Säntis

I have not written here in a long time. It is not a case that I have given up walking or traveling, but I have had some distractions during 2022 that have meant I was not posting here. However, sometimes, there is something that just has to be posted on this blog, and that is the case right now.

On a recent Sunday morning I got up early, and made my way to Wasserauen in Appenzellerland. It is a long train journey to that eastern part of Switzerland, first to Zurich, then to Gossau, and the narrow gauge Appenzellerbahn to Wasserauen. It was after 10 AM when I got there, despite a very early start from Basel. With the warm weather that has been scorching us all in Switzerland recently, this was already late to start a walk, so I wasted no time, but headed out on the way directly. The car park near the station was fairly full; this is a popular area for hikers and walkers.

The initial part of the route is quite flat, starting out at 878m altitude. But it didn’t take long before the trail was climbing uphill. Soon I was passing the Sunday strollers. I had a long way to go, and I suspect their plans were for a much shorter distance. I quickly reached the Seealpsee at 1132m, with the tower on Säntis straight ahead.

The Seealpsee is a popular destination for tourists. The small lake provides a place of amusement and relaxation, while the nearby hotel provides the refreshments. There was a man playing the Alpenhorn beside the lake. He was not the best I have ever heard, but far from the worst either. However, I had not time to hang around, and went on past the lake before taking to the higher ground on the right hand side of the valley. There is a steep track that climbs to mountainside, so steep that there are fixed cables in place for a good part of the way as it zig-zags up through the trees. When I emerged from the trees onto the grassy slopes above, I was treated to a view of the Seealpsee, looking back.

The treeline is between 1400m and 1500m in this area, and I was walking on grassy slopes as I made my way to the farm at Altenalp. The farm provides refreshments, and I was glad to get a cool drink and some food. Then I went on again, going a little bit higher to get through the gap at Steckenberg. After that, my route descended. I lost about 150m of altitude, coming close to Unterer Mesmer before starting the final stretch towards Säntis itself.

Once I reached the turn at 1828m, the route was just a long steady ascent along the Rossegg shelf. The terrain was mostly grass, but eventually, even that gives out, somewhere about 2200m. Then the mountain becomes bare rock. The track becomes narrower, with fixed cables to help the walker on the way. There was also a small snowfield to cross before turning sharply on the steep ascent to the col at 2446m

The final section is a bit of a klettersteig over the rocks to the next col, and then a steep ascent to the cablecar station. The entrance to the station from the mountain is somewhat unassuming, a covered walkway on the rocks, followed by concrete tunnels to emerge in a lounge with a restaurant and a bar.

My day was done, and I took the cablecar down, getting a good view of the final ridge towards the summit as I went.

Just two hours after I arrived in Wasserauen to start this walk, there was an accident on the Appenzeller Bahn. A car and a train collided at a level crossing. Luckily no one was killed. The day after my trip, two people were killed in a fall near Seealpsee. The newspaper reported that both were inappropriately equipped for hiking in the mountains. Säntis and the area around are not to be taken lightly.

My total step count for the day was 32,606. The map below shows the route as a blue line, almost diagonal, from top right to bottom left.