Look Where Grammy Went today - Wednesday July 7, 2010T

Look Where Grammy Went Today - Wednesday July 7, 2010

As promised on the first nice day here in Appenzell we wanted to go up to Ebenalp (1640 m). It is basically a one house village high on a narrow cliff on the side of the rocky mountainside. After a cable car ride to the top, I decided to walk down around on the narrow steps to the building known as Berggasthaus Aescher (Aescher Mountain Hotel) - the sign said 12 min. The steps were very steep so Jean decided to remain up top knowing that she would have to climb those steps on return. I got down there in more like 20 min. and was taking a few pictures when I heard her call my name. Now that was a very real surprise since to get down there the trail disappeared into a cave - very steep and damp and dark inside that wound around down to a hole in the rock at the exit onto the narrow rocky trail along the ledge of the rock face. Could not believe it - she said she watched older women disappear around the corner and thought why not!! We looked around there and took some pics then sat on the patio ledge and had a coffee and a sweet roll that we shared. Inside the little gasthaus was a small kitchen and upper sleeping rooms that are rentable as zimmers. The back wall of the house is the bare rock face. Down the narrow rock ledge a bit further was a pigpen and a rabbit pen - these guys get the leftovers from the cafe. Numerous sheep crossed our path and ran on ahead. A sign below the pigpen said 40 min. going on down the trail and on around the mountain back up to the cablecar. We decided to go for it. It was basically a sheep trail along the narrow ledge of the rock face but others had come up that way. Probably at least 90 min. later we reached the top with numerous breathing spots along the path. Yes we were crazy but you know how it goes - once you start down that road it is hard to turn back or even to know what is up ahead. We reached to top at 11:30 almost 3 hours later - should have taken less than one hour so they said. We then sat at the edge of the cliff and ate lunch while watching paragliders and hanggliders jump over the edge to catch the wind and glide to the valley floor over a mile below. It was very entertaining - we counted 15 in the air circling above us at one point - they were "taking off" every couple minutes. Poor Grammy said her legs were like rubber when we touched bottom far below.

Upon arrival at our farm stay here we were given an Appenzeller Card which gave us free travel on 3 cable lifts to different mountains. So after lunch we decided to go to the town of Brulisau and catch the free cable lift to the Hoher Kasten (1795 m.)to a revolving restaurant and great view of the surrounding area. We could see across several peaks to the Ebenalp where we had been in the a.m. - visible as a tiny speck in the distance. We did not repeat the mountain trail trek - legs were already tired from the a.m. Also visible on the other side was the Rhine River and the Country of Liechtenstein with all the little farms and villages in between.

One more freeby on the Appenzeller card was a trip up to Kronberg from the village of Jakobsbad below. It is not nearly as commercialized as the other 2 cable car destinations although there were signs that it is very busy in ski season - large restaurant was almost vacant but would be buzzing in winter. It is a connecting point with several other ski runs although they are not operating in summer. Back down on the ground and Grammy and Papa decided to do the bobsled ride down the same mountain. Yes Grammy had her own "car" so it towed us up the side of the mountain, Papa in the lead and once at the top it is push forward on the hand levers to go and pull back for braking. Papa got to the bottom in no time, hopped out of the car and got his camera ready to take a picture of Grammy. He waited and waited and waited and waited then pretty soon saw a little red speck moving very slowly down the run - Grammy finally made it to the bottom but there was a major traffic jam up behind her - poor guys paid all that money for a SLOW ride down the Bobsled run. More rubber legs.

