Appenzell - Saxer Lücke

The most magical day in Appenzell, hiking Saxer Lücke and also to the Fahlensee. This day exceeded all of my expectations - well from the start of the hike my expectations were really low, and then WOW. If you are in the region,

this is one of my most favorite experiences and hikes I did.

We started the day around 9:00am, leaving our home with the sun shining strong driving just about 1 hour to the Staubern cable car. I came with one of my best friend/teammate here in Switzerland. She is always down for an adventure and she just has this amazing aura that comes with her that just makes ever experience better. Being the beginning of October, the nights were starting to get cold but still the days were usually warm and sunny.

When we arrived, the weather had taken a turn and was so cloudy, we could see nothing. We almost decided not to do the hike, because the cloud cover looked so bad and for sure there was a chance we wouldn't see anything. We had already drove and I could see some breaks in the clouds so we decided to shoot our shot anyways. As we started our ride up the cable car, we were going through the clouds for almost 10 minutes, and I was so hopeful that in the top there would be sun shining on us. As we got to the top, sure enough there was some sun, but also SURPRISE!!! snow... luckily we dressed warm and were not going to let this ruin our adventure.

The hike itself was 3 km from the top of the cable car to the lookout pictured above. Every bit of the hike was incredible. Walking up and around the mountain with incredible views the entire way of the valley and also a couple of lakes down below. It took us a little longer than planned, just because the walkway was slippery with melting snow and some mud. Finally we arrived to to viewpoint, and let me tell you it took my breath away. The clouds were fast moving over the mountain face, which added a cool aspect to it as you can see in the photos.

After spending a lot of time here, we were a bit tired (this being our one free day from volley training), we really contemplated hiking down to the Fahlensee (lake) just below. We could see the hotel/cafe and the lake from where we were, but there was a huge incline that we would have to climb down, and even worse... back up. But we came all this way, so for sure we went for it. The climb down was a bit taxing on our knees - keep in mind we are jumping for hours 6/7 days during the week so this is especially hard on us.

When we arrived, there was some type of instrument being played along the lake. It really felt like I was in a movie. We stopped for a quick lunch here, and there also was an option to walk around the lake. But knowing the hike we had back to the car, we decided better we stop for a little rest and rejuvenate ourselves for the way back.

All in all, from the car to Saxer Lücke, to Fahlensee and back to the car, it took us almost 5 hours. But we took our time to enjoy every minute of it, with lots of photo stops, and even a coffee stop at the hotel on the Fahlensee. 100% worth every second.

Distance: 8km round trip

Time: 4 hours (without many stops)

Start: Staubern Cable Car