Summer in Switzerland is about being outdoors and, of course, like true locals hiking. Hardly anyone hikes here with hiking poles (except the seniors or those with bad knees)! Since I'd been hiking all by myself a lot recently, we decide to do one together.. like the locals.. on an unmarked trail along a ridge.. (Jeez.. can you hear my bones rattling???)

We park the car at Schwändi and begin walking uphill. The first km & half is easy-peasy walk in the park till we come to a cow shed and then, there's no sight of the trail. It seems to have been swallowed by the underbrush. A couple of back and forths, skirting itchy bushes & jumping over swampy puddles and finally we spot a narrow trail. From here, it'll all uphill.. over wet & slippery rocks.. I'm hoping that we're not returning this way. It's kinda relatively flat after reaching the ridge as we walk through a magical moss forest. I'm expecting fairies, pixies, elves or bespectacled men () to jump out from behind the tree trunks at any moment. Soon we're walking on a slippery narrow trail along the ridge. It's barely wide enough to fit both feet... I walk with my heart in my mouth trying to focus on the beautiful views.

A wobbly wooden bench underneath a natural limestone wall invites us for a snack break. We look up to see a canopy of leaves, vibrant greens lit by the sunlight. We take our time basking in the light filtering through, talking to a couple of hikers passing by. And on we continue.. till we reach Bärfällen. There are trails heading in every direction from here. After a few minutes of feeling into each, I decide to walk to Brisenhaus, a SAC hut. Barely a few hundred meters, we run into Jürgen, Nicole and their dog Kali. They're headed to Musenalp. We give up Brisenhaus (i'll do it later this week, i tell myself!) and continue with them back to Bärfällen. 

We take the narrow path to the right of the ridge, which after ~100 metres brings us inside the forest. Here begins the steep ascent over rocks and boulders to Musenalp. No fear, as the path is well laid out and secured with cables. At the top, the magnificent mountain landscape of lower Musenalp welcomes us. A final ascent on a good mountain path takes us up to Musenalp. This alp farm lies in a great spot between Klewenalp, Brisen und Buochserhorn mountain areas providing wonderful hikes all around. They have almost 150 acres of grazing fields for 50 cows and about 10 young cattle. They offer a lot of local cheeses and Alp butter.

After refuelling our calories, we take the Musenalpbahn down to Niederrickenbach sailing over the rugged limestone rocks towering over Niederrickenbach. Niederrickenbach is also known as a pilgrim destination and as the cloister village of "Maria-Rickenbach". We make a final stop in the monastery shop to buy some really amazing herb tea collected by the Nuns from the monastery's own herb garden. A short 10 min ride on the Dallenwil - Niederrickenbach cableway brings us back to Dallenwil.

We ride with Jürgen and Nicole back to Schwändi and then drive back home to our cats. While they enjoy the 1000 different smells from our shoes, we go for a leisurely swim in the lake.