Hike to the Beringen View Tower in the Randen Hills near Schaffhausen

Monday January 29, 2024 -- I had to deliver something to Schaffhausen, in the very northernmost part of the country, and was hoping to do a nice walk in that region as we don't get there often... But unfortunately for me, it was a widespread foggy day and the whole way there (a 90-minute trip) I could not have found a nice place to return to walk in.

But webcams showed a lifting of the fog in the upper plateau above the city of Schaffhausen in the Randen Mountains surrounded on three sides by Germany, so I took a bus ride there to check it out, and I did manage about two hours of sunshine, climbing up from a village called Beringen to the view tower on the hill 200m higher up, and then walking back toward the city of Schaffhausen, from where I caught a bus just where the fog level started.

It wasn't the best day for a view from a look-out tower, but it was the only place I didn't have to travel too far for some sunshine.

Passing the Rhine Falls (largest by volume in Europe) on my way to Schaffhausen, this is a view I always like to photograph, with the castle on the hill. This day it was all shrouded in fog, and even worse on my way back. 

The fog had lifted by the time the bus from Schaffhausen reached the upper elevations, so I got out in Beringen with the intention of walking up to the Beringen Tower (at the arrow). 

A closer look at the Beringen Tower. Even if the day wasn't great for a view, at least I'd have sunshine up there! 

This is the Evangelical church in Beringen. A metal plate at the gate claimed there was more information inside the church, but I checked all the doors, and they were locked. 

As with so many churches in Switzerland, there are records of a church standing here since the 13th Century, probably made of wood, and whose remnants are gone. A church here is also mentioned in documents of 1462, but this one received expansions and renovations from 1580 onwards, basically obliterating the original build. 

Cool airplane passing low overhead, and flying very slowly!

Starting at 12:20 in Beringen, I had to ascend 200 meters to the Beringer Randenturm, which I reached at 1 p.m. Had my lunch there, and then continued in the direction of Schaffhausen at 13:35, and got on the bus at 2:30 p.m. So I was up here for about two hours. 

I got to the tower at 1 p.m. after a 30-minute uphill hike (200 meters). 

Details of the tower: Built in 1998, the tower is 26 meters high and has 137 steps. It cost 260,000 Fr. to build. Here we are at only 676 meters above sea level. 

The view to the northwest from the top platform across this upper plateau. This north-south valley has the unfortunate name of "Lieblosetaal", which means "Loveless Valley". This whole plateau here, which is still in Switzerland, forms the southwestern end of the German "Schwäbische Alb"

To the west and below is the town of Beringen where I started my hike. We had a much nicer day when we did a previous hike to two other view towers in these hills. (Those photos are HERE)

And to the south, the fog is pressing over the hills onto the plateau. So no hiking through those hills for me! Way in the distance I could see the profile of the Alps above the fog, but it was very hazy. 

And in the far east, that peak is called the Hohenstoffeln, which is actually a peak in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. (It is 841 meters, has volcanic origins). 

Back off the tower, I had my picnic lunch in the sun here (the small kiosk-restaurant here is not open at this time of year) and continued on my walk in the direction of Schaffhausen at about 1:30 p.m. 

Even though I had sunshine here, you can see the light fog still lingering on the plateau. 

Here was a small stream and large pond I wanted to look at: The "Eschheimer Weiher". It is a protected nature reserve of national importance because it is a delicate spawning ground for various amphibians. 

I walked along the edge of the pond to get a good look, but it was mostly hidden by a thick border of bushes and trees. 

As I got closer to the city, the fog got thicker. 

Fog rolling in

On the final kilometer of my walk and the 100-meter descent to the bus stop, I got back into the fog blanket. 

They are also enjoying the milder weather! (My phone battery died about here, and I had no back-up. It is surprisingly difficult to navigate without my phone, as I lost my orientation and had to ask several road workers where the bus stop was!)

Back at the train station platform in Schaffhausen at 14:45. . No let-up of fog here. 

These are the hikes we have done in the Randen Hills above Schaffhausen. The pink one is the one I did this day. 

Location of the Randen Mountains in Switzerland. This region has weird and convoluted borders with Germany, and is actually the southwestern end of the Schwäbische Alb 

By the time I got back to Zurich, the fog had lifted here. One of my favourite views traveling south along Lake Zurich. 

Traveling south along Lake Zurich shortly before 4 p.m. 

And here is the view shortly before reaching Zug. 

Escholzmatt to Schüpfheim in the Entlebuch Region of Canton Luzern

Sunday January 28, 2024 -- Another sunny day in parts of the country, and because we had done quite an extensive hike the day before, we wanted something easy this time, also without a lot of travel time.

The lovely Entlebuch Region in Canton Luzern is accessible to us in less than an hour and a half, so we did an easy walk through the farming region between Escholzmatt and Schüpfheim. The first part of the walk was along paved roads but with little traffic (and also along a glacier moraine!), and the second part was on a forest trail, unfortunately quite cold as it was a very dense evergreen forest with little sunshine penetrating onto the trail. (There was a section of the trail through a moor, but that was off-limits till end of August, no reason given).

In all we did another 10-km and three-hour hike with plenty of sunshine. We finished early enough that we were able to take an additional short trip to the nearby Kambly factory in Trubschachen, where we stocked up again on Urs' favourite cookies, as the ones we got before Christmas were already all gone!

