How wild it was, to let it be

The Alpstein mountain range is a charming region in north eastern Switzerland. Through rolling green hills and small rural farm towns, a two-hour train from Zurich brought us to Brülisau, at the base of the Hoher Kasten mountain. I decided that hopping into the cable car was the best option for us that morning, given the scorching 32 °C weather and the hike that we had ahead of us from the summit.

As the cable car drew in closer to the summit, our carriage sunk into a basin of clouds, disrupting our view of the majestic landscape we were admiring. I experienced a 20-degree temperature drop after hopping out – the strong winds did not help. But my mind was set on the trek that was facing us that day, and getting to our camping spot before night fell.

Since we were planning on sleeping at 1800-m, I made sure to bring all my necessary equipment in my bag (in decreasing order of prioritization):

You might have noticed that I forgot to include any extra clothes on this list, other than the t-shirt and shorts I had on me. It was going to be a long day in this unforgiving weather.

After a few hours, we found ourselves at the Berggasthaus Staubern (link), where we warmed up with an Älplermagronen (a Swiss mac-and-cheese, with fried onions and apple sauce). The looming clouds eventually cleared and the sun peaked through the top of the restaurant, and we made our way towards our camping spot, at the Saxer Lücke. Golden hour turned into blue hour, as we fell asleep in the warmth of our little tent with 5-star views of the snow-capped mountain peaks of the neighbouring countries of Lichtenstein and Austria.

The sounds of the local sheep’s bleatings woke me up just past 5 in the morning. As I saw that the sun was just starting to rise, I quickly rushed to find my camera. The cold morning air brushed past me as I opened the tent, and I realized I had nothing but my light clothes from the previous day – an artifact of my unpreparedness. I stayed in the warmth of my sleeping bag, leaving my camera aside, as I looked out into the valley beneath us, and breathed in the crisp, clean mountain air. Oh how wild it was, to let it be.

The Appenzell Alps are a spectacular area, that is easy to overlook if planning a trip to the much more popular, southern Alps of Switzerland. Next time I go, I will remember to bring my sweater.

Adam Malek