Q-see
I like hiking cows
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2012
- Messages
- 85
This is my first thread here.
This year, I didn't hike as much as I wanted even though I live in the Zurich area which isn't too far from the mountains.
But in September, we hiked the Speer mountain, which is the highest conglomerate mountain in Europe. It is 1950m or 16397 ft. high.
We went there with a friend family and another couple.
Map
We parked near Mittlerwengi and walked along the small creek.
I loved this creek that much that I had to return another day, just to take some photos. Maybe I will post some of them later in the Waterfalls thread.
After a short walk, we headed left, our goal was to reach the summit from the north via the "via ferrata" which includes some T4/T5 climbing.
We didn't do any climbing for decades but it turned out later that it wasn't too difficult.
A quick look back
Then, the trail began to get a bit steeper, we made quite a bit of height within a short distance.
You can see lake Zurich in the background.
Also the remarkeably built up surroundings. That region is so much crowded, that in hindsight, this hike feels like an escape.
Obviously, you will not find the solitude of a desert here.
Now let's see where we want to go.
The hill in the background isn't the summit, it's just the start of the via ferrata, the climbing route.
On the way up, we passed some nice flowers, I think is must be some sort of Gentian.
We got closer to the wall...
The view wasn't bad...
Then, the climb began...
As I mentioned before, it wasn't very difficult. There were ledges where you could rest between the short climbing sections.
A view to the west...
We almost reached the peak...
And then, we finally made it to the top.
I was a bit exhausted and my legs were tired but it was a very good experience.
The view was great!
We found a place on the ridge where we could have lunch and rest a while.
Well recovered, we descended along the ridge...
Part of the track was steep and quite uncomfortable and soon we felt our legs again.
Half way down, we met the omnipresent cows...
Shortly after that, we went to an alpine hut, the temporarily home of these cows.
Many farmers take their cows to the mountains during summer. The herbs makes good milk.
Mountain cheese always has more and better taste than most of the junk they sell in the supermarket.
That cottage also was a little restaurant, the apple cider was very much appreciated.
Happy and satisfied, we headed back to our cars and had enough time to have a closer look o the creek.
There were several ponds and my buddy had balls enough to take a bath. I didn't, it really was freezing cold!
That day, we made only approx. 9km (5.5mi.) distance but almost 800m (2624 ft.) height so it was not too demanding but still a bit more than a stroll.
That's it! I hope you enjoyed my report.
Featured image for home page:
This year, I didn't hike as much as I wanted even though I live in the Zurich area which isn't too far from the mountains.
But in September, we hiked the Speer mountain, which is the highest conglomerate mountain in Europe. It is 1950m or 16397 ft. high.
We went there with a friend family and another couple.
Map
We parked near Mittlerwengi and walked along the small creek.
I loved this creek that much that I had to return another day, just to take some photos. Maybe I will post some of them later in the Waterfalls thread.
After a short walk, we headed left, our goal was to reach the summit from the north via the "via ferrata" which includes some T4/T5 climbing.
We didn't do any climbing for decades but it turned out later that it wasn't too difficult.
A quick look back
Then, the trail began to get a bit steeper, we made quite a bit of height within a short distance.
You can see lake Zurich in the background.
Also the remarkeably built up surroundings. That region is so much crowded, that in hindsight, this hike feels like an escape.
Obviously, you will not find the solitude of a desert here.
Now let's see where we want to go.
The hill in the background isn't the summit, it's just the start of the via ferrata, the climbing route.
On the way up, we passed some nice flowers, I think is must be some sort of Gentian.
We got closer to the wall...
The view wasn't bad...
Then, the climb began...
As I mentioned before, it wasn't very difficult. There were ledges where you could rest between the short climbing sections.
A view to the west...
We almost reached the peak...
And then, we finally made it to the top.
I was a bit exhausted and my legs were tired but it was a very good experience.
The view was great!
We found a place on the ridge where we could have lunch and rest a while.
Well recovered, we descended along the ridge...
Part of the track was steep and quite uncomfortable and soon we felt our legs again.
Half way down, we met the omnipresent cows...
Shortly after that, we went to an alpine hut, the temporarily home of these cows.
Many farmers take their cows to the mountains during summer. The herbs makes good milk.
Mountain cheese always has more and better taste than most of the junk they sell in the supermarket.
That cottage also was a little restaurant, the apple cider was very much appreciated.
Happy and satisfied, we headed back to our cars and had enough time to have a closer look o the creek.
There were several ponds and my buddy had balls enough to take a bath. I didn't, it really was freezing cold!
That day, we made only approx. 9km (5.5mi.) distance but almost 800m (2624 ft.) height so it was not too demanding but still a bit more than a stroll.
That's it! I hope you enjoyed my report.
Featured image for home page:
