Our Excursion: 2021-10-02: Schwende Day 3
(Part of trip: )
Date of our excursion: 2021-10-02
Location: Hoher Kasten, Switzerland
Our Planned Itinerary:
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Travelers on this Excursion: |
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We hit some cool places.
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Continents: Europe |
Some featured areas we visited: |
Some points of interest we hit: |
It’s Day 17 of our Switzerland trip and our third day in the Appenzell area! Breakfast was amazing! Only problem was we were given too many pitchers of hot milk for hot chocolate and everyone felt obligated to drink it all. We regretted our overhydrating all day long.
Today we are going to ride the last gondola included on our Appenzeller card. We took a train to Weissbad and a bus to Brulisau where we caught the gondola. From Hoher Kosten, you can see six countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Lichtenstein. The gondola ride to the top was more packed than any other lift we have been on this trip. More people kept pouring in. The top was beautiful, both the panoramic views and the clear sunny weather. There is a cross on a hill with very good views. We have to proceed down a steep hill and back up another steep hill to reach it. We accept the torture to our legs and lungs and make the descent and climb. Wow, it is WINDY and ICY up there!! The views are amazing. We take some shots, admire the scenery, and head back down.
We have choices on the rest of our route. We decide not to walk back up the steep hill to the gondola to ride it back down. We need more adventure than that. We decide not to walk over to Saxer Lucke to see the cool massive rocks. Maybe another time. This time, our legs are not looking forward to that grueling and long hike. Also, we want to make it back to the hotel for dinner and we aren’t running back like in former years! We also decide not to walk along the ridge for a bit and head down on one of the other paths through the forest, because these might be hard on the sore knees. We decide not to take a path we have taken before because we like variety today. We do decide to take the path that is right in front of the trail sign and points to Brulisau. Apparently no one else noticed this path from the cross hill and didn’t realize it headed right down the mountain in a extensive series of tight switchbacks. Well, at least there were no super steep drop-offs to scare us.
Luckily for everyone in the group, we are stuck behind three very very slow travelers who do not want us to pass them. Therefore, our pace was incredibly relaxed and the knees rejoiced. After the switchbacks, we were faced with a terrain change. Our path became paved or gravelly or lattice cement and much steeper. This is worse on the knees than forest paths. Sorry knees and thighs and toes. A very large group of kids passes us, running down the hills. Finally, the bus stop is reached. We got to relax on the bus stop benches until the next bus arrived. The bus took us to the Weissbad train station and we took the train to Appenzell. Appenzell was busy! Everyone seemed to be out enjoying the good weather. We looked around at the shops and the houses and then headed back to the hotel.
We still have a good chunk of time before dinner. Of course, we can’t relax on vacation so we decide to take a walk along the river. We see a farmer call his goats and they come to greet him. We see a vending machine at a farmhouse selling fresh mountain cheese, meat, and milkshakes. We get overtaken by another large group of kids coming down from an Ebenalp hike.
In the river across from the train station is a section where we like to soak our feet. Apparently the secret is out because the huge hoard of kids was congregating along the river and soaking their feet as well. We didn’t let that stop us so we found a place upstream from all the dirty feet and jumped in. The water was COLD but refreshing.
After the soak, we split. Some sat on the benches at the train station, ate chocolate, and waited for the train. Others raced back to the hotel along the path in an attempt to beat the train back. The walkers arrived at the station first.
We still had time before dinner but it is a nice dinner place so we decided to freshen up and not stink up the dining room. Dinner was again AMAZING!!! This time we got some desserts. Overall, the desserts were spectacular. One was iffy.
Another amazing day. Great risks with great rewards. The tour guide has done his homework again. The trust must be growing. Good thing I am not along to slow the pace – or calling 911 for helicopter for a rescue.