Sunday, February 17, 2008

Snowshoeing behind the Mythen

Our route was Rothenturm (925m) up to the Nüsellstock (1479m) and then along the ridge to the Teufeli (1431m), Höch Tändli (1523m), Chli Tändli (1483m), Grossbrechenstock (1559m), Hochstuckli (1566m), and then down to Mostelberg (1191m) where we took the gondola down to Sattel.

It was a beautifully sunny day and it hasn't snowed for a while, so we didn't need the snowshoes at the beginning or end, but could use them along the whole ridge.
We had great views of the Mythen, the Alps, and some lakes.

Less pleasantly, we had a very graphic demonstration of what a persistent and stable high-pressure front does to air quality: looking back towards the Jura chain there was a clear line in the air caused by the fine particulate pollution that we'd been reading about in the paper all week.

It took us 6 hours ,including a couple of breaks in the warm sun.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Breitmis -> Wasserflue -> Geissflue -> Breitmis

Andrea was out of town this weekend, but Andreas and Elke visited and we did this hike to celebrate the nice weather. Andrea and I had done the Wasserflue->Geissflue stretch before, but in the other direction.

Unfortunately the views to the Alps weren't complete: we could just see the tops of the higher mountains, but it was better than last time. Ah yeah, and the restaurant at Salhohe was closed for Fasnacht. Still, it was a really nice hike.

Total walking time was about 4.5 hours.