Today was a long ride that wasn’t fast or too far (relatively), but it did have some climbing. The weather was not great: cold (3-8ºC) and damp for the first 2+ hours, then I was in clearer weather with less cold (up to 12º / 53F), and then high winds & gusts, like lean into the wind and warning lights on the lakes, and chillier than 12C. The original plan of action was to get to the (brutal) climb at Muotathal (see pics from last year), but snow on some mountains and the high winds plus the climb is fully exposed just made me think it was better to abandon the effort. So, instead of taking a trail to go ring the hill of what was to be the second of three major climbs, I just kept going to the top, making it the second of two major climbs. That put me at the top of a ski slope which, I realized after I descended, was the first place we skied our first winter here. There was no way to go but down, so… but like all the descending, there were no options for speed. The road up was a paved one-laner that served two directions. Anyway, I was happy to get a warm shower when I got home after a fraction under 60 miles but about 8,000’ of climbing.
I planned to depart close to 6a, nearly two hours before dawn, but the thick fog didn’t agree with that plan. Instead, I left after 8a but this meant no helmet light, so that was good. Here, I’m starting to get out of the fog (physically, I’m not making any mental claims). For those keeping track, this is the forest that feels a bit spooky in pitch darkness. In fact, someone named this Strava segment spooky forest!
Spotted this lawn mower. If you think you have a cool ridable, have I got something for you.
Getting up the first major climb, a route I used to do a couple times a month but this was only my second or third time this year due to weather and life, usually has some nice views.
Further up and into a forest, I see my first group of hunters. Three guys with a dog. There are times I’ll see hunters encircling some stand of trees or hilltop. Further along, I saw another group, and later another (whose dog clearly had a radio collar). All the dogs had their own orange markers like the hunters.
The trail before and after this is one where shocks would be nice. I can’t recall ever seeing another bike ascend, but I’ve seen plenty of full-suspension bikes come down. This is a smoother bit without too many roots and no roots that had challenging height and angles, nor fist to skull size rocks, nor ruts nor slick rock.
Real gravel is common, very common 
Hungry? A food stop on the trail. Beer, cooked foods, etc. It’s busy in good weather, but there were people eating at tables in this weather (around the corner, I didn’t want to take their picture). The chapel is several hundred years old. (I came down from behind and to the right of these buildings and am headed downward.)
Self-explanatory
Down to a lakeside (the lower lake in the map) and flat and a fresh tree carving.
For your reference, I included a larger segment of the map to show Zurich and Luzern (Lucerne). At the bottom right is Muotathal. The objective followed the southern edge of the mountain directly to the left of Muotathal. The previous go at Muotathal, when I reached the lake, I turned south and went along the southern side of Lake Luzern. Today, I was going to head north through Schwyz. Alas, it didn’t happen.
On the outbound, I kept the power reserved to save it for Muotathal (the climb is 4.21 miles averaging 12.5% on gravel, sometimes loose gravel). On the way back, I just focused on LSD / base building / time in the saddle. There were some steep climbs near the very end, including the one with 27% bits ridden earlier this week, so there was that fun, too. Overall, it was a good day and now I’m tired.
