Day hike in Appenzell, Switzerland

Several days ago Felix, my cousin Helen’s husband, invited me for a day-hike to the canton of Appenzell, in the north-eastern Swiss Alps. Appenzell is a small canton that was once part of the canton Sankt Gallen, today is surrounded by it, and has a colorful history tied to the famous medieval Abbey of Sankt Gallen.
Felix, a vigorous and experienced hiker, chose the Ebenalp in the Alpstein as a test of a moderately challenging hike. His plan was for us to journey by train to the Ebenalp, a resort area with hiking trails, cable-cars, and a number of restaurant-hotels. We would explore the area, taking one of the shorter hiking paths to see the Wildkirchli, and have lunch! I was to be the test subject, a proxy stand-in to gauge the difficulty of the hike for the up-coming visit of Felix’s cousin in October.

We met up at the Zürich Hauptbahnhof and caught a train through Winterthur, disembarking at Gossau. Crossing to the adjoining platform, we jumped into a railcar for the narrow-gauge railroad (for the mountain climbs) called the Appenzell Bahnen, to Wasserauen, the last stop on that leg of the Appenzell Bahnen.  The neat, red painted railcars were fitted with large windows for viewing the green fields dotted with villages and farms, and the approach of the gorgeous mountains.

We emerged from the railcar at Wasserauen, crossed the bridge over the clear, cold mountain stream called the Schwendibach, and walked to the Ebenalp cable-car building. Felix got our tickets and we were soon on the cable-car with several other hikers on a 6-minute, white-knuckle ride above the rough granite cliffs. The over 700 m change in altitude caused my ears to pop, but I was pleasantly surprised at my lack of vertigo and was able to get some photos of the green valley receding below.

Wasserauren is at an altitude of 868 m and the cable-car stop was at about 1590 m so we walked up remaining 50 m in altitude to the Berggasthaus at the top of the Ebenalp, alt 1644 m.  The weather was cloudier than I had hoped, and we were not able to see the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in the distance, as had been advertised.  Felix cleverly said, “We viewed the mist, but missed the view!” 

 

However, we could clearly see up to the highest point, the top of the Säntis (2504 m alt) and down to the Seealpsee, the dark blue alpine lake below.  Hiking trails were well marked, and according to the trail map I picked up, most of the peaks had either a restaurant or a B&B.  The Säntis had two!  Of course, the restaurants above were accessible only on foot, but I think the B&Bs on the lakeside of Seealpsee could be reached by car.  A cable-car terminus was near the restaurant and B&B on the Schäfler peak (1924 m alt), but the rest were geared for the hardy trekker!

We walked back down past the Berggasthaus Ebenalp by the charming flower garden with the alpine flowers marked with small signs.  Of course there were Edelweiss and Alpenrose, so delicate in what must be a harsh environment. The predominant sound on these high hills, besides the wind, is cow-bells, large oval shaped ornaments hanging from the necks of the cows contently munching the grasses.  I made a short video of one just to record the sound of the cow-bells.

We continued down the path and soon saw the opening of a large cave in the side of the granite cliff.  I had read that this was a prehistoric site, and had evidence of Neanderthal human habitation 30,000 years ago, and bones were found of cave bears dating to 60,000 years ago.  We were soon inside the cave, the sound of dripping water mixed with the pop music from a radio near some young workmen repairing the path. There were floodlights helping us keep our footing, and hand rails for unsteady descenders like me. 

 

The cave wound around inside the cliff and came out behind what was called the Hermit’s Hut, a sturdy wooden construction consisting of three rooms, one of which had a display case with the 60,000 year old cave bear bones. According to an information plaque in the cave, the last hermit who had lived there exited the hut by falling over the cliff around 1853.  The path continued along the sheer cliff wall, and I was startled to see a carpenter re-roofing another small hut clinging to the side of the cliff, bits of pine shingles falling onto the path.  One miss-step and he would go the way of that last hermit. We walked along and found the Wildkirchli, the small chapel nestled in yet another cave.  The chapel, dating from 1656, was simply rows of benches facing an altar, and the only wall was the fence at the cave entrance, next to a small bell-tower with the Gottdienst, the chapel service times posted. 

At the end of this path, which seemed to be carved out of the side of the cliff, was the restaurant and B&B named the Aescher-Wildkirchli, a classic Appenzell architecture style building situated on a small ledge – the rear of the restaurant was built smack up against the bare rock face of the cliff.  There were tables for outdoor dining, as well as cozy tables inside, and the brochure said the B&B had rooms for 45 guests. The food was wonderful; I had my favourite Swiss specialty Käse-rösti (hash browns with melted cheese) and Felix had the blue-plate special of calf liver.  For dessert we split another alpine specialty Schlorzifladen, an egg custard torte with hazelnuts.

With full tummies we made the ascent back up to the Ebenalp cable-car terminus, Felix weighted down with 20 kg of paper, to test his climbing skills.  Following behind him, my feelings alternated between admiration and worry. We caught the Appenzell Bahnen to return to Gossau, but since we had a bit of extra time, Felix suggested we stop at the town of Appenzell to have a quick look.  Great suggestion, because I thought Appenzell was one of the most picturesque Swiss towns I had seen.  The capital of the Canton Appenzell, its history goes back to the 1200s when the canton gained independence from Sankt Gallen and in the 1400s joined the Swiss Confederacy. Felix told me much about the history as we walked through the cobblestone streets lined with chalet-like buildings with painted facades and decorated with banners of the Appenzell emblem, a bear rampant.  We came into an open square and Felix told me this is the Landsgemeindeplatz, the place where the citizens meet once a year (Landsgemeinde) to vote for their government officials and other legislation.  This form of direct citizen democracy is characteristic of this part of Switzerland, and seems to have been a tradition for centuries.  We shopped for some of the famous cheeses of this region, and I bought a Swiss flag to take home.

We caught the Appenzell Bahnnen and were soon changing trains at Gossau, retracing our route.  The train back to Zürich took about an hour, giving us chance for a little shut-eye after a pleasant outing in the mountains.  A fantastic day!

If visiting Switzerland and interested in taking this day hike, here are some websites to peruse:

Schwendetalstrasse 82

CH-9057 Wasserauen

Phone +41 71 799 12 12

Info-Tel. +41 71 799 15 44

Fax +41 71 799 12 13

info@dont-want-spam.ebenalp.ch

www.ebenalp.ch

Berggastaus Aescher-Wildkirchli

1454 m ü. M.
45 Touristenlager mit Daunendecken
Appenzeller Spezialitäten
Geöffnet: Mai–Oktober
Familie Knechtle
Tel. +41 (0)71 799 11 42
info@aescher-ai.ch
www.aescher-ai.ch