After just under 3 hours train ride we start in Brülisau and climb the Brühltobel up to the Pfannenstiel. Speechless, when you arrive there, you open your heart for the first time: what a mountain panorama! On the left and right rugged breaks, in the valley of the alluvial lake, at the far still snow-covered summit. A short coffee break, a chat with the neighbors later we stroll further towards the goal of the day, the mountain inn Bollenwees. We sportily take the upper path over boots, enjoy, sweat in the sun, cool off in shady groves and are speechless a second time, when we arrive at Fälensee. The water glistens in the warm afternoon sun, an ice floe floats in the water, on the right dark, rugged walls, on the left still old snowfields to the lake. Wow!

We stay in the Bollenwees, a little further up the hill would be the beautiful and cheaper Hundsteinhütte, but we suspect that this is fully occupied and save us the altitude. Dinner, some panache and dice rounds later we go untypically late into the camp.

In the morning a short breakfast, sounding the ways - officially the way over Saxer gap, Stauberen is blocked to the high box, we try it nevertheless. Some have already come this way yesterday, some go today. The snow is sultry, we are making good progress. Arriving at the ridge, there's a second breakfast with the Liechtenstein mountains and the Rhine Valley in the background. A good idea to take the stove with you! We walk on, the old snowfields are not a real obstacle (especially because below enough bushes and Legföhren grow, which would slow down a possible slip-up). Only at the last bend directly behind the dust it gets hairy: it goes down 2 meters quite steeply through mottled tracks - and directly below no bushes, only 20 meters of grassy slope to the steep wall. Then nothing but air.

We really deserve the Coke at the Dauber, enjoy the sun and the panorama towards Liechtenstein. We sit for an hour as we notice it is closing in from the south and leaving. After another hour on the ridge, we have lunch break and taste the Travellunch Chilli con Carne, enriched with home-made Beef Jerkey, Fits rather not in the midday heat, but that's it, the stomach is full.

At the Wänneli junction, we briefly consider whether we should descend to Brülisau or ascend the last 300 vertical meters to the Hoher Kasten and take the cable car. The descent over the boring looking green mats is marked with 1:15, the ascent with 1h. After 36 minutes we are at the highest point of the box, happy as little children, enjoying the released endorphins and rinsing the dry mouth with the now urgently needed electrolytes in the form of another Panache 🙂

Conclusion: the entry into the summer of summer 2012 could hardly have been better - and we do not have to acknowledge without pride that our training is slowly bearing fruit: on average, we are 1/4 below the times given.

Literature:

• Appenzellerland: The most beautiful valley and mountain hikes
• Club leader Säntis-Churfürsten: From Appenzell to the Walensee 
• 3301T Säntis hiking map: Toggenburg - Churfirsten - Alpstein
• Swisstopo 1: 25 000 Säntis: Alpstein - Seealpsee - Hoher Kasten