Jakobsweg: Herisau to Wattwil: 26th March 2011

The weather is good, we lose an hour this weekend by moving into "summer time", I'm awake early on a Saturday morning, have the train times and a backpack ready - just seems the perfect occasion to do the long hike I've been wanting to get into since the autumn.

I last left Jakobsweg at Herisau in October, but as the days have got longer and there are signs that any walk may not be completely snow-covered or water-logged, I've been itching to put more points on "my map". Last weekend I went up Santis with my daughter, by cable car - any climb up would have been impossible due to snow on Friday night. So after a week of wonderfully warm weather, but with rain forecast for Sunday, it was off to Herisau to start the next "leg".

Somehow over the winter, the nervousness I experienced at the start of my initial journey had gone, and all I felt was exhilaration. It was like a manageable adventure, a small challenge, an escape from commitments and schedules - a day on my own - what a luxury!

I returned to the church of St Lauritius which this time I was able to visit. From there I continued across the square to the Schmiedgasse, which led off to the right past some historic houses and some which have adopted a more modern flavour.

I honestly thought that I followed the scallop shell signs correctly, and knew where I should be going on my map, but on the way out of Herisau no longer felt that I was on the correct route. Rather than turning back, I cut in through a side road, followed the path up to the woodland above and eventually found the next signpost showing the way. This foreshadowed many moments during the rest of the day, when neither the scallop shell nor any other indication were immediately evident. Anyway, eventually I got to the Zentenarlinde (centuries-old-Lime tree) at the top of the Nieschberg (917m), from which there's a magnificent view of Santis and the whole mountain range.

After the Hornli Pass and just before reaching the path that looks down to Schwellbrunn, I stopped for a drink. Another hiker was going the opposite way, but stopped to ask the direction for St Peterzell, the direction I was going in. I told him he was going the wrong way, to which he replied, "Are you sure?". I said a categoric "Yes", showed him my map and let him do a quick U-turn. I cursed the situation because the last thing I wanted was a hiking partner, but while I put my water bottle and map back into my backpack, he continued on his way and I was able to continue in my own time. At moments like these I wonder how women travelling on their own in the past must have managed.

Herisau to Wattwil