2020-09-13
I was poking around the Fastest Known Time website and noticed that there were a few routes nearby, including for the Züri Oberland-Höhenweg, a regional route. This looked like a reasonable objective during the pandemic, as it only involved a couple of short S-Bahn rides. I planned to do the route unsupported, carrying all my food, supplies, and garbage, with the exception of drinking from (plentiful, yay Switzerland!) public fountains. The route can be done as a 4-day hike, and some of the huts, restaurants, and hotels along the way actually did appear to be open, though I only directly observed one group of customers. I was optimistically hoping to finish under 9 hours, though 10 was my realistic estimate.
The forecast looked great: cool in the morning and about 20 in the afternoon, with no chance of rain. I took the first train to Winterthur, arriving just after 6, took my starting photos and started my watch, and began following the "69" signs describing the route.
The route was well-marked almost the whole way, though I did make a couple of errors and have to make short backtracks.
The trail made its way out of town in the cool morning and began following a fire road. I soon came to a barricade across the road announcing that the Wildpark Bruderhaus was closed, so I took a detour around the park, down a hill and back up, to rejoin the trail.
Conditions stayed cool as I was treated to gorgeous light filtering through clouds.
The trail for the first part was varied - many roads and fire roads, but also some car-washing single track sections across grass, and some step and root-laden forest trails. I saw very few other people for the first half of the route.
The second half gains higher elevations and begins to follow steep ridgelines more closely.
I saw a few hikers in very small groups, but nowhere near the number one would normally expect on such a beautiful day, in such a beautiful location. Temperatures stayed cool and conditions partly cloudy as I slowly ascended, with many ups and downs.
I took another small detour, up and over a bump on the ridge, instead of around it, as the trail was completely covered with felled trees.
Almost all of the elevation I'd slowly gained so far was lost in a single steep downhill section, which deposited me close to lake level, but still quite a long way from Rapperswil. While not unbearable, the temperature increased for the last segment, which took me quite a long time. The trail heads straight through the town and ends with a contrived loop past the castle, along the dock, and back across the street to the train station. I stopped my watch, having cleared the 10 hour mark by 59 seconds!
