St Gallen Bridge Walk

22nd November 2020

Your mind and habits will either build barriers or bridges to a better future. Al Siebert

Some days are easier than others to be a responsible adult. This week was a difficult one because of scheduling difficulties and emotional upheaval. I really just wanted to stay in bed and feel sorry for myself this morning. I love a good pity party; however, my week wasn’t actually that terrible and the sun was shining brightly, almostly mockingly given my mood. Excuse after excuse entered my head and although some of the better ones lingered, I did finally make myself get up and get ready for a hike. To save time, as I was literally wasting daylight, I decided to buy some food at Coop on my way to the start of the St Gallen Bridge Walk trail. My environmental heart twitched at the salads in single use, but thankfully recyclable, plastic; however, I bought two and headed out.

I have known about this hike for years and I have researched it a few times, and yet somehow managed to avoid it until a couple months ago. It was my destination today because it was familiar, close to home and easy to get to and from. The walk starts near a former country estate which is now a restaurant. The trail goes down into a ravine, back up and then down again into another area. It passes 18 bridges and aqueducts and through a nature reserve along the way. There is another restaurant at the other end that serves three sizes of schnitzel with homemade potato salad. I have promised myself that if I ever do this hike early enough to walk both ways, I am going to order their largest one (210 grams) and enjoy every bite.

As I started out, I was reviewing the trail in my head and deciding how far I would go before I turned back. I was still feeling a bit pouty and although I knew that I would feel better after the walk, I still wanted it to be as short as possible. I figured that I would make it to the road that needed to be crossed about halfway and then turn back. The day was bright and crisp, with a touch of frost in the air that made hiking comfortable if you kept moving.

The walk is well marked from the Haggen Railway Station and from the bus stops near the start of the trail. As I have mentioned before, the Swiss have made everything accessible, which means I am a bit spoiled now. It also makes being active much easier because there really is no way to say that you couldn’t get somewhere due to lack of transportation. Having said that I was still feeling very sorry for myself as I set out and was hoping to get turned around (aka lost, but we avoid judgement words on Sundays) at some point to give me an excuse to go home early.

As you go along the trail you see a number of interesting structures: the aforementioned Schlossli-Haggen Restaurant, a small church in someone’s garden and the bridges near by and off in the distance. You come to a point where the trail forks, the trail marker points down the hill. A number of people simply crossing the bridge, but I thought nothing of it because I wanted to follow the trail; however, the first time I did this hike I certainly figured out why they took the shorter way. The path is gorgeous, even this time of year when colour is a bit sparse, because the rugged beauty is amazing. The road forks a couple more times, but you just follow the ravine down and then cross the river and follow it along for a while. I knew there were some covered bridges coming up and a field where I could sit and enjoy my lunch in peace, so I was anticipating the pleasure of a quiet picnic by the river. It was gorgeous, but the wind had a bite to it that made lingering over lunch unappealing.

The walk then heads back up through some fields that were empty this time of year, but had a number of cows in them when I last hiked this trail. The climb is steep and I had to stop a couple times. Trying to get back into shape is not without its frustrations; however, I reminded myself that I was working on it and stopped berating myself for not being in great shape. I also made myself laugh a bit imagining the calories I was burning smoking as I went along. I certainly felt hot enough to be producing steam, and, quite honestly, was a bit disappointed I wasn’t. The thing about this part of the trail is that it comes up at the end of the bridge that crosses the ravine at its highest point on this trail, which is both annoying and satisfying. Annoying because the first time I did the walk, I thought about how much easier that would have made the walk. This time I was aware of it, but pushed myself to follow the trail ‘properly’. This was actually quite satisfying and I was definitely feeling smug when I came out of the field onto the road and continued on my way. I had seen three bridges along the way and I knew the most difficult part of the trail was finished.

The trail then wends through some farms and sort of leads away from St Gallen. I met one unruly dog who eventually realized that I was not going to let him circle around behind me. Many years ago I was on a similar walk in the Czech Republic (now Czechia) and a dog got behind my friend and bit him on the ass. I was NOT going to suffer the same fate. Nope, nope, nope. He eventually gave up and stayed parallel to me until I had passed his farm, but we watched each other suspiciously the whole time.

From this farm, the trail leads back down to the river and then it mostly follows the river where possible. It leads past some more covered bridges and under the train and car bridges. They are stunning and the area is so quiet that it is almost like a dream. It was a marked difference between the first time I walked the trail and this time. My first time was on a work day and the traffic was a lot heavier, plus the noise of the construction on one of the bridges was considerable. I didn’t really think much of it until I was there without the extra noise. So peaceful. It was amazing to just stand there and admire the bridges and listen to the water moving past.

This is where I had originally planned to stop and turn around or to catch the bus to go home. The trail crosses a road and then follows the river along on the other side. There were two reasons I kept going. In no particular order – I was actually feeling quite good finally and wanted to finish the trail, and I knew that the hardest part was behind me and that the bit left to travel was quite flat. The sun was starting to get quite low in the sky so I had to move a bit faster to not get caught in a field in the dark. I had left my flashlight at home and did not want to try to navigate without it.

I passed a few more bridges and the dragon house, which I really cannot get enough of, then came to my least favourite bridge. It sways. With every step you take. I hate it. Sadly, I am also using it to try to get some control over my fear because there is a much longer suspension bridge on the trail to a waterfall that I would like to hike to one day. One day soon(ish), but most likely late spring at the earliest.

I made it to the bus stop with about 15 minutes to spare and watched the last of the light disappear as the sun sank from the sky. I was feeling better and although the hike was not as difficult as others I have done, it served its purpose and the world was a brighter place especially by the light of the moon. I was dreaming of the next time I did this hike and how I could (would) reward myself with schniztel in the middle.