Having done a few winter hikes already, the time had finally come to dig out my snowshoes from my storage box, when another lockdown was announced in the middle of January. As we had to close our shop, I obviously was left with plenty of spare time to go hiking. It had been a while however, since my last snowshoe hike and to start off gently, I decided to do one that was an officially marked snowshoe trail. It meant, that I didn’t had to check where exactly I had to walk through, that I didn’t have to think about wildlife sanctuary zones and that I didn’t have to care about avalanches. As it had been snowing a lot in the past month, I also didn’t have to think about the snow, as I knew there was more than plenty of it. Making my way on a weekday early in the morning to Biberegg, I walked from the train station to the starting point just next to the skiing lift. From far away I could see some people heading upwards and it was nice to know that I wouldn’t be the only one on the trail today. Fixing the snowshoes to my feet, I took a few steps and instantly found the prepared path I was looking for. Crossing over a bridge, the sun broke through the thick clouds for a first time and as everything around me was painted in white, the scenery already looked fantastic, even though I was only on the trail for about five minutes. :)
Unfortunately, that was the only time I saw the sun in the morning and when I started to ascend after a short stretch through the forest, I did that under a dark grey sky. Heading upwards in serpentines, I steadily gained height and turning around every now and then, I already enjoyed some good views towards the valley I had been coming from.
It took some time to get used to the snowshoes again and when the ascending slope finally started to level off, I was already quite exhausted. A turnoff appeared at the end of the slope and I took the opportunity to catch my breath, while I had to check which way I had to take. The app where I had found the hike suggested turning left and so that was exactly what I did. :) Trees surrounded me shortly after the turnoff and while the forest with all the snow was simply beautiful to look at, I also enjoyed the absolute silence that was enclosing me now. Additionally, the ascent remained pretty gentle for quite some time, basically until I came upon another turnoff and the slope steepened once more.
It only leveled off again, when I emerged from the forest and saw a ridge far ahead of me. Knowing that there would be a nice view towards the other side, I thought it would make the perfect spot for a longer break and as the sun still tried her best to break through the clouds, I was hoping for a couple sunrays to warm me up.
Well, the ridge was upon me rather sooner than later and having brought the short rise to the top of it behind me, I eventually beheld a panorama of Central Switzerland. Or I should better say, I beheld a part of the panorama, as the best bits were behind some thick clouds. Nevertheless, I sat down on a bench beneath a cross and while I ate a little snack, the wind started to pick up and it began to snow. Not that I had expected the best weather, but sitting there freezing my butt off, I knew that I had to walk on sooner than I wanted to.
Even when I resumed my hike, it was more a battle against the elements, than an enjoyable walk and when I tried to take some pictures, it felt like the greatest challenge ever, as my hands were more or less frozen. :) The bad weather eventually subsided once I came to another viewpoint and seeing the trail vanish behind a bend, I knew that this would be the last chance to get the full panorama of the Alps of Central Switzerland. So I decided to hang around for a while and lucky me, the thick clouds loosened up enough to reveal all the mountains at the horizon. Nice!
It was still too cold though to have some lunch and therefore I moved on once I had enjoyed the view long enough. Another turnoff soon appeared and turning left, I started to descend. Running through the powder with a lovely view up ahead, the descent actually was a lot of fun. :)
It wasn't only fun though, but also pretty fast and the skiing region of Sattel-Hochstuckli came into view before long. Of course the running had warmed me up, but also the wind wasn’t that strong anymore and when I arrived at the bottom of the slope, even my hands were completely warm again. :) Having read about a suspension bridge that can be crossed at Sattel-Hochstuckli, I took that short detour and decided to eat my lunch before I would walk across it. Hanging around for about half an hour, basically all the people that walked over the bridge, complained about the rule to wear a mask on it. :) Well, I certainly could understand them, as we were in the outdoors and the bridge wasn’t crowded at all. When I finally crossed over, I was kinda disappointed of the experience. Having read beforehand that it was dubbed as “Skywalk”, I had imagined a bridge with a beautiful view over the surrounding mountains, but it turned out that it was just a bridge over a valley with not much of a view at all.
Arriving on the other side, I put my snowshoes back on, took a left turn and at first followed the mountainside for a while. The absolute silence returned before long and when the clouds finally lifted to let the sun shine constantly, it simply was a superb walk along a stunning winter landscape. There was so much snow lying around, I knew for sure that this wouldn't be the last snowshoe hike of this winter. :)
Eventually coming upon the turnoff from the morning, I turned left once more to close the circle and head back to Biberegg. Descending the steep slope, it was interesting to see how the sun changed the whole scenery, as it was clearly more beautiful, than in the morning with the grey sky.
Mainly running down the slope again, I was back at the starting point in no time and as I hadn’t been able to drink my “summit” beer along the way, I decided to catch up on that right now. :) Sitting down on a bench at the skiing lift, I enjoyed the cold beer and the warm sun and it was just the perfect ending of a lovely hike. Well, it wasn’t the end exactly, as I chose to walk to the train station in Rothenthurm, because the connections were better from there than from Biberegg. :) The additional 20 minutes walk was perfectly fine however and heading back to Zurich not too late in the afternoon, I was already looking forward to the next winter hike.
Highlights of the day: the stunning winter landscape and the absolute silence that surrounded me from time to time
This hike is for you if:
- it’s your very first snowshoe hike
- you don’t want to do a lot of planning beforehand
- you’re looking for a panoramic view over the mountains of Central Switzerland
- you don’t mind coming across some civilization along the way
This hike is not for you if:
- you mind steep ascents and descents
- you prefer to be the only one on the trail
- you don’t want to follow a prepared snowshoe track
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