Another year, another weekend hike to a Swiss Alpine mountain hut. :) As I usually have to work on Saturday in my new job, I decided to arrange only one hike for this year. The potential dates were therefore a bit scarce and in the end only three friends were able to join in. Lucky me, the Swiss Football team played their first quarter final since ages on the Friday before, as otherwise I probably would have been alone. :) Of course I watched the game too and as the hour turned a bit late on Friday, we only met around 8 o’clock at the Zurich main station the following morning. For this year, I had decided to take my friends to the Legler hut, a lovely cabin with a spectacular view in the middle of the canton Glarus. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was only so-so, but as it was supposed to be a bit better on Saturday, we decided to do the tougher and longer part on the first day. Our starting point was above the well-known village of Elm and after a two hours journey that included a ride on the train, bus and in a cable car, we arrived at the Ämpächli, where we finally were able to lace up our boots. It took some time though until we hit the trail, as my friend Claudio brought along his two year old daughter Valentina and the nearby playground of the restaurant was obviously more interesting than being carried around in a backpack. :) Eventually, we headed up a first steep slope, just to arrive at a signpost that didn’t include our destination anymore. :) Haha. A quick check of our location, a turn to the right and we were on our way again. Walking more or less straight ahead, we soon entered a lovely forest and passed quite a few “playgrounds” that were part of a family hiking trail. Before long, we were out of the woods again and once we had passed a first cow meadow, we faced a rather steep ascending slope.
Some shade would have been nice for that part, but we had left the trees behind for good and therefore started to ascend under a scorching hot sun. Slowly we made our way upwards and while the sun and the steepness of the slope made it quite an arduous ascent, the views definitely compensated for all our struggles.
The slope however seemed endless. Once we had passed another cow meadow and still no end was in sight, we decided to look for a spot to eat our lunch. Luckily, we came across a hut shortly afterwards and happily sat down in front of it to eat. Valentina, a group of other hikers, tons of flying bugs and Ulisse’s choice of lunch entertained us for the next half an hour and once we’ve all had our strength back, we continued to ascend.
Unfortunately, the slope remained as steep as before and only after we scaled another rise, there eventually was a brief respite. Coming upon a plateau, we not only were able to catch our breath, but also to marvel at the lovely Chüebodensee and its surrounding mountains. The next rise awaited us just afterwards and once we had it behind us, the view from there invited us to take another short rest. :)
As we were kinda behind schedule, the break wasn't a long one and we soon were on our way again. Lucky us, the slopes that followed were easier to tackle than the ones before and eventually reaching another plateau, we finally could spot the Wildmadfurggeli, the highest point of today. Deciding that we would take another longer break on the top, we made our way across the plateau, passing quite a few remaining patches of snow.
The biggest one was just below the Wildmadfurggeli and a short detour was necessary to avoid a steep scramble through the snow. Arriving on the highest point, we sat down to eat a snack, to rest our legs and to let Valentina walk around again. Claudio’s legs were aching quite a bit from the strenuous ascent and as Ulisse is a physiotherapist, he asked him to “massage” his legs. Pressing his fingers into Claudio’s calf, Claudio started screaming instantly and we all had a good laugh, while Ulisse continued to “massage” Claudio’s legs.
Once we all had rested enough, we made our way over a vast mountain plateau and eventually had a first view to the mountains on the other side. The sun at that point was long since gone and right then we felt some first drops falling. Deciding that it would be better to move on faster, Claudio and Dana put down the accelerator and soon were far ahead, while Ulisse and I brought up the rear.
Talking about tattoos, music and dating apps, the time passed by rather swiftly and coming upon the next ascending slope, we caught up with Dana and Claudio in the middle of it. As the rain had intensified in the meantime and was now falling pretty constantly, the walk in that part was a bit dull, but at least there was no wind and even though it was raining, we weren’t soaking wet.
Passing by the Hübschbodenseeli, we turned left at the end of it to scale the final slope towards the Legler hut. It definitely wasn’t the steepest part of today, but without any views and without any place to sit down for another break, that last ascent turned into quite a struggle. Mentally, it wasn't easy as well, mainly because I told my friends, “only one kilometer left”, about three times. :) Slowly heading up the rocky slope, we passed a last couple patches of snow and finally saw the hut appearing in front of us. While Dana had told me that a part of the hike had seemed familiar to her, she now realized that she had stayed overnight at this hut before. Oh damn it, not again, as the same had happened the last year at the Sardona hut… 🙈 Entering the hut, we changed our wet clothes for some dry ones and before long sat at our table for a well deserved aperitif. The rest of the evening was spent with talking, eating, drinking and following Valentina around as she explored basically every corner of the hut. :) Tired of that strenuous and entertaining day, we fell into our beds at about 10 o’clock. Around nine hours later, the alarm got us out of the bed again and a first look outside was quite promising as most of yesterday's clouds were gone. So for a start we enjoyed the beautiful view over the surrounding mountains, before we eventually sat down for a hearty breakfast.
The sunshine was quite deceiving though, as the next bad weather front was about to hit the area around noon. Therefore we had decided yesterday already that we would take the shortest route possible to return to civilization. Saying goodbye to the Legler hut at around 9 o'clock, we started to make our way down to the Ängiseen.
As there had been a couple routes to choose from, we naturally had picked the most scenic one, but being five minutes into the hike, fog moved in and concealed the view towards the mountains on the other side. Great… In exchange however, we suddenly spotted a rainbow in the fog and funnily enough, our shades were right in the middle of it. :)
The further down we got, the less dense the fog was and soon we were able to make out the three mountain lakes that formed the Ängiseen. Shortly afterwards, the fog vanished even more and only now we noticed how beautiful that place from up close actually was.
Passing by the Ängiseen we kept on descending and while we already had seen a herd of chamois and the odd frog here and there, some more frogs, a couple salamanders and even two marmots crossed our path within the next hour. Not only the animals made it a lovely walk however. The temperature was pleasant, there was no rain and every now and then, a beautiful view appeared between the clouds.
Eventually coming upon a junction, it was about time for the final ascent of the weekend. Heading up to the Matzlenfurggelen, we picked up the pace from yesterday and slowly made our way to the saddle. Today however, the ascent was much gentler and only during the last part we took a couple breaks. Finally reaching the saddle, we had a good view towards the Wildmadfurggeli and to the valley we had been walking in yesterday. Knowing that the end was near, we didn't linger on, but soon started to head down towards the artificial Garichti Lake. The descent was pretty steep in parts, but also featured a good view from time to time.
Lucky us, the weather held and arriving at the lake, we were happy that today everything had worked out fine. Heading to the restaurant Mettmen, Valentina at first tested the nearby playground, before we all went indoors for a big lunch and a refreshing drink. Sitting there and looking out of the window, it had started to rain in the meantime and we were glad that all that was left to do was to walk another couple minutes to the cable car. :) Tired but happy we made our way back to Zurich and I hope all of us are already looking forward to the weekend hike of next year. :)
Highlights of the weekend: the views along the way and from the hut, the wildlife we came across, the hut itself and of course the “massage” on the Wildmadfurggeli :)
This hike is for you if:
- you’re after beautiful views over the Alps of Glarus
- you’re looking for a hike to a hut that has several ways to get there
- you want to stay in a pretty modern SAC mountain hut
- you don’t mind steep ascents and descents
This hike is not for you if:
- you mind busy trails and busy huts :)
- an ascent of over 1000 meters difference in altitude on one day is too much for you
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