Hike Report – ‘Rappenstein’ (SM 998-D)

Short Description

This circular route leads from Steg, Liechteinstein, across the ridges of Chrüppel and Heubüal to Rappenstein peak, then down Alp Valüna and back to Steg alongside the Valünerbach (creek) and through the Saminatal (valley).

Along the way you’ll get to enjoy views of the Liechtenstein and Glarus Alps, the Rhinetal, and lots of green hills and alpine farm atmosphere. Also some marmots or other wildlife if you’re lucky.

Notes

• Update 2022: Since the Rappenstein Route has disappeared from the curated list of Schweizmobil routes, and since the Tourism Liechtenstein Website lists different altitude meter figures and doesn’t include a map, this page may now be considered the source for this beautiful route. Hence the -D in the title, for “Deprecated”.
• We walked on the wrong side of the lake at the end but I didn’t feel like this warranted a modified map to include that detour.
• Hiking in the mountains in the rain or in unstable weather is not safe.

Impressions

It was our designated hiking day, but almost all of Switzerland had rain forecast for today and the following days. So I cross referenced my trusty spreadsheet of Swiss hiking trails with Swissmeteo’s rain radar, and chose the Rappenstein hike from my “want to go” list based on the region supposedly being spared any rainfall until the late evening.

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men.

The weather mostly kept to its forecast, with the morning and early afternoon bringing mostly sunshine with light clouds.

The problem was just that we predictably got up too late, left the house even later, and started the hike an hour later than planned. Well it would become a problem later, for the moment all was well and we enjoyed the ascent to Chrüppel and Heubüal through forest and blueberry shrub covered hills.

The closer we came to Rappenstein peak, the darker the cloud cover grew, and we could see rainfall already at the other end of the Rhinetal (valley). So far so expected. The weather mostly followed what the rain radar had forecast. Still, it was probably not the smartest decision to include the peak, but we’re stubborn and it wasn’t raining here yet and the thunder was still far in the distance.

Obviously, it was fine even though we caught some drops of rain and the descent was a bit more slippery than the ascent, but I want to emphasize that I would never recommend anyone doing the same. Hiking in mountainous areas in unstable weather, let alone in the rain or in thunderstorms is terribly unsafe. (Though the risk in this situation was minimal, but that was our judgement).

The descent was enjoyable, the landscapes lovely, but of course we now felt a bit of time pressure to finish the hike before the forecast heavy rain later in the evening.

Well, we almost made it but that hour we started too late now meant that we would arrive at the car drenched and dirty, and would have to get changed in the back of the car. Keep in mind this is Europe, and backseat activities are limited by reasonable car dimensions.

Despite all of this, we had fun and enjoyed our hike tremendously and would definitely recommend it to others. On a dry day with nice weather.

The memory of finding ourselves on the wrong side of the stream and deciding to cross it instead of going back to the last bridge (or continuing on this side), failing to do so without stepping in said stream, dropping my sunglasses and subsequently stepping on them while stumbling out of the stream, then walking to the car in completely soaked shoes and socks – is definitely more fun now than it was at the moment and at least makes for a good anecdote to tell at social gatherings.

Would you like to share your own experiences with this hike? Do you have any questions? Something to add? Feel free to leave a comment below 🙂

Route Report / Gallery

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