On the Alpine Panorama Trail near Lake Constance

April 21, 2019 (Easter Sunday) -- The weather forecast for Easter Sunday was for nicest weather in the far Northeastern corner of Switzerland near Lake Constance (Bodensee), so we headed to Canton Appenzell (AR) to do a stretch of Trail no.3, the "Alpine Panorama Trail". As it turns out, the sky was cloudless to the North in Germany, but all white to the South over the mountains, not the best conditions for my photos, which turn out best when the sky is blue.

This was the third day in a row of hiking, so I had a bit of a hard time of it. The walk started in Trogen (until 1876 the capital city of Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden) and after a steep descent into a ravine, we had a very warm climb to the highest point of our hike, the Kaienspitz, where we did get a nice view of the Alpstein Massif with its highest peak: Mount Säntis. After that, it was just a long descent to Heiden, with Lake Constance ahead of us and a clear profile of the Austrian Alps to the East.

Originally we planned to continue walking the Panorama trail almost all the way down to the lake but after three hours I had finally had enough. But the trails were good and the Appenzell houses lovely to look at... and to picture how small the people must have been when they built them, with their low doors and ceilings. 

Interesting fact: Lake Constance is the third largest freshwater lake in Central and Western Europe, and the Rhine River flows into it on the East side at the border of Austria and Switzerland, and flows out on the West side, basically forming the border between Germany and Switzerland all the way to Basel. 

On the way to Trogen by Bus from St.Gallen, we passed the village of Speicher with this very pretty church 

Main square in Trogen, which was once the capital of Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Gasthaus Krone, so nicely decorated

Pretty shutters

Gasthaus Schäfli = Sheep

The stories on these houses are so narrow, the ceilings must be very low

In this house, Urs would have to walk bent over all day

More pretty details in the area around Trogen, as we head into the Chastenloch Ravine

Below us is the ravine called "Chastenloch" and other the other side, after a long hot climb, the village of Rehetobel. On the far right is the highest point of our hike: Kaienspitz

What a surprise to find a restaurant at the bottom of the ravine. A pretty popular one too, on this Easter Sunday.

At the bottom of the ravine. It was so warm, I had to change out of my leggings before the steep ascent

The sign reads: "Are you tired? Take a break!" Which is what we do. Often. 

Easter trees are a tradition here as well, a pretty one. 

And we weren't quite sure what this was about

Spring babies. The papa goat was pretty smelly

In Rehetobel we finally got the first views of the Alptein Massif. In the back on the right is Trogen, where we started the hike. 

The Alpstein Massif with its highest peak: Mount Säntis.

The village of Rehetobel

Lunch time at the highest point of our hike: Kraienspitz. Here we ran into quite a few people enjoying their Easter Sunday. Unfortunately, the sky to the South was not blue as I had hoped.

 

These violets are a nice spring touch

 

On our descent to Heiden, Lake Constance ahead of us. On the other side is Austria (Lindau on the left)

The city of Friedrichshafen, birthplace of the Zeppelin, is just across the lake, and this blimp does tours across the lake and right over where we were walking. 

To the East, the Austrian Alps

End of the trail for us: Heiden, where we had a very bad experience with gelato. It ruined my day. 

A short hike for us today, not quite 10 km from Trogen to Heiden in Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Some other hikes we have done in the area

More Blossoming Trees, Fantastic Views, and Thatched-Roof Houses in Canton Aargau

Saturday April 20, 2019 -- On our hiking map we discovered a trail with a very promising name: "The Aargau View Trail". Canton Aargau is one canton to the West of us, so not far from home, and to get to what we chose as the starting point of the hike takes only two hours. 

Before starting on the hike, though, we made a quick stop to have a closer look at one of very few remaining old thatched-roof houses, the oldest form of house building in Canton Aarau. These houses are under cultural heritage protection, dating from approx. the mid 17th Century.  The plan was to skip one train (30 minutes), take a couple of photos and head back to the station. A pleasant surprise: The house in Muhen is actually a museum, and though not officially open, members of the heritage society were preparing the museum for the next day, so they let us have a look! It was a very neat experience.

The actual hike started about 7 km away in a little village called Schlossrued, with a castle and grain mill and former grain house, the latter two dating from mid 17th-century and still in operation (grain house is now a restaurant). We bought some spelt bran, an old-world grain, with the idea to make some bran muffins soon. 

From the castle we hiked over a pastoral landscape down into the next valley (Wynetal) and up a steep hill to the look-out tower on Mount Homberg for some pretty nice panorama views of the Central Swiss Alps, and finished off with a descent into the next valley, the Seetal Valley. We lucked out with a very nice day for it as well. It was a long hike, 15 km, but the trail lived up to its name. AND we just by accident came upon another thatched-roof house just off the forest trail. That was a nice surprise as well.

In the village of Muhen near Aarau is this wonderfully well-preserved thatch-roof (made with tight bundles of straw) house which is also a museum. It is unclear exactly how old the house is, but estimated date is mid-17th century and the oldest form of house construction in these parts. We were lucky to have been allowed to look inside. 

