Tschamut to Sedrun in the Surselva Valley

(November 8, 2015) -- This unusual warm weather we have been enjoying means we have a longer hiking season, but we have to plan our travel well to avoid places where the cable cars don't run anymore (revision before ski season) or narrow valleys where the mountains cast shadows.

Sunday morning we headed through the Gotthard Tunnel to just South of the Alps to hike in the Bedretto Valley, but as we took the bus up the valley we quickly saw there would be little sun all day. So we headed right back through the tunnel again and up high into the Alps where we would be sure to have lots of sunshine (and no snow!)

Just East of the Oberalp Pass we did an 11 km hike (3.5 hours) in the Surselva Valley (where the Rhine River has its source) from Tschamut to Sedrun. Great for hiking but the ski areas have all their snow machines up and ready to make snow but it's just not cold enough.

First attempt for a hike was the Bedretto Valley, but there is shadow all day, so we headed up higher to the Surselva Valley, East of the Oberalp Pass

Heading toward the Oberalp Pass from Andermatt, looking West

Oberalp Lake at the Oberalp Pass, Switzerland

Oberalp Lake at the Oberalp Pass, Switzerland

Oberalp Lake at the Oberalp Pass, Switzerland. The old wagons of the Gotthard-Matterhorn train have windows you can still open. I prefer those to the modern cars.

Dammed Lake across from Tschamut in the Surselva Valley. This is a destination for next summer.

Little village of Tschamut in the Surselva Valley. It lies quite a bit lower than its train station. 

Tschamut in the Surselva Valley, Switzerland, the starting point of our hike. From here we first have to climb steep upwards almost 200m.

This is near the ski area of Milez. There are avalanche barriers everywhere

Ski village of Milez, desperately hoping for snow!

Looking down the valley toward Sedrun from the ski village of Milez.

We didn't take the direct route to Sedrun, but walked along the hillside.

Looking East down the valley toward Sedrun from the ski village of Milez.

They are desperately waiting for snow here. Hard to believe we are at 1900m above sea level, and those peaks are almost 3000m up with little snow.

Lunch time at 1900m above sea level, November 8, 2015, and no snow yet! 

At the back, in the dip, is Lake Toma, the source of the Rhine River. That is 2300m and the North side, so it has snow.

Enjoying the last rays of sunshine!

Heading down to Sedrun to catch the train back home. 

Sedrun, Switzerland

On the way back to Andermatt and Goeschenen

Panorama Loop Trail in the Motor-Vehicle-Free Resort town of Braunwald

(This post published on November 2, 2024)

Saturday November 7, 2015 -- Our fantastic weather is still going strong... and we are taking advantage of it, with five hikes in just one week! It is a bit of a problem to find good hikes to do at higher elevations because all the cable cars are usually undergoing revision starting mid-October, in preparation for the ski season. So on this Saturday we were lucky to find that they were running the cable cars in Braunwald this weekend as an exception because of the great weather. We can easily reach the motor-vehicle-free vacation town by funicular, and from there took a cable car up to our starting point called Grotzenbühl, to walk the 9-km long Panorama Loop Trail (Although it was so nice that we just continued right back down to the funicular station in Braunwald, making it a 11-km walk). It still required a good uphill climb to the first lookout point, but well worth it! It is awesome that we can do a high-alpine style tour at this time of year. And in shorts and T-shirt to boot!

(It has been such a long and warm Indian Summer, that the ski resorts are starting to get nervous about the start of the skiing season. They are not even able to MAKE snow, because the weather is too warm!)

The dominant mountain here is called Ortstock. We had to walk 15 minutes to the cable-car station, which would take us to the start of our hike at Grotzenbühl. Right now it's 10:15 in the morning.

It's nice that the cows can still be outside on these mountain pastures this late in the season!

The cable car is running as an exception on this beautiful November weekend!

We are so happy that we can get up higher in the mountains with a cable-car.! Usually they end their runs middle to end of October, and get their revisions in November, preparing for the skiing season. We started here at 10:30 a.m. 

As we head uphill on the northern section of the Panorama Trail, we first have a long stretch on a wide dirt road through the forest. Then we get the first look into the Linth Valley below, and the lovely Lake Oberblegisee

It's so warm now that I had to put on my shorts!

Mild November weather that we can hike in shorts!

The air was also so fabulously clear that we could see quite far into the Glarus Alps

Now we are walking along the upper portion of the High Trail. What a view!

This crest is called the Seeblengrat

A view to the south up the Linth Valley from the Seeblengrat ridge. 

These high trails are the best kind for walking. Nice, dry, small paths and fairly level. 

