Climb in the last corner
After celebrating the birthday of the buddy on the banks of the Klöntaler lake (850m) with grill and wine we make our way towards the Glärnischhütte in the afternoon around four o'clock. The trail initially runs flat on the road and then steeply up in the forest Chlüstalden (1063m). Here, the valley kinks to the south, in all directions you can now see only towering mountain flanks. Now it goes flat on the farm road, until the small? Ferienort? Chäseren (1219m) is reached. There is a well here, we refill the bottles for the steep climb that will come. A short while on the road, then over the stinking cow meadows of the Alp Warmer (1385m), before only a narrow trail winds up the steep meadows. A small rock bar is insured here, otherwise the path has the perfect slope to quickly reach the remaining altitude Glärnischhütte (1990m) to manage something. This is already unexpected at the beginning of October, but is not yet ready for winter. With our sleeping pads and sleeping bags, we prefer to lie outside after we have cooked well. The valley here has now made another bend to the east, so cell phone reception is very limited 🙂
Two peaks of the Glärnisch
It gets late only, so we set the alarm to 6 o'clock. In the dark we start, first across meadows, then scrambling next to the climbing garden. Soon you can see flattened rocks, where the Glärnischfirn was not so long ago. On this impressive landscape with small pools and lots of loose boulders, it goes flat ahead, the twilight begins and in the west, the first peaks show. From the beginning of the Glärnischfirns (about Pt. 2373) you can already see the first goal, the Schwander ridge, recognize. Without crampons you can run super on the apera glacier, except for the steeper place at the very end. The few larger columns can be handled quickly, and only from about 2700m there is snow on the ice. Here, however, the track is drawn so well and the gaps are so obvious that the rope remains in the backpack. Arriving at the rocky slope towards Vrenelisgärtli, the sun's rays finally warm. The lower land is under an almost flat cloud cover, whose upper limit is approximately 1600 meters. This view is beautiful. On the chains, you can just hang down, until you stand on the lower ridge, in shallow ups and downs and with light Kraxelstellen at the end up to the summit of Vrenelisgärtli (2904m) leads. The weather is almost cloudless, we cook coffee and enjoy the silence and the distance to the far below valley.
From the hut to here we took about 2.5 hours with breaks.
After a long summit rest we make our way back on the way back, turn after the rock upswing on the Schwander ridge but north. Here waits for stimulating Kraxelei still the Ruchen (2901m), almost as high as the other peak and directly above Lake Klöntaler. The walls to the north and east break off so steeply that you can get dizzy. There is also a longer break here, after all we have time. At some point, however, we make our way and shorten the way to the Glärnischfirn by looking for our way directly on the karstified rock. There are many crevices here, and the stone is very sharp. A pleasure to scramble, and finding paths has always been fun 🙂
Off to the valley - altitude for the knees
The descent over the Glärnischfirn and then to the hut is made quickly. But we enjoy the magnificent view as long as possible. At the hut are three people who have come up in the morning, flown with a paraglider into the valley and have come back up. This is also a performance, especially it is now pretty hot during the day, and the beginning of October!
Now only the freestyle is waiting for us. Through the steep meadows, it goes down again, down the Felsriegel and over the stinking cow meadows through the flat Rossmatter valley back to Klöntal Vorauen, where we also just catch the bus to Glarus. Great tour!
