Every week I try to make a tour out of a book with Hiking Tours in Canton Zurich. On my walks I always take my Panasonic G81 with me with the Panasonic 12-60 mm 3.5-5.6 lens. The reasons for choosing this camera and lens can be found here.

On November 21 I walked Tour 12 out of this book, which is a walk from Schindellegi to Biberbrugg via Etzel.

It is a nice, 14.8 km long, varied tour that starts with a walk alongside the river Sihl, followed by an uneventful part of the tour – a walk through the meadows before you enter the woods.

Shortly after entering the woods you first you pass a bunker and some anti-tank barriers (the Etzel part of the defense line of the Swiss Army in WW II), followed by a climb to Etzel-Kulm (1.098 m).

Along the way, you have beautiful views of the lanscape on the other side of the valley.

Please pay attention to follow the yellow signs with ‘Etzel-Kulm’, the directions in the book are not overly clear here! Also, remember to keep following the path through the wood (there are no ‘reassuring’ yellow signs that indicate that you are on the right track!).

On top of the Etzel Kulm you will have a great view across the Zurichsee.

After a descent over a path with cobblestones (which I expect will be extremely slippery when they are wet), the route continues over a winding road through the meadows to the small village of St. Meinrad (essentially a beautiful small church and a restaurant).

Following the route, shortly after you will see the ‘Teufelsbrücke’ (Devil’s bridge) – a beautiful covered (stone) bridge. Before entering the bridge you will see the house where Paracelcus was born. I must honestly admit I never heard of him before passing the house, but apparently, he was a Renaissance man in the true sense of the word.

After crossing some woods and meadows, you pass through the Schwantenau, a beautiful bog land with birch trees.

The last part of the trip to Biberbrugg is not very exiting, except for the view on Boden.

Please note that the descent to Biberbrugg can be very slippery (mud path). A couple of hundred meters before the paved road started I slipped, and, after coming home, I had to head straight for the washing machine!

This post only shows a selection of the pictures I took. All the pictures I took during this trip can be seen on Flickr by following this link.

The video footage of this trip can be found on YouTube by following this link.