[Anonymous]

11 June 2017 at 11:47:50 #812217

Hi to everyone, I wanted to post another trip of mine to the Ebenalp mountain and the famous Berggasthaus Aescher-Wildkirchli.

We left Zurich HB at 09:00 and arrived at Wasserauen at 11:30. You have one transfer at Gossau to get on the Appenzeller Bahn for the trip to Wasserauen (end of the line). This train has several villages which are “stop on request” if you want to explore some towns and you do go through Appenzell as well.

We decided to hike up to the top – there are 2 main hikes – one from near the gondola (which is across the street from the Wasserauen train stop) and the other is from the village of Schwende (one stop before Wasserauen). We went from Schwende as it was longer but a little less steep- but still 800 meter elevation gain over 6km- our knees are a little sore today).
Hike # 6 on the map here.
We took the train back to Schwende rather than walk along the highway.

We enjoy Alpine hikes but are not avid hikers (nor are we in top shape) but it was mostly pleasant :).
The hike took about 2 hours (with several (7 or 8) 2-3 minute breaks)

Warning: Cows (males with horns) blocked our path for about 7 or 8 minutes – they seemed fairly aggressive! You pass through a few farms on the trail and must open a little gate in the fence so we stopped behind the gate until they wandered off!

There is also a cave you walk through to get through the mountain (it took a few minutes to walk through but wasn’t very well lit just FYI).

If you have the Swiss Travel Pass the entire trip is free. For schedules to Wasserauen use the SBB timetable here and for more details on Ebenalp and gondola prices click here.

If you don’t want to hike up, you can hike down to the Berggasthaus Aescher-Wildkirchli in about 15 minutes from the gondola station at the top (you will still walk through the cave and the boardwalk path in the pictures below).

See some pics below to give you an idea of what you see.

Lucas

💡 Save time and get daily forum questions & answers by email

[User]

Reply 1 of 5 • 12 June 2017 at 4:02:25 #864920

Love the picture of the Gausthaus with the mountains in the background!

[User]

Reply 2 of 5 • 12 June 2017 at 6:22:21 #864921

Hi Lucas,

Great trip report with some good tips and beautiful photos! Thank you.

I have only been up to the Ebenalp in winter, so could only go to the restaurant near the top cable car station. I’d never seen the area without snow until seeing your photos! I hope I get to go back there one day and see the amazing Berggasthaus Aescher-Wildkirchli!

Alpenrose

[User]

Reply 3 of 5 • 12 June 2017 at 10:07:55 #864922

Thanks Alpenrose!

It was quite a nice setting there – very nice (even with the angry cows) haha

[User]

Reply 4 of 5 • 13 June 2017 at 3:00:50 #864923

>> It was quite a nice setting there – very nice (even with the angry cows) haha

I had a “cow experience” too, though not as dramatic as yours!

It was up at Männlichen, where there were a lot of cows grazing, and a lot of tourists walking around. Both cows and tourists were relaxed, paying little attention to each other.

However, as I was walking along, I heard several cowbells behind me getting closer and closer. The sound of the cowbells indicated that they were progressing at a steady, determined pace in my direction. So I decided I had better turn around and see what was going on! To my great relief, I discovered their purposeful walk was towards a nearby water trough, and had nothing to do with me 😀

Alpenrose

[User]

Reply 5 of 5 • 13 June 2017 at 6:32:13 #864924

Yes, we may have overreacted…but one got within a a meter and we decided to hide behind the fence…they stood their ground in front of the fence just looking at us for 5 to 7 minutes before slowly wandering off and we quickly continued on (with them keeping an eye on us!)

Hard to know if they wanted a pat on the head or if they wanted to push us off their land. We didn’t chance it with those little horns! 😉