A Visit to the Rose Gardens at Heidegg Castle near Lake Baldegg

Wednesday June 29, 2022 -- With this heat there are lots of warnings for electrical storms in the mountains, so we did something totally different this day. We went to see the famed rose gardens at the pretty Heidegg Castle on Lake Baldegg, which is in Canton Luzern and a short trip for us. (Unfortunately most of the roses had already finished blooming, but it was still fun to visit the castle. The plus side was that there were only a few other people there). The valley here is called Seetal, which translates to "Lake Valley". (There is one other lake to the North, the popular Hallwyl Lake).

The other point of interest was the ruins of the 13th-Century Castle Nünegg in Lieli, just 30 minutes distance from Heidegg. But since we still wanted to do some walking, we started at the Baldegg Abbey at the South end of the lake, and walked along the lakeshore to the beach access which also has a restaurant, where we had lunch. Then a walk slightly uphill through farmlands to the ruins, which had access to the top of the walls via a spiral staircase. As this is higher up than the lake, we had a nice view of the lake and might even have seen the Alps if the storm clouds hadn't covered their peaks.

From there a nice forest walk to the Heidegg Castle, a superbly preserved castle whose oldest section was built in 1192 (making this the oldest habitation in Canton Luzern), with loads of additions over the years by successive owners. A coffee in the castle grounds, lots of time spent in the rose gardens, and then a 30-minute wait for the train down by the lakefront rounded off the day.

HIGHLIGHT: The Baldegg Abbey and neighbouring highschool are apparently home to dozens of storks, with several nests built atop various towers. We only became aware of them as we got off the train and heard an unusual clattering noise!

There is a train station right in front of the Canton Highschool, with storks sitting atop each tower (I did not see these storks when I took the photo)

Next to the highschool is the abbey, also with its own storks!

A stork perches on the abbey roof

In several places were large nests, and we figured the "smaller" birds were young ones.

VIDEO:

One parent and two baby storks in a huge nest atop a very tall tower

next to the abbey:

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One last look at the storks in their nest on the convent roof as we head down to the lake. 

A short walk along the lakeshore, lunch at the "Badi", then slightly uphill to the castle ruins in Lieli and over to Schloss Heidegg. 

On the shore of Lake Baldegg

I'm always pleased to observe the blue herons! (Or, are they the grey ones?)

I've never seen quite such a massive bull in the pastures!

Lunch at the lake access in Baldegg

Heading through the fields to Kleinwangen

The church in Kleinwangen had a particularly nice door

Because we were heading slightly uphill, we could see a bit more of the lake

The ruins of Schloss Nünegg appear ahead of us

It was a very hot day, so a break in the shade was a necessity, even though it was only a very small climb!

Last stretch to the castle

Schloss Nünegg is one of the best-preserved castle ruins in Canton Luzern. It was restored between 2014 and 2016, having fallen apart over the centuries.

A spiral staircase leads up to the top of the walls. 

A view of the village of Lieli and Lake Baldegg

The age of the castle was dated to the 13th Century based on the age of an oak beam which supported the "toilet". Can you see me down below?

This particular castle apparently had larger than average windows and was therefore much lighter than castles of its time. It was destroyed by the local peasants who burned it in the Sempach war of 1386

An artist's rendition (extrapolation) of the original castle

The bees were busy in some sort of mint bushes

Near the castle we noticed the cutest little "bee house". This building was commissioned in 1912 as an apiary, and now belongs to the inventory of small buildings worth preserving as monuments in Canton Luzern. 

These old granaries / residential dwellings never cease to delight us

Cute flower boxes!

There was a little chapel across the road, currently being "fixed up" (covered in scaffolding), but the inside was interesting with its very old paintings and tiny interior!

Urs found a place to get an ice cream! (It's getting boring now). I thought the cash box, made from a cow bell, was quite original. 

A 25-minute walk through mostly forest from Lieli to the Heidegg Castle

First view of the castle as we approach it from the South

The castle museum is above the castle walls on the right. The Rose Garden entrance is on the left. We went to the rose garden first, but it became overcast, so we returned to the castle museum to get ourselves a coffee while waiting for sunshine. 

Coffee was self-serve in the castle museum, so even without paying the entry fee, we were able to admire the absolutely stunning wooden ceiling. Those beams were huge!

The oldest part of the castle (residence tower) is from 1192, making this the oldest habitation in Canton Luzern  A series of photos on the museum wall shows the various development stages of the castle throughout the years from 1229 on the left to 1705 on the right. At one point the owners built four corner towers, which were apparetly removed by the next owners!

No ice cream this time, just coffee next to the castle museum

View of Lake Baldegg from the castle walls. 

The clouds lifted and we had sunshine again, so we went back into the rose garden 

Photographing the few remaining roses

Each species of rose has a fancy name...There was a list somewhere... 

Leaving the castle grounds and heading down to the train station. 

We had to wait 20 minutes for the train, so we went to the beach access and sat on a bench in the shade. 

Where the Seetal (Lake Valley) is located in Switzerland

Third Day in Davos: Over Casanna and Grüenberg to Gotschnagrat

Monday June 27, 2022 -- When you spend a night or more in the Davos Region, you get a Guest Card from the hotel which provides a nice reduction in the price of the local mountain railways, so we figured we might as well get some use out of that.

What we decided on for this day was to ride the popular Parsenn Funicular up to Weissfluhjoch and walk from there to the cable car at Gotschnagrat, but via a rocky outcropping called Casanna/Grüenhorn. On the map, this looked like a 2-hour hike including a nice section along a ridge, where we would get a look into several different valleys. We figured after the two other long hikes we had done (down-valley and over a mountain pass) that a nice short crest hike would be a good way to end the three-day trip.

As it turns out, this was the most challenging of our three hikes, but exciting! The first part, from Weissfluhjoch to the base of the rocky ridge was via a barren landscape of rock and karst, made more barren by extensive use in winter for skiing. Once we got to the base of the ridge, a trail marker confirmed that it should take 90 minutes to cross, but seriously, it took us at least two hours or longer! The trail was narrow and the hillside was steep, and you really had to step carefully (in several places there were cables to hold). Nevertheless, we managed well, and were in awe at the view up there, even though the air was hazier than we had hoped. 

Since it was now Monday and the weekend of Mountain Bike activities was over, there were relatively few people also here on this most popular of mountains. So once again, it was as if the world belonged to us alone.

From our hotel it was a 10-minute walk to the Parsenn Funicular station. Up on the hill is the middle station, where you have to change to a second funicular

Another little "shop" where you could buy cheese and sausages from a vending machine. The reception at the hotel had given us a gift of freshly-baked Davos bread, so Urs bought some sausages to go with the bread. 

There are so many beautiful painted buildings in Canton Graubünden

The Davos-Parsenn Funicular

Arriving at the summit station of the Davos-Parsenn funicular. This is called Weissfluhjoch, and it was very cold here! (2686 meters)

From the Weissfluhjoch a view up the beautiful Dischma Valley, one of our favourite valleys

And this view is toward the Strela Pass. We walked down this way in 2020, a favourite trail for bikers, but around the cliffs this becomes the Panorama Trail, a splendid hiking trail. (Those photos are HERE)

Our day-ticket would have been valid to take the cable car all the way to the summit of Mt. Weissfluh, but they were still doing revisions and preparation for start of season on July 1. 

According to the map, this excursion should have been just over 2 hours, from Weissfluhjoch to Gotschnagrat via Grüenhorn. It took us 40 minutes to get to Parsennfurgga (regular time), but the rest of the way took us 2.5 hours!

Heading down toward Parsennfurgga

The first part of the hill we are crossing is on the right

Heading toward Parsennfurgga, which is the saddle up ahead. From there we climb...

A look back at Mount Weissfluh

Having arrived at Parsennfurgga, this sign says 1.5 hours to the cable car at Gotschnagrat. Of course we took a long time because it was a fantastic walk, but needing to be careful, it definitely would take longer anyway!

