Unsere Wandern von Gempen nach Muttenz

Two weeks ago, on what was probably the last warm day we will see for about 6 months, we decided to do a long hike from the town of Gempen to the town of Muttenz, a distance of about 10km. To do this, all we had to do was take a tram to the end of the line and then catch one of the PostAuto buses that take you anywhere trains and trams don't go. 

On our way to the tram stop we saw the Pretzel Man in a shop window.  He wished us a good journey.

At the cute, little train station in Dornach.

Austin waiting patiently for Veronica outside the train station toilet.

Which way should we go George? (Or the beginning of our hike)

The lovely little town of Gempen. Traveling in the PostBus up the winding tiny roads to reach this town, we were impressed by the way the bus driver and other drivers shared the road.  The bus was packed with people on their way to enjoy the day with various activities from mountain biking to dining at the restaurant at the top of the hill with a spectacular view.

After climbing a steep hill for about 20 minutes we reached Restaurant Gempenturm.  The metal structure in the background, which was built in 1897, used to be a fire look-out tower.  For the bargain basement price of 1 SF you can climb to the top for amazing views of Basel Stadt, Basel Land, the surrounding valleys, and on  a clear day like this even the Alps.

View from the first platform of the tower.

Climbing higher.

Getting Austin through the turnstile gate to enter the tower was an interesting experience. We had to pay for him and put him through on his own, which required a lot of trust on his part.  We managed and here he is enjoying the view.

Here is a view of the restaurant from the tower.

Barely visible here, but believe us they are there, we got our first glimpse of the Alps.

And more beautiful countryside.

At the top of the tower we were approached by a Swiss man commenting on Austin.  After many failed attempts of communicating in German, he finally switched to English and suggested he take our picture with Austin.

Here is a typical farm in the Swiss countryside.  Later in the journey we walk right through this farm on the dirt path you can see in this picture.  This farm has many dairy cows as well as cherry trees.  Cheese and cherries, yum!

View of Basel city and the surrounding suburbs from the top of the tower.

Typical Swiss-German country house

Feeding time for the dairy cows at the farm we saw from above. We have these cows to thank for providing the raw materials for making the most delicious cheese we've ever tasted.

Another view of the farm.

Are you ready for your close-up, Bertha?

MOO!

Can you spot the Swiss creepy-crawley?

Swiss country rooooad, take me home.

"Welcome to Cherry country!"  As the name implies, this is where most of the region's cherries come from. As Jon can attest, they make a strong liquor from the cherries, which has fruit on the front and tequila on the back. The traditional way of planting the cherry trees is in a semi-random irregular pattern. Follow the Flickr post below to see some examples.

We came across this bizarre statue, we have no explanation for this. Go America? USA! USA!!

Taking a break to enjoy the lovely afternoon in an outstanding setting.

We don't know if this is a storage facility or one of the many hidden bomb shelters that the Swiss government used to require every citizen to have.

A look-out view.  We saw many of these, but were not sure what purpose they served.  We hope this is not the traditional method of building outhouses.

Our hiking book promised us that we would see a donkey, so here it is.

The Swiss enjoy hiking and the outdoors and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of hiking trails scattered throughout Switzerland, many of them hundreds of years old.  This trail marker dates from the mid-18th century.

Time to fill up the water bottle with some delicious local spring water.

Drink in that cold, fresh water and why not enjoy the scenery as well?

We had a fantastic time on this hike and we look forward to many more adventures like this to come.  For more visual stimulation, go to the Flickr page for this hike. 

Hike from Gempen to Muttenz

Bis nächsten mal! 

The EuroFadoks