Federispitz: St. Gallen, Eastern Switzerland

The climb to the top of Federispitz is not for the faint of heart (1400 meters of elevation gain in 8 kilometers means you are climbing the entire first half of the hike). But with great effort comes great reward: this beautiful beast of a hike rewards with incredible views of the Glarus Alps, Appenzell Alps, Walensee, Zürichsee. There seem to be plenty of different routes for this hike - when we arrived at the summit, there were people arriving from a bunch of different directions. We opted to start from Ziegelbrucke, and then once at the summit, took an alternate path down that led to Weesen. I highly recommend this route. The descent is a knee-buster, but the trail weaves through field after field of wildflowers, the embodiment of every Swiss pastoral dream you’ve ever had. For icing on the cake, pack a bathing suit for a post-hike swim in Walensee.

It’s a tough one. Wear sturdy hiking boots, bring your poles, prepare to sweat, and make sure you have a head for heights: the “Federigrat,” the ridge right before the summit, is quite narrow. Remember that what comes up, must come down - and because there is no gondola or mountain transit at Federispitz, you’ll need to walk the entire way back to lake level. Due to it’s location at the north end of the Alps, the summit is accessible much earlier in the year than at many other locations, making it a great hike for early summer (although an ambitious one, if its your first hike of the season!).