Don't step in that!

That seemed to be the theme of our hike last weekend as we wandered through what seemed like cow pasture after cow pasture! We were definitely surprised that a marked Swiss trail just meandered through what appeared to be private property. But then again many things are different here, and we'll just chalk it up to another thing that would never be allowed in the U.S. Regardless, we are very thankful that someone decided it was acceptable to put a trail there as the scenery was spectacular!

The Wildenmannlisloch trail is in the Appenzell region of Switzerland, which is about a 1.5 to 2 hour train ride east of Zurich. Our journey started and ended with cable car rides as the hike was at about 5,000 feet and situated perfectly with views of the valley below and still higher jagged mountain peaks above us. The cable car on the way up was far from the typical modern car we have grown accustomed to taking throughout the alps, it instead looked like the first one they probably ever constructed! We were a little worried that it was going to be a manual pull, but luckily it was run by electricity, otherwise it would have indeed been a long ride up!

Dad & Emma in the valley below ready to take the cable car to start the hike

 

Old school cable car

Beautiful views of the valley on the ride up the cable car

Dad & Emma riding in the old school cable car - can you believe we fit 5 adults & 2 kids in it?

Start of the hike... these signs are all over the country and they all look like this because there are so many different trails!

Some parts of the trail thru the field were simply marked by paint on the rocks

The hike took several hours and in addition to beautiful views, making friends with some cows, trying to avoid one cow that seemed slightly crazy, and weaving between presents left behind by the cows, we also got to explore some small caves along the way. It was yet again another amazing day of playing in the Alps with Emma!

View of the Alps from inside a cave

Just passing another cow...

Hiking in the alps with a 7 week old requres a few more things in the backpack and stops along the way, but no one minds it when this is the scenery around you!

The crazy cow! It was running faster than I've ever seen a cow run right before we shot this video (I actually don't think I've ever seen a cow run before)!