This past weekend the weather was beautiful: sunny and very warm. I had to think long and hard about where to hike this weekend, since when it is 90 F, doing a really strenuous hike above the tree line is probably not the best idea. Accordingly, I chose
this hike in the nearby kanton of Glarus. Not only was it nearby so that I could get the hardest part of the hike out of the way early in the day, but much of the hike was in the forest, and there was a lake along the way for cooling off. I was sold!
The hike started out in the town of Glarus, but quickly climbed in to fields. And a random gravel pit, which I had to take a picture of, just to show that there are some not-so-nice-looking places in Switzerland.
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| The lovely gravel pit. |
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| This tree was so pretty! |
The hike climbed through the woods for quite a long way, with peeks of the mountains every so often. As crowded as my hike last weekend was, this hike was empty. It was very lovely and tranquil to be on my own, climbing in the forest.
All of the sudden, I arrived at Schwammihöchi and was treated to the beautiful view out over the Klöntalersee. I have to say that the lakes and rivers here in Switzerland really do come in the most fantastical blues I've ever seen. For evidence, see
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here and
here. And that's just from the past year or so. Just sayin'.
I took the opportunity to have a Coke at the restaurant overlooking the lake before hiking down the hill to the lake.
I had a picnic in the shade by the lake and seriously regretted not having my swimsuit so that I could also take a dip in the lake.
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| My picnic location. |
From the lake, I hiked along a little stream back down to Glarus. I had a slight mishap in which I believe I hiked through a working shooting range. This is not even a joke. I was following the yellow hiking trail signs, but there were also "Danger from shooting" signs. I thought that the hiking signs could not possibly be wrong, until I ended up in some hollow with shooters on my right and targets on my left. Thankfully, the targets were elevated quite far above me, but it definitely made me a little nervous to hear the shooting around me. I'm not quite sure what I should've done instead, since stop-drop-and-roll doesn't exactly apply to gunfire, but thankfully I survived!
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| At the top of the shooting range. Oops. |
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| At the bottom of the shooting range. You can see the targets in the background! |
It really was a beautiful hike, through the cool and aromatic woods, up to the beautiful vantage above the lake, alongside the lake, and then back down along a river. Two thumbs up!
