Walking over Mt.Heitersberg, and a visit of the Hasenberg Look-out Tower

Saturday January 1, 2022 -- First Hike of the New Year!!!

In the low-lying regions of Switzerland there is currently no snow and the grass is still green, but for weeks there has been fog. Only above the fog (1000m or so) you might find sunshine, but there the trails are covered in mushy snow.

On this Saturday, the forecast was for fog to only 600m, so as long as we stayed slightly higher, we might get some good walking in. We chose a nearby "mountain" called Heitersberg, (where we had hiked once before but had to cut our hike short due to rain) because at 780m we should safely be above the fog, and it would be like climbing a mountain again! Our main reason for going there was to view a brand new look-out tower (built in 2021) at the South end of the mountain, and we knew we'd have a good view of the Alps. 

We decided to start on the North side and end with a climb on the tower, planning to always have the mountains ahead of us. This was the wrong choice for two reasons: Most of the trail was through forested area (albeit mostly deciduous forest, which means we still had some amount of filtered sunlight) and therefore we had little view of the mountains except to the East; and secondly and totally unexpected were the hundreds of people we encountered at the tower! We should have guessed that on a balmy and sunny holiday afternoon, with loads of parking nearby and great visibility, that many many people were going to visit a brand new look-out tower after their family lunch on the first day of the new year!!!

We should have started at the tower... at 11 a.m, before everybody else's afternoon outing. But it was a beautiful tower, and the view was splendid. And we got there just before the shade reached the tower. And even though we had less sunshine on the trail than I had hoped, it was still a good 12-km walk for us.

We got off the bus (from Baden) hier along the road, where the forest trail heads up to the Heitersberg range. The thick fog was "slightly" disappointing! But forecast was for fog to 600m, so there was still hope. Trail marker indicates 2 hrs.45 minutes to the lookout tower at Hasenberg, and from there it was another 20 minutes down to the next bus stop in Widen. So a total hike of over three hours.

I'm still not sure if the fog is going to lift! But it was kind of cool to walk through the forest like this. 

When we emerged from the forest at 580m... sure enough, we were above the fog! This was the view to the West. We could have stayed here on the West side of the forested hill; we would have had more view and sunshine, but it was a wide flat road. We wanted more mountain trails, so we headed further up.

When we got to the ridge, we had a nice view of the mountains to the East, as well as part of the Jura Range to the North. And by fortuitous timing, we found a bench, in the sunshine, with the view, right at lunchtime!!!

From our picnic bench, a view of Mt. Säntis in the very east of Switzerland

We chose the eastern side of the forest because we knew there were small trails here as opposed to the wider forestry or paved roads on the West side. But this trail was pretty muddy!!!

Not a bad view, even with the fog! On the left is the Lägern Range, which we have walked about three times, and on the right is the Altberg, which also has a viewing tower (Steinacher Turm) which we visited in March of 2020 (those photos are HERE)

The damp forest smelled lovely!

Up ahead is a clearing where we finally had more sunshine and a view to the Bernese Alps

In this clearing we had a view of the Bernese Alps to the Southwest. From here we headed eastward again to climb the ridge trail to the summit of Mt. Heitersberg, where we were mostly in the forest again. 

The highest point of this hike, on the summit of Mt. Heitersberg

In the second world war, there was a defense line right over this mountain. In the mountain are hidden seven military bunkers within a few hundred meters of each other.

Even though most of the hike was through the forest, because its a deciduous forest, we still had some rays of sunshine. On the left, the hillside drops steeply down to a lake called Egelsee (which we visited in Apri 2014. But you could just barely see it through the trees

Finally a clearing with a nice view over the city of Zurich

First glimpse of the Hasenberg tower as we got off the mountain. The noise of the hundreds of people here was a shock. The tower is 40m high.

A look up at the beautiful Hasenberg tower. The viewing platform is at 36 m, and there are 210 steps to cover to get there!

The view from up here is definitely spectacular. And the panorama photo placards are useful to help identify all the mountains we see!