We started at Escholzmatt at 11 a.m., this is a look at the hills to the south of the train station there. 

First we walked north through the village of Escholzmatt to the edge of town, admiring the pretty houses.

Many very attractive houses in Escholzmatt

At the north edge of the residential area, before our trail headed through the pastures, there was this farm called Tannenhof

The cute cows were watching us from the barn at Tannenhof

This was another 10-km hike for us, and not really a long one in terms of time (2½ hours of walking, as there was no ascent of note). We started at 11 a.m. (leaving home at about 9:30 to make sure we wouldn't be caught in any fog) and got to Schüpfheim at 2 p.m. 

The walk wasn't all on paved roads! These pasture trails are always so nice and soft to walk on. We are heading northeast towards Schüpfheim now. 

Another pretty farm

A look back across the pastures at the houses in Escholzmatt. I believe that massif is the Hohgant. 

Another close-up look at the small hills on the south-east side of the railway tracks. As we found out later, these small hills are actually moraines left by the Waldemme Glacier

On the northeast side of the railway tracks is another stretched-out hill (another glacier moraine) which we ascended and walked along, looking down on either side. (Photo taken as we are currently walking along the moraine, looking on the left side).  

Walking along the top of the moraine and looking down at the southeast (right) side. The valley up ahead is where the Waldemme River arrives here from the Sörenberg region to the south, and where the glacial ice flowed out to form this region. 

Information panels on this moraine hilltop shows where the Waldemme Glacier would have flowed out of the North-South Valley and flowed in the directions of Escholzmatt and Entlebuch, giving the shape to this valley here. 

Looking to the south again, we see appearing to the right of the Hohgant Massif the pass called Sichle, which is the passage from the Emmental region on this side of the mountains, to the Bernese Oberland on the other. We have long planned to walk across that passage, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Now we've descended the moraine on the left, and will continue along this paved road (this is looking back from where we came). 

This is part of the Tellemoos Moorlands which we could not walk through, unfortunately. The steam coming off the frozen surface is interesting, though. 

Here at a farm called Tellenmoos we entered the forest and descended into a ravine. That massif in the back is the Schwändiflue, I believe, which forms the eastern side of the Waldemme Valley. 

The trail goes right past the Tellenmoos farm. 

It's cold here in the little ravine, so we are walking quickly. The river here is called the Bocke

A series of bridges as we head out of the ravine, but the trail continued just inside the edge of the forest here for 900 meters, and it was a pretty dense evergreen forest, so the next 15 minutes of walking were pretty cold, although a really nice forest trail. 

Finally back out in the sunshine and farmland. It's now 12:45 p.m. and we have been looking for a bench in a sunny spot for quite a while now, where we can stop for our picnic lunch. 

Since we couldn't see any benches nearby, we used this rusty turned-over bathtub to sit on for our picnic lunch, next to someone's Brussel Sprout plants. (As it turns out, there was a bench at the edge of the forest in the back, at the arrow, where our trail continued).

Near the bathtub bench was a large barn where the cows were enjoying the sunshine in their courtyard. There were little babies hopping in and out of their igloss as well!

Continuing on after lunch now from our picnic spot (small garden on the left behind the sign)

Entering the next section of forest, we had to laugh as the bench we had been looking for was right here, in the perfect sunny spot.

This time the trail followed the edge of the forest on the sunny side. The mountain behind this house is called the Farnere, and we walked to its summit from Heiligkreuz in October 2023, with views of the Schwändiflue Massif. Those photos are HERE. 

There was a lovely picnic spot here with tables and a fire pit, and this cool water pump! I was pretty sure the water was off or frozen, but Urs was able to get the water working with some pumping action!

VIDEO:

Urs pumping water!

Now a close-up look at Schüpfheim, where we are ending the hike. We've descended to valley bottom again. 

Final stretch into the town of Schüpfheim, another 30 minutes of walking to the train station there. 

A cat crossed our trail with something in its mouth, it turned out to be a mouse! (Every pasture here in Switzerland seems to have its resident cat!)

More and more farmers are covering their barn roofs in solar panels, so that they can create their own electricity for use in the barn. 

Crossing the Waldemme River. 

On the other side of the railway tracks is a small chapel on the hillside. I would have liked to go up to have a closer look, but we would have missed the train to the cookie factory, and it would have gotten too late then. 

Since we were 20 minutes early for our train this time (unusual for us), we took a longer route to the train station in Schüpfheim, adding a bit of a walk along the Waldemme River before returning to the train station from the north. 

Here are the hikes we have done in the region of the Waldemme River between Escholzmatt and Entlebuch, the region carved out by the Waldemme Glacier flowing north from the Sörenberg Region. The green trail also ending in Escholzmatt is the April 2021 hike we did out of the Waldemme Valley. Those photos are HERE. 

A 15-minute train ride from Schüpfheim to Trubschachen to the Kambly cookie factory, we got here at 3:15 p.m., sampled a few cookies, purchased three more bags, and were back on the next train 30 minutes later for the 1¾-hour trip back home. 

As it was Sunday afternoon, there were a lot of people here!

On the stretch between Luzern and Zug, I always take a few photos of Lake Rot (Rotsee).