day.... then on to the local bakery for sandwiches and off to the Bus Station. Originally, we had considered taking a bus up to the Simplon Pass and walking back to Brig, but were SOOOO glad we chose a less popular excursion for the day. Being that June 1st was a holiday here, there were masses of people at the station, all going to popular destinations like the Goms Valley and the Lötschental Valley and to the Massa Gorge and also to the Simplon Pass, apparently, as the bus had a special trailer already loaded with at least a dozen bicycles!

After the exciting hike the day before, this one was rather anticlimactic for us, but the weather was pleasant and we saw lots of Valais Black-Nosed Sheep, which is always a treat, and even had to hike through a freshly-mown meadow (the farmer just pointed us straight across through the hay!). The trail from Birgisch high above Naters and Brig also includes a section along an irrigation channel, but it was just a small stream of about 1 km, so nothing exciting. Even the trails along the cliffs near the Massa Gorge Valley were rather "tame". Originally we were going to walk back to Brig but changed our plan to cross the suspension bridge and board the train in a small community with the unfortunate name of "Bitsch". This time our timing was off, and we missed the train by only half a minute. Fortunately we had a train every half hour....

It was a sad day for us, as we were distracted by a difficult family event which we had to deal with, so perhaps this was the reason that the tour does not remain a memorable one....

The day is starting out to be clear and beautiful with a nice look at the towers of the Stockalper Palace across from the dining room where we had our breakfast

A short walk up to the Jesuit College Church for another look at the palace from above. Right behing the palace on the hillside nearby is where we are planning to start today's hike

Jesuit College Church, light and airy on the inside

A view straight to the North of us. Our plan is to walk from left to right across the hillside on the other side (not to the top, though, but rather along the farmed belt in the center)

Hidden at the back of the Massa Gorge is the magnificent Aletsch Glacier, the largest glacier of the Alps. Our hike is approx. along the red line, coming from the left

The beautiful old buildings in the morning light

Brig is a town we usually only see from the train station (changing trains) so it is nice to walk through the old city for a change. Early morning is always the best!

We took the bus from Brig to Birgisch, then walked to Geimen, and then along the cliffs toward the Massa Gorge. Instead of returning to Brig, we crossed the Gorge Mouth on a suspension bridge, and caught the train in Bitsch. 10+ km and a little over 3 hours of walking. In retrospect, we could have walked the irrigation channels between Mund and Birgisch as well!

Start of our hike in Birgisch. Brig is below to the left, and on the mountainside across the valley is the road to the Simplon Pass

Clouds creeping over the mountain tops

Along this trail we pass through many farms and by many pretty Valais houses

Here they had just mown the meadow and the trail was covered in grass. So the farmer just told us to cross straight through!

Zoomed view of Brig below us. You can see the Stockalper Palace with its three towers, the Guesthouse behind it, and the large Jesuit College Church on the small hill

The Massa Gorge is behind these first hills, but our trail takes us along the cliffs on this side of the hill, after visiting the village of Geimen hidden behind the trees on the left.

A look down to the Rhone Valley and the town of Naters on this side of the Rhone River

The first of many Valais Black-Nosed Sheep we saw along this trail, all lounging around in the shade, even though the day was not actually hot!

A little one in the barn!

A too-short section along one of the irrigation channels. It was called the Stockeri Suone (German in this part of Wallis) and was barely one kilometer long.

Final section along the irrigation channel before arriving in the tiny village of Geimen

Main square in Geimen!

More lovely Valais houses and stalls on their mushroom posts to prevent mice from getting at the hay

Tiny village of Geimen on the road to Blatten further up the valley

This house corner was kind of freaky.....

I had to add this photo of a non-typical forest chapel. We were surprised at this modern creation, we don't see many like this. 

We've pretty well completed the half-circle walk from Birgisch above Brig. Soon we head down again to Bitsch. This view is to the SouthWest toward the mountains in the Mattertal (Matter Valley)

Zoomed view of the beautiful peaks to the SW in the Mattertal (I don't know their names!)

Just before our descent, another more typical chapel looking down into the entrance of the Massa Gorge

And isn't this just the cutest little Black-Nosed Sheep? It can't have been very old, but was already quite independently foraging around the meadow

 

And descending through the forests more sheep enjoying the cool shade

Crossing the Massa Gorge on the suspension bridge

This is the entrance to the Massa Gorge near the Rhone Valley. The gorge is very spectacular higher up, we walked it several years ago

One last look at the suspension bridge before heading down to the train station in Bitsch

A pleasant, easy 10 km walk above Naters and Brig (yellow). Due to a family issue, we unfortunately could not enjoy it to the usual extent that we enjoy these hikes, even when they are not as exciting as the one we did the day before! The other trails are hikes we've done in previous years. Between Birgisch and Mund is an additional, lower irrigation channel which we have not yet walked. This would have been an ideal time to add this on.