Family Niesen - Hiking

Being away from the mountains for quite a while I had to go hiking in the Alps during my stay in Germany. Since our stay was short we chose a simple short half day hike and being me, who likes to hike on top of mountains, this left us with an aerial tramway to up into the mountains and a hike from there.

Hiking map

We picked a route on the northern Säntis mountain range in the Swiss Alps. The aerial tramway took us to the top of the mountain Ebenalp. From there we hiked on a semi-well paved path through a cave to a place called Wildkirchli where a chapel and a wood cabin resides in cave openings.

Walkway by Wildkirchli
Cabin at Wildkirchli
Restaurant and inn Aescher

A short walk along the steep mountain wall led us to the mountain restaurant and inn Aescher. The path is well secured but the fog of the clouds that we were hiking in gave the drop-off alongside the mountain a special interesting feel. The restaurant Aescher is built right against the mountain rock since not much space is along the mountain side and the sheep and other animals they keep add to a unique feel to that area.

Oskar showing off his hiking skills
View of the Säntis from Schäfler

We continued along the steep mountain walls past Zisler to the Chlus Alpine pastures where we took a break, ate our sandwiches and let Oskar crawl among the cow pies. Our hike then continued up to the Schäfler where we had Nusskipferl (nut crescents) and hot chocolate at the mountain restaurant and inn. Oskar had fun crawling around the restaurant among other small children of which one was staying overnight at the inn. I’m once again surprised at the rates for staying overnight. With $27 to $40 inclusive breakfast it's pretty cheap. The price range is due to the choice of luxury level.

Dead tree along the hiking path
Enzian
Hiking path

We took the same way back to Chuls but from there we stayed on top of the mountain range and took the hiking path directly to Ebenalb. Our altitude of the hiking trip ranged from 1454m (4770 feet)) to 1924 meters (6312 feet). We spent about half a day there since we didn't arrive at the aerial tramway until noonish. The hike is quite easy and not at all strenuous. I'd recommend it to everybody that doesn't have much experience with hiking or wants a simple hike. The countryside is beautiful and interesting even with clouds enclosing the mountain.

Claus, Oskar and Melissa

If you are interested in something more advanced you might want to look into extending the hike to the Säntis.