The view to the Northeast from the viewing platform

View to the Southeast and the Glarnish Alps

A zoomed view of the beautiful Glarnish Alps. 

And you even get a view to the Bernese Alps to the southwest!

As more and more people came up on the platform, we were starting to feel too crowded. So we didn't stay long. 

Another view on the way down. Looks like there is still fog down along the Reuss River in what is called the Freiamt region of Canton Aargau. (We're heading that way once we get onto the train in Widen-Berikon)

Luckily the tower is so huge that it can accommodate a lot of people

A look back at the Hasenberg tower as we now make our way down the hill to Widen, which is the nearest bus stop. 

As it's now almost 3 p.m. and the sun is already getting low in the West, the visibility to the East is even better. On the right is Mt. Säntis in the Alpstein Massif in the very eastern part of Switzerland, and the hill with the TV towers (also a look-out tower) is Mt.Uetliberg, which is Zurich's mountain (the city is on the other side). 

As we head down the hill toward the town of Widen, there are more and more people coming up from the huge parking lot, more people who want to see the new tower!!!

A final photo with the pastoral lands of Canton Aargau below, behind that the Albis Range with the old Felsenegg Radio Tower visible to the left of my head, and dominant in the background are the Glarnisch Alps. 

A zoomed view of all the people on the viewing platform of the Hasenberg Tower.

This was a 3+ hour hike for us, with a decent amount of uphill just the same! And almost 12 kilometers, on a beautiful sunny afternoon. 

In 2014, we started in Dietikon (blue line) and walked to the lake called Egelsee. Our plan was to continue across the Heitersberg hill, but it started raining and we cut the hike short. This time we decided to start on the North end to cover the ground we had wanted to do the first time, but instead of going to the lake, we crossed over the "mountain" along the ridge trail. The Hasenberg tower was our main goal. 

From the train station in Widen-Berikon, you take a special train called the "Dietikon-Bremgarten Bahn" which follows the motor vehicle road as it winds its way down to Bremgarten on the Reuss River. The fog looks cool from here. 

Crossing the Reuss River at Bremgarten, on the way to Wohlen. 

Once we got near home, the sun was setting and made a very nice late afternoon mood at the lake (Mt.Pilatus in the background).

On nice clear days we can see the Bernese Alps from our balcony as well!!!

A Walk along the Italian Border in the very South of Switzerland near Stabio

Friday December 31, 2021 -- Final hike of the year!!!

After several weeks of rather depressing weather, we finally have some sunshine! But the sunshine can only be found ABOVE the fog, and the mild temperatures have melted a large amount of the snow which the higher elevations received earlier in December. In winter, a mountain "hike" on prepared winter trails has to include lots of crunchy snow and snow-covered trees, but this is no longer the case. Dry streets, wet snow on the trails, brown hillsides showing through the snow.... not attractive to me.

So this means... another trip to the South!!!  We are running out of places to hike there now, so a lot of our day hikes cover some of the ground we had already done before. Like this time, when we started in Meride on Monte San Giorgio, the first part of our 3-hour hike was a bit of déjà-vu. (Photos from the last time we were here can be viewed at this LINK). But this time we walked up to the Tremona Archeological Park to admire the excavations of the medieval village discovered there, a restoration which took 10,000 man-hours and 11 years to complete. (Remains from the Bronze Age were also found here). 

From there the rest of the "hike" was basically a walk through vineyards, villages and forests, mostly in the pleasant sunshine (almost too warm) and a large part along the Italian border, as that's the closest we can get to going to Italy at the moment. And of course, every church that wasn't locked had to be visited, as I am always looking for some fabulous artwork. Many of these buildings are like their own art museums....

NOTE: Monte San Giorgio is one of Switzerland's 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of the massive amounts of prehistoric items found here. (Regarded as the best fossil record of marine life from the Triassic Period --> See also HERE).  

On our way up to Meride from Mendrisio by bus, we pass the Sant'Antonio Church in Besazio, one of several churches along our walking trail. 

In Meride we study the trail markers: First we want to visit the Archeological Park. From there to Tremona and Besazio, but it will take longer, as we are going over the hill instead of around it.