No saints in the cave this time - Tuesday July 6, 2010

No saints in the cave this time - Tuesday July 6, 20

We woke up to a very cloudy day here in Appenzell, Switzerland and in fact it was raining by the time we finished breakfast. We had decided if it was raining or too cloudy to go up to the Ebenalp we would wait for a good day. One of the items on our travel plans was to visit "Tauferhohle" near the town of Baretswil where early Mennonite and Anabaptist converts met in this secret cave in order to practice their religious faith. From previous travelers to the cave, they had left the exact co-ordinates for its location. Directions from Rapperswil head to Bauma turn left at town centre, continue through Neuthal to Baretswil, turn left at the Restaurant Freidhof then continue up the mountain to the righ turn at the yellow arrow sign marked Tauferhohle. We left about 9:30 a.m. and set the GPS for the co-ordinates. Close to the town of Baretswil, the GPS told us we had arrived but we were at a loss to find the cave. High up on a mountain road we stopped and asked about the Tauferhohle. he smiled right away and understood what we were asking about - motioned and gestured 2nd road turn right then first road left then we would find a parkplatz. We saw the sign pointing left off the road but no parkplatz so we drove on a bit and found a place to park the car. The little sign marked Tauferhohle said 40 m and looked quite up hill so jean decided to stay at the car while I went up to find the cave. The path off the road was a narrow foot path that wound around a farmers fenceline where I had to open 2 fence wires and close them behind me to keep the cows in. It then opened onto a road way and after about 1 km uphill it ended just inside the woods at a small parking place with a large information sign with a map explaining the exact location. There was just one sign back at the start of the trail but from the information there were 5 trails leading away up into them there hills. I took the one most traveled and climbed steadily uphill. The path became very steep and very rough with many roots and rotten stumps to manoeuver around. After almost an hour I decided it was not the correct path so headed back down to the Information board and studied it again. Second try on another path ended at a dead end so back down again. A third path followed a creek and the map showed several creek so thought it must be the right one. It went back down toward the car so after 2 hours of searching, I gave up and went for the car. Having discovered the Information Board and the fact that I could drive directly to it, I decided to get jean's opinion so we drove up there again in the car. We tried a few side paths from the main ones but no cave. One path behind our backs as we stood looking at the board, led up past an old barn and into a small field - so with Jean's blessing I headed up that path. About 1/2 km at the other end of the field there was a gate into the woods and a path leading off to the right. After following that path for a few minutes, there it was, a wide cave about 100 ft wide and high enough to stand up in the front. Someone has made some crude benches to sit on and railings to guide your steps up and back down. It would hold 200 people probably and a beautiful view looking out. It is easy to see how it would provide a secret location in which to worship.
Names on sign and businesses nearby were familiar - Huber, Widmer, Weber, Oberholster, Ruegg, Giger, Hess, Klinks, Egger.
Having finally located the Tauferhohle I headed back down to the car and we headed home to Appenzell. Names on sign and businesses nearby were familiar - Huber, Widmer, Weber, Oberholster, Ruegg, Giger, Hess, Klinks, Egger.

Looking for Lehmen - Monday July 5, 2010

Looking for Lehmen - Monday July 5, 2010

We were uncertain what to do today since it was raining lightly at first so we went into Appenzell, parked at the Migros grocery store and waited a while. It only got worse and poured like crazy for 30 min. or more so there we sat. Across from us was a little Kiosk selling only bread - she was so busy we saw her on the phone and soon a car arrived with more bread. We decided that most grocery stores sell pre-packaged bread only but apparently folks here and in much of Europe want fresh bread - unwrapped on the shelf - just grab a loaf and wrap it in a paper bag. After the rain let up we headed for the Information again to try to find the Biblioteque AKA Libray. We gave up and just walked around town under the umbrella - pretty much covered the whole town. In a way it was good since we got better oriented with the layout and the pedestrian only areas as well as the one way streets. We got a few groceries for the day when the rain subsided and by then it was almost noon.
After shopping we headed to Wasserauen, ate lunch in the parking lot there and decided that if the weather cleared we would take the cable car lift up to Ebenalp which is basically a one house stop on the high trail. Reportedly it is built into the rock on a narrow ledge - will see for sure on another day when the weather clears.
No clearing of the weather so decided to try to find the Village of Lehmen which as some of you may not know is Jean's maiden name - well almost - it is Lehman actually. We had been almost there in '02 when it was a walk-in only town but on the maps now it appeared to be driveable. We got to the same point as we did in '02 and now we see the only hotel there has been renamed Gastehaus Lehmen but the sign still pointed the Lehmen being 35 min. walk beyond. We started off in one direction but got to a Y in the trail and the sign to the right pointed to Lehmen so we took it but soon it ended at a shack/cabin with no sign of life except there was fresh wood cut for the winter. So guess we found it!! Back down the trail and into town, we drove around looking for a place for afternoon coffee, found a cafe and relaxed a bit.
Then it was into the car again looking for a fairly level terrain to ride bicycles. Just out of town along the river and beside the railway track, we rode for an hour or so before returning to our Zimmer for the day.

