Elm - Lake Pigniu
I had traveled from Zürich to Elm by train and bus, and in Elm, I continued with the bus to the end of the valley and the start of the hike. It was a very nice summer morning and the first part of the hike was on a flat gravel road along a river.
As I started the ascent, the gravel road turned into a hiking path and I quickly made my way up through the terrain. There were lots of beautiful flowers on the side of the trail, and the views to the surrounding mountains were great. It was gonna be a warm day, and I was happy to do a good part of the ascent in the shade.
After the first hour, the trail flattened out, and I could see up towards Panixerpass, which I would later hike over. Looking back, I could see a few mountain peaks in Glarus, but they quickly disappeared as I continued on the trail.
Even though it was peak summer, there was still some snow on the trail, which I had to cross, but it wasn’t problematic. I only met a few other people on the way up, and it was generally a very nice and calm first half of the hike.
Not long before Panixerpass, I decided to have a short break. From here, I could see back down in the direction I had come from and the mountains above, which I hadn’t really noticed while hiking up. I continued, and after a short while, I reached Panixerpass.
It was very beautiful up on the pass and I took my lunch break here. There were quite a lot of people, since there was some outdoor school, but I found a quiet spot not far from the trail. I love all the different flowers you find in spring and summer as a contrast to the grey mountains.
After my lunch break, I started the descent. The trail down was for the first part a bit steep with lose material, but nothing too problematic. Hereafter, it was a more flat trail, quite narrow at times, but with beautiful views.
Here, I got the first views down to the turquoise colored Lag da Pigniu, which looked really beautiful below the mountain wall. It was a very clear day, and I also had great views to mountain peaks in Graubünden.
It was very cool to hike high above the lake, as this area is really amazing, and I would love to come back for more hiking at a later point. I made my way down to the bottom of the trail, and since I had good time before the next bus, I decided to walk up to the lake.
The walk up to the lake was partly on normal road and partly on hiking trail through forest, which was a nice change. It was really beautiful by the lake, very quiet with only a few other people, and somehow reminded me a bit about Oeschinensee.
I took a short break by the lake, before I returned back in direction of the bus stop. Back in the small village of Pigniu, I caught the bus to Ilanz train station, from where I continued back home to Zürich by train.
