Sunday was a great day for a hike in the Swiss Alps. The weather was perfect, and the scenery in the Alps does not get any better. On Saturday, we contemplated the departure time from Zurich. The hike would take about 5 or 6 hours, and Kevin wanted to get an early start to get on the mountain before it got too hot. Shannon and I thought a 7:00am departure from the main station was a little aggressive after a long day Saturday and a late return from Basel that night, so we pushed it back to about 8:00am. After little sleep, the 6:30am wake-up call came real early. We got most of our stuff together the night before, so it wasn't much more than putting our shoes on, gathering some food, and heading for the train to take us to the main station. When we got to the main train station, Kevin, Shannon, and I met up with John, who had been helping Kevin plan the trip. Paul also joined us. I nearly got stuck in Zurich when my credit card got jammed in the ticket machine, but after a couple minutes Kevin was able to force it out. As always seems to be the case in Switzerland, the train ticket to Glarus, where we would start our hike, was a little pricey. The round-trip ticket out to Glarus, about an hour away, was around $50. Oh well, it was worth it for this great day.
When we got on the train, I met John, a very nice guy and a good person to know. He is from Oklahoma but has lived and worked in Europe for the past 13 years. He was in France and London for most of that time, before moving to Zurich about a year ago for a job with IBM. Knowing that he worked for IBM, we instantly had something to talk about, and throughout the day I was able to pick his brain about working in Europe and how to find a job abroad within IBM if/when I become interested some day.
The train ride was very nice. Although we could have driven more cheaply (since I had a car there that we could have used), it was nice to just be able to kick back, relax, and enjoy the beauty on the way. The hike we were doing was just on the other side of the Zürichsee , so the ride out to Glarus was along the lake until we got close to the mountains. When we arrived in Glarus, we put on some sun screen (much needed on this hot/sunny day), tried to orient ourselves with the area, and headed off. It was really cool to hop off the train in a little town and start the hike from there.
Glarus was a nice little village in a valley surrounded by some impressive mountains. Thanks to the research Kevin and John did, we were able to navigate ourselves through the town, past the big church, and through a farm where the trail began. Hiking trails in Switzerland are typically well-marked, but that wasn't quite the case for this one. Nonetheless, we found our way through some of the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen. After a couple months, I finally got to do the nice hike in the Alps that I was craving, and I couldn't have asked for anything better - the weather, the beauty of the mountains, good company - it was all amazing. Doing hikes like this makes me wish I lived closer to some real mountains, not the little ones in north Georgia.
The hike wasn't too challenging, only about 5-6 hours round-trip, but it was a nice workout. We were hiking through the Glärnisch range, the mountains that are visible from Zurich on a clear day. We began in Glarus at an elevation of 470 meters (about 1,550 feet), and our highest point would be around 1,100 meters (about 3,600 feet), climbing about 2,100 vertical feet. The mountains actually look much taller, but I guess that's because the elevation we started at in the valley below was not all that high to begin with. Every new opening we came to, the scenery just got more and more spectacular. The mountains were impressive, some with patches of snow and ice, the sky was so blue, and the fields were so green - a nice combination for the many photographs I took.
After a couple hours, we reached a little village called Schmwammhöchi. We came across a little house and a soccer field, and then continued a bit further until we reached the highest point of our hike. This was the real treat of the trip. As we came over the ridge, it opened up to the most amazing view of the Klöntalersee, a turquoise-colored lake below, surrounded by massive peaks. It's views like this that re-confirm to me that Switzerland is the most beautiful country in the world, and we sat for a minute to take it all in.
I'm not usually the biggest fan of seeing a road to the top when I do a hike, but this was a bit of an exception for me. There was a restaurant overlooking the view of the lake, which some people hiked up to, some people biked up to, and some lazy people drove their cars up to, so they could enjoy a nice lunch with an even better view on this Sunday afternoon. The reason I was okay with it is because we decided to stay for awhile and have lunch there as well. The food just looked more appetizing than the granola bars and peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches I had packed, and I had no problem sitting there and having lunch with this view in the background. So we found an open table, and re-fueled with some good pasta, as we took in more of the views.
After lunch, we descended down toward the Klöntalersee. We thought the water would feel refreshing after hiking in the heat and sweating for a few hours. It was nice to dip the feet in the water, but it was definitely a little chilly. Kevin and I finally built up the courage to jump in for a quick dip and cool off. Then we sat and relaxed for a bit and skipped some rocks before beginning the trek back to Glarus.
On the way back, we decided to take a different route, so it was a big loop back to Glarus and we could walk through some different scenery. We did find this very well-marked sign to help us find our way back from the lake, and we considered trekking up one of the large peaks and across the ridge, but we just didn't have time for it, so we made a faster loop back to Glarus. While not quite as open and pretty, we walked along a little river for awhile. It was flatter and more shaded, until we came back to the open fields and farmland we started in. We then walked through the fields and back to the train station in Glarus.
When we got back to Glarus, John looked at the train schedule and we thought we had time to sit and have a beer to unwind after a long and amazing day of hiking. But then a train showed up headed for Zurich, so I took mine to go and we boarded the train. After the hour train ride back to Zurich, we stopped in a grocery store (at the train stations they are open on Sundays) and picked up some food to make for dinner. We were pretty exhausted after a big weekend, but after filling up on food we decided to head downtown to watch the Italy-Spain game.
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