Five Hours, Five Lakes, and Many, Many Aches

I had an entirely different topic in mind for today's post - namely, more summer markets. Our second trip to Vevey from last weekend (this time including wine!) and Saturday's leisurely stroll around the organic lakefront market in Zug, in particular. But the piles of fruit and vegetables I was going to show you pale in comparison to the splendor before my eyes all day yesterday.

Along with some friends and colleagues from work, we undertook the Fünfseeenwanderung (Five-Lakes Hike) in the mountains of eastern Switzerland. I'm going to give you far too many pictures which will make this post ridiculously long but... I don't care. It was just too gorgeous NOT to show you!

Lake 1, the Wangersee, from the cable car station at the very beginning of the hike at 2200 meters. We walked to the buildings, down behind them, and then around and up to the pass on the far left of the photo.

This was the first and toughest climb, ascending to 2600 meters on a very steep and zig-zag trail. After about an hour and a half and a lot of huffing and puffing, we reached the top and could just see the buildings from the first photo on the ridge at left.

Crossing the pass, the other side revealed a sight for oxygen-deprived lungs... the absolutely stunning Wildsee, Pizol glacier, and Graue Hörner peaks. Yes, the lake really was that color, like a puddle of turquoise paint that someone had just tipped out in the middle of the mountains.

Matt catching his breath and enjoying the view...

Forty-five minutes around and down the next hill brought us to the Schottensee, my personal favorite of all the lakes. From high above the lake you could see the sunlight streaming down into the clear depths, and the color! I just couldn't get over it. You need absolutely no photographic skill to take photos like these because everywhere you turn is a fantastic picture.

Another climb around this hill past patches of wild alpine flowers brought us to Schwarzplangg, a slate plateau at 2505 meters where most hikers (us included) stop to have lunch and enjoy the views.

Schwarzplangg overlooked lake #4, the Schwarzsee, which we passed by on the way to the third and final climb up the hill on the left. You can see how just a few hundred meters descent in altitude has already changed the color of the water - the Schwarzee was a lot greener than the previous two.

Once up the next hill we reached the Steinmannlis, a whole field of stone towers that have been there for more than 100 years. From far away it looks like a graveyard. Nobody knows who built them all, though their shapes and numbers have changed in the last decades as hikers add and move around the stones at will.

When I saw them I thought of the pile of stone that Jacob and Laban built as a covenant between them in Genesis, and the tower of 12 stones that Joshua built when Israel crossed the Jordan. These were not the only reminder of God... next to the red and white slashes marking the trail, I enjoyed reading plaques with Scripture verses and poems praising the Creator and his stunning work surrounding us. The one below reads, "God's will is charity, his heart only love, and all the paths he makes are good."

The path down from the Steinmannli toward the Baschalvasee led us past some spectacular cliffs and a bird's eye view of the Rhine valley into Liechtenstein and across the Austrian Alps. Liechtenstein begins where the river makes its first bend, and the capital city of Vaduz is nestled against the second bend. And see that little brown and white speck standing on the cliff? That's me. :)

Finally, finally, after 11 kilometers, 5 hours and a knee-crunching descent to 1850 meters, we reached the restaurant and chair lift at Gaffia where we were greeted with the possibility of six different kinds of boozed-up hot drinks. Tempting, but we opted for the blessedly cold beers and soft drinks instead.

I had a good laugh at this plaque hanging at the restaurant, which plays off a popular hymn and roughly translated reads,

Praise God in the heights.
He made the mountains so high
and manifested Himself
so that not every Lumpenhund (literally, rag-hound: scoundrel or cad)
that the valleys are blessed with
runs into happy hikers up here.
Praise God in the heights.

It must be said - this hike kicked our butts. It was a lot more challenging than anything in my usual Sunday hike guide, but oh, it was worth it. I have silly-shaped sunburns all over my body (see below for what will eventually fade to a sexy sock-tan), my muscles yell at me every time I get up from a chair, and one strange little spot on the sole of my right foot is a lot more painful than it should be.

All this to mean: if you at all enjoy hiking, you should do this hike. The hours of being surrounded by nothing but mountains and lakes and clear crisp air are worth every ache and aloe vera application.

Getting There and Tips: If you're going by public, there is a RailAway special (another more detailed info sheet here and the official Pizol site here). By car, drive to Bad Ragaz and take the cable car up to Pardiel, then chair lift to Laufböden, then 20 minute walk over to Pizolhütte where the hike actually begins. Cost: CHF 36 round-trip without halbtax, CHF 18 with. Take plenty of water - at least 1.5 liters per person - and food as there are no fountains or signs of civilization anywhere along the hike. You also need good solid hiking boots, hiking poles if you have them, a sweater in case of chillier weather and for when you stop walking, and plenty of sunscreen. The last chair lift trip from Gaffia back to the Pizolhütte is at 16:00 so you should get to the base station in Bad Ragaz by 9:30 am at the latest.