Four days in the Rätikon: Schesaplanahütte -> Totalphütte

We get a reasonably early start (7:30) in good weather (clear! clear! clear!) and head up along the blue-white way to the Schesalplana through the wet grass and mud, up, up, up. Eventually we cross a magical barrier where the ground is mostly dry. We see lots of snails and Alpensalamanders as well as a few marmots.

At a certain point the way starts to get really blue-white; it's lucky that things are pretty dry by then because it would have been really nasty to cross some of the patches in wet conditions. There was a nice section of chain that seemed hairy while doing it but that when seen from the other side made Greg very happy he didn't know what he was doing at the time he was doing it. We do plenty of scrambling, plenty of traversing on loose surfaces or where no real path was visible. Still, the way is very, very well marked and is never critical.

"in some places use of hands is required to proceed"

After a surprisingly short period of time we hit the bowl (~2720m) below the Schesalplana itself, join the path coming from the Mannheimerhütte and start seeing people; lots of people. Up until this point we had been completely alone; after this point we would be constantly around other people.

Another 200 or so meters up an easy, but very steep path to the top of the Schesaplana (2964m, 10:30). We've somehow managed to fly up tho the top; getting there in less than the "standard" time. At the top we enjoy the panoramic views, take some quick pictures before clouds come in, and have an early lunch. We enjoy the sight of others stopping at the saddle below, contemplating the way down, reconsidering, thinking, then taking the route and vanishing from view.

After our break we head down to the vanishing point and descend towards the Lünersee. There are some really nice bits along the curly, swerving rock at the top.

We scrambled up, now we scramble down

Down, down, down, until we start to meet the hordes coming up for the day trip to the peak. Hordes! We hit the Totalphütte (2381m), our days destination, at around 1:30, much too early! We were at least able to secure good mattress positions in the hostel. We spend the rest of the afternooon marvelling at the crowds and the great views, try a Kaiserschmarrn (good, but tooooo much), a gratis schnapps (obstler, not our favorite), and basically putter away the rest of the afternoon.

Four days in the Rätikon: Malbun->Schesaplanahütte

After a fairly long trip to Malbun involving a tram, a train, and two buses (one of which we had to ride in all the way across Liechtenstein!), we did a lazy start and took the lift up to Sareis (2003m) in drizzling rain that luckly stopped by the time we hit the top. From there it was a casual, slow climb to the Spitz (2186m), then a steeper way along the ridge to the Augstenberg (2359m) where we had decent views over the Swiss Alps and the Alpstein. Continuing to follow the ridge, we went down to the Pfälzerhütte (2108m, in a saddle) where we had a coffee and a snack before climbing up, up, up to the Naafkopf (2570m), the peak that lies at the three-way border between Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein. This was entertainingly steep at the end.

One could imagine great views from the top, but we had to get them quickly as the clounds kept moving in and out. After a short break, it was down again (nowhere else to go from the peak) and along an unofficial path following stonemen back to the official path.

Following stonemen down from the Naafkopf

At the Barthümeljoch (2288m) we heard the first thunder, somewhere off in the distance. Along the way to the Gross Furgga we crossed a very steep snow patch that left Greg thinking back to the snow that turned us back above Iceberg Lake in Ansel Adams Wilderness. This snow was softer though, and a slip wouldn't have put us in a cold lake, plus the clouds were racing in, so crossing was a must. Clearly we didn't die.
By the time we reached the Gross Furgga (2359m) it was completely clouded in. Andrea assures Greg that the views are fantastic. From this point the thunder in the distance started getting a lot more frequent, so we had an additional spring in our step as we descended into the valley and along a path across a scree slope. After we get below the clouds we can see the hut in the distance and a bunch of ugly clouds caught on the ridge on the other side of the valley. We continue along the side of the valley for what seems like a very long time, hearing thunder, watching clouds come in from both sides, still managing to appreciate the incredible abundance of flowers, until we reach the Schesaplanahütte (1908m).

15 minutes later the sky cracks open... goooood timing! We spend a while sitting outside on a bench under an overhanging bit of roof enjoying cool beverages and watching the clouds and mountains deliver fireworks to celebrate the Swiss National Holiday.

Looking across the valley, under the clouds

Rheinfelden -> Sissach

It was another day of flexibility: the original plan was to hike the Arnigrat, but weather cancelled that. Then we decided to do something around Laufen, but we were 3 minutes too late to the train station. So we took the next train that was leaving, went to Rheinfelden, looked at the signs, and decided to walk to Sissach.

The path went via Magden, somewhere, to the Sissacherflue (where we had a refreshing beverage), and then down to Sissach and the train back to Basel. Total time was about 4 hours, including two short breaks.

Around the Dents du Midi : Cab. Susanfe -> Salvan

Starting early from the Cabane de Susanfe (2102m, 7:00) under uncertain skies (spots of blue in an otherwise somewhat threatening sky); up to the Col de Susanfe (2494m), where the pass wind was just insane; down, with some scrambly bits, past a group of very playful mountain goats, to the Lac de Salanfe (1925m) and then around to the hotel where we had a break and piece of cake. Down, down along a way that's part gravel road, part very nice woods path, to the floor of the Vallon de Van; through the cluster of vacation houses at Van d'en Haut; through the woods and down to Salvan (934m, 3:15).

it's windy on the Col de Susanfe

Around the Dents du Midi : Champery to Cab. Susanfe

This was a hike organized by the SAC Basel section.

From Champery (1064m) we headed up and along the really nice Galerie Defago; up and around to the Bonavau (1550), where we had lunch; around the bowl to the gorge carved by La Saufla; very, very nice, at time scrambly, ascent through the gorge to the Pas d'Encel (1808m) ; around the valley Susanfe to the SAC hut (2102m).

towards the gorge of La Saufla

We had beautiful weather.