More Pics of Appenzell and Surrounds

Alas in Appanzellerland - Sunday July 4, 2010

Alas in Appanzellerland - Sunday July 4, 2010

We were up just after 6 this am so decided to make one last attempt to bike to the little town of Klais - all the trail signs point to it about 35 min. away but we were back through field and forest for an hour but never did find it. We think someone switched the signs on us again - d'ya think they would do it twice to us?? Back at the Heiss farm we said good-bye to Barbara and were on our way by 9 am.
Arrived in Appenzell about 1:30 p.m. a few hours ahead of schedule so we drove around to our Farm Stay with the Rempfler family just outside the town 3 km. It is a totally different terrain than last week - gently rolling high hills with snow capped mountains in the background.
It will definitely not be possible to bike around our Zimmer except to go in circles around the barn - well maybe 2 barns. We are down at the bottom of a valley with at least 4 layers of roads winding around the hills to get up out of here. it is really quite unique. The pictures are of the farm here as well as a few surrounding it. The first one with the farm/house in the centre of the picture is the one we are in. They raise Alpacas and Lamas as well as milk at least 9 cows we counted.
We will probably just leave the bikes on the car and drive into town or find a flat enough stretch to bike a while. There are a number of attractions in the area so stay tuned.

More pics from Eng

Eng - The End Of The Road. - Saturday, July 3, 2010

Eng - The End Of The Road. - Saturday, July 3, 2010

We had started to walk back a gorge to a falls at Garmish-Partenkirchen (the site of the Olympics in 1938) in “02 but it was further than we thought and it was getting dark so we never did get to the falls. That is what we had planned today until we found out that there is a MAJOR motorcycle rally advertised today for Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There are 2 passes close by and we have to cross over the one in order to get to Garmish. You do not want to be on a pass when there is a motorcycle rally - they time the bikers from one side of the pass to the other we have heard and they just scream by you even on the sharp hairpin curves up and over the pass.
So we instead picked a spot on the map - a town called Eng - about 40 km away with a dead end road and a small town at the end - figured it might be a neat place to spend our last day here in Bavaria. Wow did it turn out to be a gem. For most of the way we followed a wide rocky river bed that twisted and turned as it meandered down from the Alpine glaciers high above. We figured there must be something back there since lots of bicycklers and a few cars were headed up there as well. As we neared the town the terrain changed to a flat grassy area with trees and we began to see cows off in the distance - many cows. Most of the farms we have seen here are small - 10 - 20 cows maximum. Here there were hundreds it seemed. We could see up ahead high mountain peaks with snow capped peaks. It was indeed the end of the road - the flat meadow was locked in by the mountains and the oly way out was to retrace our path. The village of ENG is really a hotel but beyond that the field opened up and we could see people walking back up toward the glacier toward a number of buildings with cattle high above and behind. So we decided to check it out. Back there were at least 8 barns about ½ the size of our barn back home. They turned out to be milking barns with Zimmer living quarters in the front of some of them. I counted milking stalls for 212 cows about 30 in each barn. Each barn had its own glass milking pipeline that emptied into about a 1000 litre (250 gal.) tank mounted on a motorized walk behind cart. The tanks are “driven” to a completely self contained cheese making barn in the middle of the cluster and there the Alpine milk is made into cheese - saw a pig pen and suppose the pigs get the leftovers. Most barn fronts are rentable as Zimmers for a night or more to visitors who wish to become part of the process. Some living quarters for the help as well. IOf you look closely you may be able to see more cows above the buildings just below the treeline and the snow.
There was no sign of hay storage so this must have been a high alpine dairy we have heard about and seen from a distance but have never been able to experience it so close up. Of coarse they had a store where we sampled several types of cheeses they make. Lunch was under a shade a tree in the pasture field with the cows. We drove back down to the valley floor knowing we had experienced a gem.