This section of the trail is even through a tunnel. There is fancy artwork on the "ceiling"!

At this point is the summit station of the other cable-way called Gumen, and there is also a restaurant here. This view is into the mountains to the East, the UNESCO Sardona Tectonic Arena, and the main peak that we see here is called the Hausstock, which is at the south end of the Sernf Valley (Elm). There were many other people out enjoying the sunshine on this lovely day!

Continuing along the Panorama High Trail. 

Even the paragliders are out enjoying this beautiful weather!

We found a great spot for our picnic lunch at 1:15 p.m., away from the crowds in Gumen. 

Silver thistles are always a sure sign of late autumn. 

A look above us at the fantastic cliffs as we now head down the mountain. The high trail passes along the base of those cliffs. 

At 13:45 we were at the mountain hostel called Ortstockhaus. From here it's 30 minutes back to the cable-car station at Grotzenbühl, and a little over an hour back to the funicular station at Braunwald. Since it was such a nice day, we decided to walk back to the funicular station. 

A lovely little upper moor lake. 

Instead of taking the cable-car back down from Grotzenbühl, we walked all the way back to Braunwald to catch the Funicular. (No motor vehicles allowed).

Here we are back at the funicular station for the 4 p.m. ride back down into the Linth Valley. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. 

From the funicular station to the cable-way we had to walk 15 minutes (just under 1 km), so altogether this was about an 11½-km hike, and almost four hours of walking! 

The "Joke Trail" from Heiden to Walzenhausen in Canton Appenzell

 (This post created on April 24, 2025)

Thursday November 5, 2015 -- WOW we are having the best weather here! A few record-breaking days, although I read that this is not totally unusual for Switzerland at this time of year. (Combination of mountains and special winds).

Taking advantage of this warm weather means four excursions this past week. Thursday's excursion with my good friend Renate was a bit more low-key, in the lower hills at the far NE corner of Switzerland near the Austrian border. We walked about 8 km along a popular trail called the "Joke Trail" (Witzweg) from Heiden to Walzenhausen in Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden.

The jokes set on plaques along the way were written in local Appenzell dialekt, passed along by some old Swiss native. Not side-splitting funny, but good for a laugh or two! (You have to read the words phoenetically, and also understand some Swiss-German.... luckily the German version was written underneath!)

There was low cloud (fog) on the lake, so we didn't see much of the Bodensee (Lake Constance), but had a very pleasant walk together in the late Autumn sunshine. 

Local Trail no.977 in eastern Switzerland near the border with Austria is a themed trail called "Witzweg", or "Joke Trail". Starting in Heiden at 10:50, we got to Walzenhausen at about 2:30 p.m. There is a funicular line to Rheineck, but it was being renovated at the time, so we had to take a bus down to the Rheineck train station. 

At 10:50 we started in Heiden higher on the hillside south of Lake Constance. The time to walk to Walzenhausen is about two hours. 

There were so many pretty Appenzell-Style houses to admire along the way, some in the shadow of lower gullies. 

So nice that the cows can still be out in the pastures at this time of year!

View to the west over the Appenzell countryside

Another beautiful property

This is a restaurant called "Restaurant Harmonie"

What a lovely farm! From here we should have a view of Lake Constance, but there is a layer of fog hanging over the lake. 

Some of the trees still have their fall-coloured leaves!

The sign reminds us that we are walking along the "Witzweg" ("Joke Trail") and there are several such panels along the way with jokes written in the local Appenzell dialect. 

The joke here translates as: "An Appenzell man enters a shop in St.Gallen and asks to purchase a pair of underwear. The sales lady asks "how long?", and he answers: "What? Do you also rent them out?" " 

Enjoying some time on a bench above the town of Walzenhausen. (Down below is the city of Rheineck. My friend Renate doesn't like having her photo taken, so this is our "Selfie" for the day!

View toward the mountains in Austria, as we are very near the border here. 

Heading into the little village of Walzenhausen now, to the bus stop. This is the end of the "Joke Trail". 

A final joke: " The judge says to the accused: You can decide now what you would prefer, eight days in jail or 200 Francs. The accused answers: Well, if it makes no difference to you, I'll take the 200 Francs!"

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

By bus we returned to the train station in Rheineck. As we had a few minutes, we looked at a few of the nice buildings near the train station. This building is the fire house. 

Some very nice half-timbered houses here. The late afternoon sunshine (it is now 3:10 p.m.) provides some very nice lighting. 

The church in Rheineck (we did not go in). 

Location of Walzenhausen within Switzerland, near the Austrian border.