Hundwiler Höhe and Kronberg – completing some unfinished business in the Appenzellerland

My last attempt to hike up to Kronberg failed because of a Föhn storm and otti reminded me in his report to the Hundwiler Höhe that I still haven't tried "the other" Appenzeller Alpenbitter, the ausserhoder Berggeist: Two reasons to take my snowshoes and complete this unfinished business.

I started the hike in  Zürchersmühle and walked up to the Hundwiler Höhe via Egg and Ramsten. I was the first guest in the restaurant on the Hundwiler Höhe this morning. Marlis wasn't there but I had a nice chat with the staff. They explained some details about the war of the inner- and ausserhoder Appenzeller/Berggeist. Due to a misunderstanding I also "had" to drink such a Berggeist. In my opinion the Berggeist is even better than the Appenzeller, because it contains less sugar. Anyway, I bought a bottle of it and with this completed my first task for the day.

To complete my second goal for the day, I had to walk down to Gonten and then back up to Kronberg on the other side of the valley. I chose the directest way from the summit of Hundwiler Höhe strait down to Gonten in the snow free south flank via Konradsweid. From Gonten up to Scheidegg I took the same path as the last time and from Scheidegg the path follows the ridge all the way up to Kronberg.

At the restaurant at the top station of the Kronberg cable car, the waitress talked me into an Appenzeller Käsesuppe instead of the Gerstensuppe which I tried to order. I don't really know why she insisted, but I was glad she changed my mind, because the cheese soup was excellent! To make the Appenzeller meal complete I drank a Quöllfrisch.

After lunch I started walking down towards Schwägalp. At the huts near Doriwees I was tempted by the benches in the sun. It felt like spring there and it was so nice and warm that I thought of a little photographic experiment with "unmelting" snow. Since this fun game took quite a while, I didn't really have time any more to climb another mountain nearby, but with all my tasks for the day completed it was OK. Therefore I just walked down to the  Schwägalp via Langälpli - Riglen and Siebenhütten.

Oh and yes I forgot to mention:
The path up to Hundwiler Höhe was very icy where it wasn't snow free. Crampons would have been the better choice than snow shoes.
My snowshoes actually stayed on my backpack all day long. For the Hundwiler Höhe they were definitely not needed due to the lack of snow. On the way up to Kronberg the snowy path was hard pressed and it was easier to walk in my hiking boots than in my snowshoes. Only for the way down to Schwägalp it would have been OK for a few hundred meters to actually put them on, because the snow got kind of soft from the warm sun. However, it was no problem at all to just walk in my hiking boots.

 Zürchersmühle - Egg - Ramsten - Hundwiler Höhe - Konradsweid - Grueb - Gonten -- Schuemachershütte - Chlepfhütte - Blatten - Scheidegg - St. Jakob - Kronberg - Doriwees - Langälpli - Riglen - Siebenhütten -  Schwägalp