A nice half day trip is from Palfries to the Alvier. It takes you about 2 hours to the summit.
Yes, you have to use this ladder to get to the top…
Nice view to the Walensee and perhaps the WC with the best view in the world.
Palfries -> Alvier Trip Details
More pictures in the gallery.
This is one of my panoramas I took on the summit of Säntis. It is a merge of 14 landscape pictures.
Click here for the large version.
This time in August the sunrise is at about 6:30 am. So we started at 5 to be ready for this event. The Mount Säntis is the highest peak in the Appenzell region (2502m). From the summit you can see six countries and the view is breathtaking!
The easiest way to reach the top is by the comfortable cable car. It leaves every 30 minutes.
After taking lots of pictures of the sunrise we had a nice breakfast in the panorama restaurant.
The team (aka Members of the Zoom-Photoclub):
Going around the lake takes about 2 hours. Last year we were 1 month earlier and there were large areas covered with snow. This time it was a lot warmer but still wonderful and relaxing.
I took 2 panoramas of the Lünersee reservoir. One panorama is a merge of about 5 pictures. They were stiched together in Photoshop CS2.
Click to view a large version (loading can take some time) !
A nice half day trip is from Gaflei via Fürstensteig to Bargella. You can do this trip easily in the morning and you are back for lunchtime. Actually the moving time is about 1 hour and 40 mins so with a few breaks it takes you about 2,5 hours.
The view is unique. At the top of the Bargellasattel you have a nice view of the Alps of Liechtenstein, with its valleys and sharp peaks. From the Gafleisattel you also have a direct view of the Three Sisters chain.
We started the hiking trip at about 9:30am at Raggal near the church. There are enough parking spaces and also a restaurant. So you have at least something to look forward to after the tour. We went via Nitzkopf to the Hohe Frassen summit, which was a 2,5 hour walk. The ascend was not that exhausting because we didn’t use all the steep shortcuts.
On the way back we headed towards the Frassenhütte but due to bad weather conditions we decided to go straight back to the car. The last part of the trail it started to rain. During the heavy rain showers we looked for a shelter under the trees.
Gernot was happy to test his new skinfit outfit under such circumstances 
More pictures in the Hohe Frassen gallery.
Some Details:
Total Walking time: 5 hours 45 mins
Length: about 13 km
Vertical Up: about 1000 meters
A nice and easy hiking tour is the trail from Gaflei to Steg. You have a beautiful view over the Rhein Valley and Steg.
Gaflei – Steg – Gaflei Trip Details
With a few stops it takes you about 3 hours for the 7 km . As you can see in the track the difference in altitude is only about 500 meters.
Two years ago (April, 14th) it was no problem to walk from Ebnit to the summit of the Hohe Kugel. This time we tried the same track but there was so much snow that we couldn’t find the right trail (even with GPS!).
See Michael in the picture below, definitely on the wrong way
Every step in the deep snow was exhausting so that we decided to walk to the “Lindenbach Alpe” to eat our snacks.
After the snack there was still plenty of time left so we took the trail to the Emser Hütte which was much easier to walk. Maybe it would have been possible to walk to the summit starting from the Emser Hütte but we were already tired so we just relaxed in the sun and ate a fantastic soup bowl.
In the map below you can see our two failed attemps to get to the Hohe Kugel. We will definitely try a few weeks later.
More pictures of this Hohe Kugel trip are in the gallery.
On the 23rd September 2006 I started at about 7 a.m. in the morning and at about 8 a.m. we bought some last snacks for the trip. Heading towards Zürs and Lech we finally reached Zug. It was hard to find a parking lot but while driving through the small town we spotted a fish pond with a large parking area. We had to pay 5 Euros for the whole day but the good thing was that the payment was just a credit note which can be used afterwards if you eat or drink something in the restaurant. A wonderful marketing idea we thought.
A few minutes away is the bus stop. The bus to the Formarinsee and Spullersee leaves every 30 minutes so you don’t have to wait very long.
At about 10 a.m. we were at the Formarinsee. A lot of the hikers just walk to the Freiburger Hütte or the Steinerne Meer which are nice day trips as well. But Michael and I had a other goal: the “Rote Wand”.
From the Formarinsee it takes you about 1.5 hours to the first col. It is a mostly grassy and later rocky path. At the col which is almost 2000 meters above sea level we made our first rest. After that we followed the small route on the backside of the mountain to get to the entry point for the west col. That is the only way to the top. You can reach this point from the Formarinsee like we did or you can also start at Marul.
The next big step is the rocky ridge to the top. On the way up you can see the glacier and the summit. I must admit that the last part of the ascent is not that easy, especially if you are not free from giddiness. The last meters where just slate and very slippy. But finally we made it to the summit and the impressive view was our reward. On clear days you have a fantastic panorama and you are just on top of a glacier.
We couldn’t stay at the summit as long as we wished because we calculated about 3 hours for our descent and the last bus started at 18:08 p.m from the Formarinsee. So we had a quick 30 minute rest at the top and headed back.
We managed to catch the last bus and back at Zug we converted our 5 euro credit at the fish pond. The goulash soup and bier tasted very good after our demanding 7 hour walk.
Some facts:
Time 7.5 h (with small rests)
Ascent 4 h
Altitude 900 meters
Pictures Click here
Heading towards the Palfries Berggasthaus I took this shot at about 1715m above sea level. The valley is still covered with thick fog. Click on the picture for a larger version.
The next picture shows the back side of the Alvier which was the goal of one of our last hiking tours.
The Palfries Berggasthaus is a nice place to take a rest and they serve great food! It’s not really cheap but the view and quality is well worth it.
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