Fantastic Uetliberg Hike

My mom and step-dad were just here for a week, so I'm behind on posting.  Before I write about all the things we did, I have to talk about the fantastic hike I took a while back.  Two Saturdays ago, before Darren got back from a business trip, I decided to break in my new hiking boots I had bought before moving here.  I decided to hike on Uetliberg, the local mountain I talked about previously.   Darren has been up there several times for work events, but I have never gone.  That Saturday morning the weather was beautiful and I had nothing scheduled that day, so I got on my boots, packed a little bag, and walked a few minutes over to a nearby train that would take me up the mountain.  In just a short 15 minutes the train was out of city streets and winding up the beautiful mountainside.  I got off at the last stop, which is just below the ridge of the mountain.  It was beautiful!

The view from the train stop close to the top of Uetliberg

The train that runs up and down the mountain

I didn't really have a trail map or know where I was going, but I knew there was a restaurant at the top, so I headed in that direction.  The Swiss have excellent trail signs that even tell you how long it will take you to hike to the destination.  I mostly relied on these signs to explore the mountain.

Along the trail to the top of Uetliberg

On the way to the top of the mountain, I ran into the Planetenweg, which means Planet Walk/Path/Trail.  Someone has set up models of the sun and the planets to scale of size and distance along the ridge of the mountain range.  They even still have Pluto on the trail.

The Planet Trail

The Sun

Mercury

I went off the Planet Trail to head to the top of the Uetliberg where I knew there was a restaurant, since Darren has eaten there.  There were benches, picnic tables, and barbecues all around and now I'm dying to have a picnic up there.

The communications tower you can see from all over Zurich

The view from the picnic area, which looks down at Lake Zurich

On the way up to the restaurant, they have these Gaudi-like lamp posts

The restaurant at the top of Uetliberg

There was a gorgeous view from where this restaurant sits and I spent a lot of time just looking around.  The mountain ridge runs roughly north-south, so if you face north, on the right side is Lake Zurich and Zurich proper, while the left side features some "suburbs"(it quickly becomes countryside) of Zurich where a lot of my friends live.  I took a video of some of the view.  You can see in the beginning of the video the signs for all the trails and how they mark the duration of the hike.

Looking to the left to the opposite side of the mountain from Zurich

A funny structure that you can walk up to the observation platform

The view from the observation platform, Zurich city is to the right

I then walked down lots of stairs get off the top of mountain and get back to where the Planet Trail was.  I only walked a little ways past Saturn, though, before turning around and heading back.

Another restaurant on the mountain

Jupiter

Saturn

My attempt at a self-portrait

A beautiful field I came across

The beautiful field

The view from the train on the way down

I am so in love with Uetliberg!  As soon as the weather clears up again, I'll be heading up to try a different trail.