Winter hike in Alpstein

Last week I finally visited another area that has been in my Swiss bucket list for a long time: Appenzell and the Alpstein mountains. I was very excited with this trip. I’ve been seeing photos from this area for almost a year. Green rolling hills, high mountains, dark green lakes between the mountains… I was looking forward to seeing all these during winter, covered in snow!

We left home early in the morning to catch the train. I’ve been travelling by train around Switzerland since I moved here and I love it! This time it wasn’t any different. We saw the sunrise from the train, the golden light coloring the frozen green hills of the Appenzell canton and the mountains arising in the horizon. Our final stop was Ebenalp. We wanted to hike from the ski station to the alpine lake of Seealp (Seealpsee in German). Unfortunately, the path was closed. But we could enjoy a small walk using snowshoes! It was my first time using them and I really enjoyed it! And I could also enjoy the impressive views of the Alpstein mountains and Seealpsee from above. After this walk, we went down to Wasserauen with the cable car and we hiked from there to the lake. There we found the beautiful dark water of the lake mirroring the Mt. Säntis, the highest summit of this area.

From there, we finished the day in Appenzell town, a beautiful and colorful village where we bought the tasty and famous Appenzeller cheese 😉

Here are some photos from that day. As you can see, the landscapes here are as beautiful as in the other areas of Switzerland I have already shown you. I am already dreaming with how these views will be in summer… 🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge