Hiking the Santis

Today, I woke up with one of the worst muscle pains in my thighs that I've ever had....and I'm loving it! Why this muscle pain? Well.... Yesterday we went hiking on the Santis. A beautiful mountain in the canton Appenzell. We started at 2502m and hiked down via Lisengrat, Rotsteinpass, Meglisalp and then back up again. Absolutely incredible route to hike, but also, absolutely exhausting =)) It was an amazingly sunny day and in many places, there was still snow, which was quite refreshing.


The hike was really varied and gave us both challenges due to really steep areas where one had to cling onto a rail and go down via metal ropes. One part and probably the longest part was downhill which was quite a challenge for the legs in the end. However, I would certainly say that hiking up was one of the most exhausting things I've ever done. It was an altitude raise of over 1000m's in one go. The signs say 2hr45min, but we hiked up in 1hr50min's....parts through snow. The entire hike took 4.5hrs, but that included 2x15 min stops to re-energize and drink.

Arriving with the cable car

The view from the top

Hence my comment regarding fear of heights. Trust me - it is very steap!

Chris and I, having a much needed break

Our break spot

Reflections....

In some ways, that snow was sooo refreshing....but it did get pretty cold and wet in the boots.

Close to Meglisalp 

Almost there.....

Chris at the top

The most rewarding moment.....maybe ever? ;) ...and trust me when I was that this is a non-alcoholic beer, as anything else would have knocked me off that chair!

All though, this was a beautiful hike in many ways, there were also parts of this hike that were quite tough in different ways and hence, I wouldn't recommend this hike to people with either fear of heights or to people who are not in good physical condition. Anyway.....I'm in pretty good shape at the moment and here is a flavour of how I felt after....to be honest, the first comments reflect the real feelings...my last comment is just because I realized I was being filmed ;))

xox