I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared about actually making my way back home during a hike in the mountains as much as I was during this one, and it didn’t have to do anything with the sheer length of the trip or the fear of slipping and falling down the cliff from the top of ridge, but rather because I was pretty sure that Amber and Kristi were going to kill me at some point ..
We started off the trip by taking the gondola to the Ebenalp peak, where we immediately felt like we were up in the clouds. From there we actually went downhill through a little cave, where apparently hermetian monks used to live back in the day. The exit from the cave led to the bottom of this ginormous cliff overlooking the valley, and wouldn’t you believe it, there was a restaurant right underneath the cliff! Since we just began, it was too early for a lunch break, so we kept going and started hiking up alongside the very cliff that we hiked down at the other end. After some effort and numerous breaks to enjoy either the view, the clouds rushing past us, the pretty meadow full of flowers, and more alpine huts, we made it to the main destination of the hike - Schäfler peak. The peak itself isn’t very impressive (photo #4), but its view over the Altman ridge is what convinced me that this was one of the spots the girls had to see before leaving Switzerland. Anyways, we were enjoying the view, taking photos and snacking on baguettes, but the mood changed once the question of “Where do we go now?” came up. You should have seen the reaction once I said that I planned for us to continue further down by taking the ridge trail right on top of the cliff (photo #5). I was pretty sure they were gonna push me down just for suggesting such a thing! But, fortunately it didn’t take too much convincing, and we set off on one of the most coolest hikes with such breathtaking views of the sharp peaks in front of us and the lake filled valley below us. Neither of us slipped down from the trail (which even had a rail to hold on to during the steepest parts), so since it went so smoothly I kind of decided for everyone that we should keep going even further that originally planned, so we ended up going all the way to the end of the valley to the Mesmer Alpine Inn, where we finally turned around and started heading down towards to the lake. And it was probably about time since the sun started to hide behind the mountains, and more importantly the fatigue in our legs started to kick in as the adrenaline rush disappeared since we were just hiking down a basic hill compared to the trail before. We made it to the lake with almost no time and hardly any sunlight left, which is probably the only regret I have from this day, but in a region with so many cool spots, you really can’t manage to see them all in one relatively short September day.
It’s not often a hike makes you feel like you’ve been transported to some magical fairy land, but this trip to the Swiss region of Appenzell definitely made me feel like it. We might have all been completely drained of energy after the 13km (8 mile) hike, Amber and Kristi especially since they weren’t used to the typically long Swiss hike, but looking back at it I’m sure all of us would say it was completely worth it! I know I would go again tomorrow if I could!
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