Schwälgalp and Säntis

(Ah, yes, another June post...being posted in August....) "Right now it's clear at the top. I think we need to leave asap..." Bob had heard from a colleague about the wonderful views from the top of Mount Säntis. At 2502 m (8208 feet) on a clear day it is said that you can see six countries.
Having not yet been able to share any wonderful Alpine views, we were hoping that this day might be different. He had checked the weather forecast the day before and it indicated partly cloudy. When checking the webcam from up on top, it looked promising.

We drove to Schwägalp, where we caught a gondola (a first for Aunt Rhoda!), up to Säntis. On the website myswiterland.com, it encourages your to visit with a Come up, the view will amaze you! But it was not to be, again.

Upon arriving at the top, we ventured out to the highest overlook area and then decided to wait inside and give the weather a chance to clear. There was a self-serve cafeteria, so hot chocolate and or coffee was enjoyed as we waited. Still not clear. We visited the gift shop. There were free paper "placemats" maps of the region which we examined and looked at where we were in relationship to where we had been on other days, as well as our route here. We tried the lookout again. Still overcast. We ate our lunch out there in hopefulness. After it became clear that the weather was not going to clear, we rode the gondola back down to Schwägalp and visited the show cheese factory.
We finished our day by wander a bit on the trails in this area before the rain set in. We did enjoy seeing many wildflowers in bloom. And it was home again.