Starting up the first hill....

A look back at the barren landscape of the Parsenn and Weissfluh region

We had to make our way carefully up the mountain! In fact, it wasn't clear where the trail actually went through

Made it to the top of the first hill....

A look at the trail ahead of us: We followed the ridge until that rocky outcropping, where the going was tricky. The descent to the Gotschnagrat cablecar station on the far right was very steep.

Behind and below is the Prättigau region of Graubünden

A white-winged snow finch

It is always amazing what pretty flowers grow in this barren landscape!

An interesting landscape below

Looking to the West, there seems to be nothing in this landscape. Directly below is a large ski area, and on the next range would be mountain farming

The Prättigau. The furthest peaks form the border with Austria. 

Heading out on our beautiful crest trail excursion

Panorama View of the Casanna-Grüenhorn ridge

We had to pay a lot of attention when crossing along this trail. This part of the range is called Casanna. Grüenhorn is the second peak further ahead. 

Crossing below Casanna. There were cable handholds on the difficult sections

A hazy view down to Lake Davos, the Flüela Valley, and the Dischma Valley

An exciting trail to walk on

The second section to get to Grüenhorn was easier. 

Heading up to the final peak: Grüenhorn. 

Pleased with our accomplishment!

I wanted a photo beside the fabulous rock tower, but the trail was slanted and wet, so I turned back. 

It took us a long time to cross the ridge because there were so many interesting rock formations to marvel at. This one is actually used by climbers. 

A couple of young fellows who did the crossing more quickly than we did! Below is Lake Davos. 

Down below is Gotschnagrat and the cable car station. In the back, barely visible through the haze, is the Silvretta Glacier

Starting on the steep descent to Gotschnagrat. Below in the back is the city of Klosters

We had been concentrating so hard on getting across the ridge, that we hadn't realized that it was way past lunch time! We had our picnic lunch here at 13:30.

Final stretch

Arrived at the Gotschnagrat summit station, a look back at the ridge that is Grüenhorn and Casanna. 

This is what the crossing of the ridge looks like on Google Satellite Maps

We didn't have to wait, they were doing a cable car run ahead of schedule, which means we got down to Klosters more quickly. Very few people riding the Gotschna cable car this day. 

Heading down to Klosters on the Gotschna Cableway

The Gotschna Cableway

Almost at the bottom now, looking up the Sardasca Valley, where we have not yet been

Cute building next to the train station at Klosters Platz

The excursion we did this day: Parsenn Funicular to Weissfluhjoch, a hike across the Casanna/Grünhorn ridge, Gotschna cable-car down to Klosters Platz, and a quick ride up with the gondola to Madrisa from Klosters Dorf

By the time we got down to Klosters Platz it was only 14:30, and because we had purchased a day-ticket for only 15 CHF to ride all the cable-ways on the five main mountains of the Davos-Klosters Region, we decided on a quick trip with the Madrisa gondola from Klosters Dorf up to the Alp called Madrisa, had a coffee and desert in the almost empty restaurant up there, and returned in time to catch the next train home.... simply to have ridden that one cable-way as well (after all, we didn't have to pay extra!)

Klosters Dorf train station. There is a lot of construction going on here. They are putting in a second railway line to allow for more trains.

The Madrisa Gondola

Unfortunately they had no ice cream sundaes up here at the Madrisa Restaurant. It was a huge restaurant but almost empty (I can't imagine how it must be during the skiing season!). It was self-serve, and Urs found some ice cream after all. 

Heading back down to Klosters Dorf on the Madrisa gondola cableway. 

One reason to go up to Madrisa alp was so I could look across the valley to Casanna-Grüenhorn and Gotschna station. But with the afternoon sun, it was hard to see from this direction. 

This is what the ridge looked like in the morning light, two days earlier when we came to Davos. 

Link to photos of DAY 1 hike down the Flüela Valley --> HERE

Link to photos of DAY 2 hike over the Sertig Pass --> HERE