How the inside of such a house might have been, and a photo of how this type of roof was constructed.

Our 15-km hike on the Aargau View Trail started in Schlossrued and ended in Beinwil on Lake Hallwilersee (descending to the Wynetal Valley in between)

The castle in Schlossrued is not the original, which burned in 1775. The building on the right is the old grape press built in 1780 (the hills used to be covered in vineyards), later they added a dance hall on the upper level.

This is the original mill, built in 1658, heavily renovated in 1802, and the old waterwheel replaced by a modern turbine in 1948. They still mill grain, specializing in old-world grains such as dinkel and spelt.

Heading up the hill to the castle with a view onto Schlossrued. The building in the center was the original grain storage, built in 1636 and now a cozy gasthaus

From up here on the View Trail you can see North and West to the Jura Mountains near France

This foundling was transported here over 100 km by a side arm of the Reuss Glacier approx. 150,000 years ago. 

Beautiful farming country up here. We could not figure out from the unopened flowers on these bushes what kind of harvest this is going to be. 

We often come across many such elaborate "Insect Hotels"

First glimpse of the Central Alps to the South, most prominent is Mount Titlis which has snow all year round. 

Heading down into the Wynetal Valley to Gontenschwil. We are still in the midst of blossoming here. 

And such pretty narcissi, we don't see these a lot (mostly the yellow daffodils)

The best time of year when the leaves in the forest are that pale green

Just by accident we noticed this old straw-thatched house, just 200m off the main trail. So we did a detour. This house also dates from mid 17th century and is under cultural heritage protection.

Strohdachhaus Leimbach, built mid 1600's and under cultural heritage protection.

After 30 minutes' steep uphill climb we finally got to the Homberg Observation Tower. Not a tall one as towers go (only 17m high, built in 1910) but fun to go up

From the tower some very nice panorama views across the Seetal Valley

The Seetal Valley with Lakes Hallwil and Baldegg, and the Swiss Alps with Mount Rigi right in the middle

Heading down to Beinwil am See, it was another long 40 minutes descent after an already long hike!

Goal of our hike: The town of Beinwil am see on Lake Hallwil

Beinwil am See on Lake Hallwil (Hallwilersee)

And by the time we headed home on the train the air had cleared up substantially for some very sharp views of the alps

Cherry Orchards in Canton Baselland (near Liestal)

Friday April 19, 2019 -- Finally some nice weather again... as everyone is heading South for the Easter Long Weekend (stuck in 3 hours of traffic jams), we are staying here in the North where the weather is warm and sunny and also great for hiking. 

It would seem slightly redundant though, that coming from a beautiful cherry and apple orchard in British Columbia, I would look to find places in Switzerland where I can experience the spring blossoms. Or maybe just for that reason. Furthermore, not sure why we need to go far from home for that, as Zug is known for its cherries. Nevertheless, we had heard of a place in Canton Baselland in the far Northwestern corner of the country, that boasts to have one of the most beautiful orchard landscapes in the country.

This place also has a very interesting name: Nuglar-St.Pantaleon (two villages that create one community) and unfortunately, due to the very cold and nasty weather we recently had, we just missed the height of the cherry blossoms, and apples are still on the way. Still, it was a pretty landscape and travel time was only two hours each way, so we got home in time for supper (unusual for us). Oh, and we even managed a quick tour of the old town of Liestal before heading home. 

In this part of the country, the houses used to be large stables with living quarters. In recent years, many of the homes have been renovated, converting the stable area into living space or entryways. This beautiful house was in Büron, Solothurn, where we started our hike. 

The first part of the trail was a nice steady uphill through cherry orchards

 

The first part of the trail was a nice steady uphill through cherry orchards. This is near Büren Solothurn

Some unusually tall trees looming higher than the rest in the forest sections

Actually, not too late yet for the cherries, and everything is turning nice and green

 

The rolling hills of Canton Baselland in Nuglar, near Liestal

This area is supposed to have one of the nicest orchard landscapes in Switzerland

 

In the background, the village of St.Pantaleon

Under that beautiful tree is a bench, where we stopped for a coffee break

 

The coffee break bench

On the way to St.Pantaleon, another look up the cherry-tree covered hillside

Like back home,  my old home. 

We were worried we might have missed the cherry blossoms, but we just caught the end of the blossoming season. Some late varieties are still in bloom.

Another renovated house with the typical old stable entryway

Church in St.Pantaleon

Some of the large trees are particularly beautiful

 

We took the bus back to Liestal and had a quick tour through the old city. This is the tower on the city gate.

 

The main pedestrian steet in old town Liestal

 

Town Hall in Liestal

Looking back at the city gate and tower

 

On Easter Good Friday most of the shops are closed, but this is usually a busy pedestrian area. Up ahead is the Government building as this is the capital city of Canton Baselland

 

The church in Liestal

 

Another 12-km hike with an additional 40 minutes walking through the town of Liestal.