Some interesting details in the village of Meride

Of course there is a church in Meride (Two actually... The other would have had frescoes but required a detour, so we didn't go) but the building itself was difficult to photograph. This is the inside.

Main street in Meride!

(This photo of Meride was taken two days earlier by a friend of Urs' who did the same hike we did. He found a look-out point which we missed.)

We walked altogether about 13 km and 3.5 hours in the area around the border to Italy. Stabio has a new train station with direct connections from Lugano to the Malpensa Airport in Italy).

This is what the archeological excavation looks like from above. It took 11 years to systematically excavate the hilltop. Many mason apprentices helped over the years, as it was a good opportunity for them to learn how to restore the walls. The medieval village seems to have been abandoned in the 14th Century. But items were found here that dated back to the Bronze Age.

Discovering the Tremona Archeological Park

It took 11 years to restore the base walls of this medieval village on the hilltop

Lots of interesting information to learn about what life would have been like in this village

From here on the hill you can see all the way to the Monte Rosa Massif on the West side of Switzerland

Zoomed view of the Valais Alps (Monte Rosa Massif, with the highest peak in the Swiss Alps)

Heading down the mountain to Tremona. Someone did some random Christmas decorations in the forest!

In Tremona at the Info Center is a large poster of an artist's concept of what the village might have looked like in the middle ages before it was abandoned

Chiesa dell'Assunta is the parish church in Tremona. There is another chapel (St.Agatha) on a nearby hill, but we didn't go up to it, but rather walked around the hill. 

Documented in 1538, this has been the parish church in Tremona since 1770

A sole flower in the forest! And even a bee, or maybe a fly disguised as a bee....

Walking through these villages, we came upon many interesting wall paintings. Some of them I recall from our previous hike through here 

From Tremona we arrive at the parish church in Besazio: Chiesa dell' Immacolata, built in 1654 and rebuilt at the end of the 18th Century

A very beautiful organ in the parish church in Besazio

Higher on the hill behind the parish church in Besazio is the church of Sant'Antonio which we passed on the way up by bus. This one has frescoes inside, which I love to look at, but the building was locked. 

Wall lizards are also enjoying the sunshine!

We found a good place in the sun for our picnic lunch!

Here above the Immaculata Church, we get a good view over the region called Mendrisiotto. The hills in the background are in Italy

A great climate for vineyards here. This view is of the South end of the Monte Generoso Range

A quick scoot over the border into Italy for a photo. Urs said he would not rescue me if I got caught here without a PCR test!

Heading into Stabio where there is a new train station that Urs needed to see. That building is called a "castello", but is a rather ugly building. We did take a detour up there so we could look down on the train station which is on the other side. But not anything great to look at. 

These two buildings in Stabio were interesting to look at. The one on the right is dedicated to Mary. The other is the parish church called "Chiesa dei Santi Giacomo e Cristofero" and has a beautiful and artistic interior.

Splendid ceiling in the parish Church "Santi Giacomo e Cristofero"

This church is like an art museum

It's like being in an art museum, but no people and no charge to get in!

Heading back down from the castello (after a short detour up this small hill), past the churches, and then on to the train station. 

A look North toward Monte San Giorgio. Our hike started at the foot of that mountain. The hill with the archeological park is hidded from here. Straight ahead is Besazio with its two churches, where we had our picnic lunch. 

After a forested stretch with muddy trails along the Italian border, we emerge near the end of our hike. In the background is Monte Generoso. We have been up there only once. 

Here in this tiny cluster of houses called Brusata is our bus stop. That chapel might have had interesting frescoes inside, but it also was locked. It's now 3 p.m.

The palm trees are a reminder of the relatively mild weather here!

This is the southernmost part of Switzerland. We walked 13 km from Meride at the foot of Monte San Giorgio and along part of the Italian border to Brusata. 

Changing trains in Lugano on the way home. A quick photo of the cathedral tower in the last afternoon sunshine at 4 p.m. It's only 90 minutes by public transit to get home from here!