ZH-Oberland Round trip - Pfäffikon to Hermatswil 4½ to 5 hours, 16 Km, 600m uphill, 600m downhill. Park and Ride Fr.5.- per day at the railway station in Pfäffikon ZH. N.B. Pfäffikon ZH is not, as you might imagine, the Pfäffikon on Lake Zürich. That one is Pfäffikon, canton Schwyz! A pleasant walk not far from Zürich in peaceful countryside. The first part of the hike is not shown on the site; (modern technology fails again!). The walk follows the Jakob Stutz Weg to the Balchenstal Mill. The shop there, which sells many flour ‘mixtures’, is only open on Wednesdays and Fridays from 13.00 to 16.00. For those who like to know what they are eating, the XL Table on the link shows the contents of the various products. Unfortunately, the mill not being exactly on the Tourist Route and expecting hundreds of foreign visitors, their Homepage is only in German. Back to the hike - this first stretch of track is shown as the Guyer-Zeller-Weg on this map. When we did the trip, the path beside the stream was ‘closed, continue at your own risk’. There had been a small landslide which, in dry conditions, wasn’t a problem to cross. When wet, the risk of landing in the stream would be higher. Knowing the Swiss, they have probably already cleared it up by now anyway. There is a pretty steep bit up through the wood, other than that there are no problems, the way is well marked and well walked. Much of the track is in open country with little shade but the lack of other hikers may have been due more to the lack of open restaurants! The Restaurants en route are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays with the exception of the one near the Railway Station in Pfäffikon and that on the road Hittnau-Saaland after Schönau.
Happy Hiking.
Mostelberg – Hochstuckli SZ – Haggenegg 4 hours, 12 Km, 500m uphill, 500m downhill. Another great day out. Starting by cable railway from Sattel in Canton Schwyz on the road between Biberbrugg, Rothenthurm and Central Switzerland, the revolving cabins enable you to enjoy the view on the way up to and down from the Mostelberg without ‘doing an owl’ with your neck. From Mostelberg the path is well signposted, well marked and well walked but most folk seem to have been keeping to the areas nearer the restaurants. Nothing difficult about the walk, one steeper stretch to warm you up nicely and a narrower part on the short stretch to get to the very top of Hoch Stuckli. Walking here on other occasions, we’ve missed this loop out but it was well worth the detour as the view of both Klein and the Gross Mythen from the top was truly fantastic. In fact, except for the couple of trees blocking the view the way we had come up, we had a 360° hills and mountain panorama. Just right for the mid-day halt. Further on, the stretch between Herrenboden>Bannegg>Haggenegg has been much improved by laying many wooden ‘beams’ into the otherwise very muddy surface. Several restaurants are spread conveniently round the region. It’s a pity that the Homepage of this attractive area is, once again, only in German but there are pictures to help you get the idea of what is available. There is really something for all members of a family. My only warning: if you click your way through it, watch that you don’t find yourself sponsoring a chunk of the soon-to-be-erected Stuckli Sky Walk (even longer than the Trift Suspension Bridge) which would set you back Fr.1500.- Although it’s getting late in the year for spring flowers, the farmers haven’t quite finished mowing yet and there were meadows still in their full glory. If you want to see masses of orchids you’ll have to earn the privilege by doing a bit of uphill, but if you’re happy with a field full of glorious mixed colours you can cheat, leave your hiking boots at home, go by car from Schwyz up to the Haggenegg, walk three minutes towards Mostelegg and feast your eyes.
By the way, don't be confused by the statistics of distance etc. when you open up the 'a-Trip' link. To begin with, it shows the info for the cablecar part. The REAL details come when you start walking!
