Heiden to Kaien
Summary: Starting in Heiden, this section of the hike initially takes us along some of the streets at the edge of Heiden, before going through more wooded and meadow areas, as we make our ascent to the village of Kaien.
Turning left from the signpost at Kuhlplatz, we walk for about half a kilometer along the streets on the edge of Heiden, before a sign directs us to turn right along the drive of a property and on to a gravel track that heads towards the woods ahead of us.
As we walk down the gravel track, we reach a signpost that directs us on down the track and into the woods.
Eventually, the track crosses a small stream. There is a bridge here and also a ford, but with very little water in the stream, it was easy to cross it through the ford.
After crossing the stream, the gravel track starts to climb, before opening out into a small clearing, where there is a house. it then continues to climb, through a mixture of wooded areas and clearings, until it arrives at a pair of small wooden bridges that cross another stream.
After crossing the bridges, a set of stone steps take us up the side of the woods, before turning into a gravel path that continues to climb. After a while, we reach another set of steps and a wooden bench and the path levels out and becomes grassy.
After crossing the meadow area, and descending slightly at the edge of another woodland area, we turn left and cross another small wooden footbridge, into the woods. Following the gravel track, we walk through this wooded area.
At the other side of the woods, the landscape opens out into more of the rolling Appenzell landscape and we join a larger gravel track as we continue our journey.
We follow the gravel track in between the buildings of a farm, and it joins to a tarmac track that leads us slightly down hill to the buildings of Gasthaus Mineralbad.
Walking around to the right of the Gasthaus, we are directed down a small grass path between it and the garage building next to it.
From here, we follow the track across a grassy area, before entering another wooded area, where the path becomes a dirt track with rocks and tree roots poking out to trip the unwary. After climbing a number sets of steps and reaching the edge of the wood, we emerge into a meadow, with a grass trail crossing it.
After crossing the meadow, we arrive at main road that runs from Heiden to Trogen. We turn left and walk about 300m along to road until we reach the signpost at Kaien.
3,159 total views, 8 views today