With an appointment in the afternoon and a slightly injured leg, there was no possibility for a full day hike. But the weather was just too nice to just sit at home, so I headed out for a half day hike in the lovely canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. After a quick research I decided to walk on the "Eggen High Route". Usually one walks this way from the village Teufen to the village Speicher or the other way around. As the train connections to Teufen were better for me, I choose to walk only a part of the High Route and opted for a loop that started and ended in Teufen. Starting at the railway station on early Saturday morning I left the village soon and headed out to the countryside. The beginning was rather steep, but the ascent on to the first hill after Teufen was pretty short, so all in all it was nothing to be worried about. Keeping the height more or less after that, the trail went straight ahead, passing a lot of farmhouses with local farmers at work. After a couple kilometers I reached a crossing and turned left there, passing some farming fields right after the junction. As a lot of the farmers were cutting their grass, it was great to have some fresh air together with the smell of fresh cut grass. Some time later I had to cross a main road and there I decided to do a short extra loop, turning right instead of walking straight ahead to the restaurant Waldegg. Unfortunately the path was not marked very well and that resulted in a bigger additional loop then intended. :) Nevertheless I found the right way in the end and finally came upon the "Eggen High Route". I turned left once more and overtook an elder man. As I took a couple pictures of the beautiful view just about 100 meters later, he caught up with me again.
When I wanted to keep on walking the man started to talk to me and 10 minutes later we were still deep in conversation. He told me about his life and the work he did back in the 60ties and 70ties. He also mentioned that he loves trains a lot and once he found out that I was working for a forwarding company he was on fire. :) Talking about importing goods from China by train to Europe we continued the walk together all the way to the restaurant Waldegg. There he took a break, whereas I kept on walking as I was a bit behind schedule now. But this didn't bother me at all. I enjoyed talking to the man and I hope that, like him, I also will be in a good shape physically and mentally if I ever get to his age. A couple kilometers later it was time for a short lunch break. The view on the High Route was beautiful so far but not truly spectacular. Well, may be it was the wrong day for that. The mountains were obscured by clouds and Lake Constance was somewhere behind the haze at the horizon.
But no worries, this is just a good excuse to come back another day. :) After the break I carried on for another 25 minutes when I came upon another crossing and turned left again to descend back to the railway station of Teufen. This lovely little hike ended there and too soon I was back in the hubbub of Zurich.
Highlight of the day: the talk with the elder man
This hike is for you if:
- you want to get up close with the farming life of Switzerland
- you're looking for a family friendly hike
- you don't mind many other people on the trail
- you're looking for a lovely and easy half day hike
This hike is not for you if:
- you're seeking loneliness
- you need mountains around you
- you're looking for a challenging hike
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