Mürtschenstock
To start here is a map of the area I'll be talking about. If you're unable to zoom in through a browser try to copy it into Paint and try looking at it there. I'm starting with the map because this is one of the few hikes I got lost on, but that was more so due to my own hubris than anything severely wrong with the trail.
As you can see on the map there's a lot of hiking in this area, but the area to focus on, and the trail I'll be discussing, starts from Filzbach and then utilizes the Kerenzerberg chair lift to gain some elevation and get to the start of the hike. The train ride to Filzbach is maybe an hour from Zurich and tickets are cheap. The view on the last bit of the train ride is also very cool as on one side you see the mountains of Glarus flanking an open valley and on the other is Walensee which is a large and very pretty lake. I have also been told it has a special micro climate which allows palm trees to grow around the lake, but I cannot confirm that this is true.
To see the route I took you can follow the red line, courtesy of MS Paint, that starts out from the top of the cable in Filzbach. I had been told by someone in my lab to start from the cable car, go to Schilt, and then find the cable car down, but I didn't really bother to look at a map as I thought it would be straightforward once I was there. That route probably would have followed the blue line I drew, also courtesy of MS Paint. I of course ended up being fine despite this setback as I eventually found a random mountain restaurant on my wrong turn where I was lucky to find a Swiss couple who offered me a ride down the rest of the mountain. Although there was a parking lot here there was no bus so I would have had to face a rather long decline walk if I hadn't been able to recruit some help. I guess sometimes it pays to look like a lost student tourist.
The hike itself was rather nice. I thought Talalpsee right near the beginning of the hike was very nice and it had a few people swimming in it on the rather hot day I was there. I think you could go there if you had some downtime and just make a day out of bumming around in that lake. Walking past the lake eventually the path turns to the left and starts to go up an incline. This was another tricky part because the path here isn't very clear. In fact it seems to go to the right which runs you into an area with a massive hole in the ground which I believe ancient locals used to call "the mouth to the underworld". Either way I ended up running into two ex-pat hikers at this point and together we determined where the trail actually went. After passing Spaneggsee I lost my hiking companions, went by some stone mountain lodges, and got to a very nice meadow with a fantastic view. Also at this point you will be able to get up close to some of the rocks and see that some of them are a brilliantly bright shade of white which really stands out in person.
Instead of going up this way you can turn right a bit earlier to follow the Geology Trail which I believe has info on the rock phenomenon in the area which makes the location a UNESCO Heritage Site. You could also choose to do the hike that goes around the Mürtschenstock from this point although I'm not sure if going around the back will provide a lot more in terms of views.
Following my route you will then start heading in the direction of Fronalpstock which will give you a great view of the rocky fin you've been hiking next to this whole time. The view kind of makes me think of Half Dome or something like that. Although, I will say a lot of stuff makes me think of Half Dome. At this point you can either try to continue to Schilt and Augsten cable car, although if it's late the cable car may not be open, you can head along my path to the restaurant and hope to get an Uber or something down, or you could go down via the Geology trail and head back to the start of the hike. This is going to really depend on how you're feeling because I believe the rest of the hike to Schilt and Augsten is a bit farther than it seems on the map although I can't say for certain because I don't have personal experience.
Whatever you choose to do in this area just make sure to bring water because there's nowhere to refill, and the hikes are all a decent length if you haven't turned around by Spaneggsee. I'm not sure this is an area I'd tell people is a must see if they have a week long trip to Switzerland, but I do think it's surprisingly nice and conveniently close to Zurich. So if you are a student in Zurich, like to hike, or if you like to avoid really touristy areas on your vacations then I do recommend checking this out.
