al in town, the waitress from the bar at my hotel ran out with a tray full of glasses, generously poured to the rims with sparkling wine. The gleeful farmhands grateful- ly grabbed a glass and downed the wine without breaking stride with the cows or missing a song note in their yodel. Despite the rain and fog, I thor- oughly enjoyed the Öberefahre and got out to hike to the iconic Seealp- see, a pristine lake with the massif Säntis in the backdrop. I rode the ca- ble car to Hoher Kasten and hiked up to the famous Berggasthaus Ae- scher, the hut famously built into the rock above Wasserauen. As luck would have it, the cable car to Ebenalp, the bluff above the Berg- gasthaus Aescher, was closed for re- pairs, leaving a relentlessly steep hike as the only way to reach the hut. I hiked up and, arriving at the hut, de- lighted in having the entire hut (typ- ically swarming with tourists who arrived by cable car) to myself! I en- joyed a pint of hefeweizen and a plate of alp cheese and local meats while chickens scratched around by my feet under the table and the hut’s resident dog begged for scraps by my side. The clouds parted on my last day in Urnäsch, and I was able to ride the Säntis cableway to 2,502 meters atop the mountain Säntis, where the views span six countries and reach Lake Constance (Bodensee). When I departed Appenzell after my first visit, I left with the understanding that I would soon be back. The regret of missing the icon- ic hikes of the Alpstein was unset- tling, and I knew I needed to right that wrong post haste. The following summer, I planned a four-night stop in Appenzell on my Good Soles Ad- ventures, LLC hiking holiday. Sec- ond time was a Charm! We not only
caught two Öberefahre cow parades but enjoyed nearly perfect hiking weather and clear blue skies. I led my group on a few exqui- site hikes, the first being the Saxer Lücke circuit. From our hotel in the heart of Appenzell, we rode the bus to Brülisau, then the cable car up to Hoher Kasten at 1,794 meters. We took a moment to drink in the moun- tain and pastoral views across the Alpstein and beyond. I pointed out the Rhine River, the demarcation between Austria and Switzerland, Liechtenstein below us to the southeast, and Bodensee (or Lake Constance), to the north, where my group had cycled from Bregenz to Lindau a few days pri- or. We set out on our hike to Saxer Lücke, a pass connecting the Rhine Valley with Appenzellerland, known for inspiring views of the prominent Kreuzberg spires, before descend- ing to Berggasthaus Bollenwees on the shore of Fälensee (lake), where we took lunch in the sun on the hut’s open deck. Next, we marched back toward Brülisau past Sämtisersee (lake) and beyond to a tiny cheesemaker’s hut where we enjoyed refreshments to punctuate our gratitude for such a stupendous day in the mountains. We bused back from Brülisau to our temporary home in Appenzell, where we tucked into a locally inspired three-course dinner. On another day, I was pleased to take the stronger hikers in my group who had a good head for heights on the Schäfler Ridge hike, which in - volved some scrambling and steep exposure. We rode the Ebenalp ca- ble car from Wasserauen, then hiked across to the Schäfler Hütte, where some participants headed back to the Berggasthaus Aescher for lunch. A third of the group accompanied
Dramatic Schäfler Ridge rises above rolling clouds, revealing jagged limestone peaks, endless alpine horizons, and the raw, humbling beauty
production. Next came the cows and farmhands, with the caboose being the farmer himself, accompanied by his trusted cattle dog. The parade is an acoustical de- light, a sound mosaic of yodeling, clanging cow bells, the bellow of al- phorns and the spectators’ cheers, all of which is accompanied by the olfac- tory delights and taste sensations of aged alp cheese and sausages grill- ing in nearby market tents. With each wave of a farmer’s arriv-
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