A couple of weeks ago I was searching for an easy forest hike somewhere in the canton of Graubünden as my favorite trails are there and it's not that far away from where we live. This is how I came across <strong>Pizalun</strong>. 

The 7 km long trail with an elevation gain of less than 500 meters was exactly what I was searching for. It should be completed within 2.5 hours, but I knew that it will take us much longer as we planned to take a lot of photos and have a picnic in the forest. 

Although Pizalun (<em>1478 m</em>) is one of the smallest mountains in the canton of Graubünden, it offers spectacular 360 degrees view of <strong>the Chur Rhine valley, Sargans region, the mountains of the Rätikon, the Pizol group, the Calanda massif and the Churfirsten-Alvier group</strong>. 

![1.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWhb38APTRgTbZ6Agc3XurZ7xGaDzLjMvcWpcKVc7tZVb/1.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

The trail starts in <strong>St. Margrethenberg</strong> - a popular winter sports region close to Bad Ragaz. It says on internet that it starts directly from the parking area, but we couldn't find the signs. We checked the google maps and it turned out that the trails starts on the other side of the village! Well, at least we found it. 

<h3>Let's walk! </h3>

![3.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYsBRuyNFvSFugFCXNYwnDBBt396vs6ERj89Qc6No2VuQ/3.jpg)
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/8 26 mm

As soon as we reached the trail, we were greeted by a couple of cows 😊 I should be honest here and say that they rather ignored us though. They were too busy with their lunch.

![5.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQma4rdMJpLQLp3kwABixqiYCGAXkcKdZug513Z5e7o3CEV/5.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

After a short steep climb we got to see St. Margrethenberg behind us. It's situated in such picturesque landscape...

![6.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmW9AhCsm9nFeAUk6hQkAvyD9vTdJvuq7aWVz27CebbJHm/6.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

The path led us through woods and meadows..

![7.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVyLQDhtKb4E5HzgTjJLvAN5nWLPzuNNRackJSjfnxLWK/7.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 29 mm

Behind this meadow there was the most challenging part of the trail - a steep and long climb through the forest. The summit was behind the trees so we couldn't see it and we didn't know how long we would have to climb. There were a few people coming back from the summit looking refreshed and happy while we were breathing hard and sweating. At that time I realized that in the afternoon it will be me who will walk down and I was feeling instantly better 😊

![9.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeU2ofpmTpKAxdyteRb5KLGQyNW9Rwr7U8LHkyQ4dTEcd/9.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 26 mm

<h3>We made it! </h3>

The summit can be reached by a metal staircase. There is an observation platform on the top so let's have a look!

![10.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaPtTvjrY8kLh5ZfPUsSxPSuRDCYNZKy4KNsCJhZ8MjrW/10.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

The stairway is very narrow and only one person fits there but as there was no one coming I had enough time to take a photo on the way up.. 

![11.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbE8azrY2wGZ6Mzz4C8TQznyyYcC68F3CUoMDUxYcgfFd/11.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

<h3>We are here! </h3>

![12.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPvVie8zSXatAjN95tbuUTnSb9JMD6Qhn7QdbzPcqXLg9/12.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

Now it's time to enjoy the views...

Right in front of us is the Callanda massiv.

![13.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQgDX3MkwxbZsdrv37bQeXpX64JVNVjB4KtsMuNKo5gqt/13.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

On the right side there are mountains of the Rätikon.

![14.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYy5wi6nomiCE64i7abozuLpA5S2uc1HaWDhmzP8MjPDW/14.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

Further to the right...

![15.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYShjyc33sCzNX722Ta2JtMK8XywW7p5Xe3eoPGGt67Co/15.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

Now we are looking in the direction of the Appenzell Alps, north of Sargans. 

![16.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVR1tx9bzodjwzeJefRWHdVb5tBfFMJYE5eyiTseApFxb/16.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

![17.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeYPFrDBzUJCvWErxW13v7PS3vD7LYKPfMgjo1sHwySTt/17.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

There are signs with panorama views of the mountains and their names on each side of the platform. There are so many summits visible from here that I didn't even try to remember some of them.

Now it's time to have a picnic on the way back...

![18.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRPS1TYmWy2XUMJTisXhW9jd76uM64UPAW1EfcbQuvwct/18.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

We didn't want to take the same path back to the village so we decided to take a longer path which would lead us around the mountain and then back on the other side..

We came across a couple of wooden houses and we walked through beautiful meadows.

![19.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmXCyqkMyDfARbFdJkcfHx9CoAor3FEHjYhoDzmoXfFpEJ/19.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

Until we came to this bench (there was no other bench up until this moment) where we could finally eat our lunch. I know, I should have taken a photo of our food but I was too hungry to think about such details 😊

![20.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmehKQK289um9xLtjr4QDfLp6HbbjNqQDrTtp9fabm3f3k/20.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

We rested for half an hour and continued on the path... On this side of the mountain there were more meadows than woods which was good for our vitamin D intake...

![21.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSTk8Hdf1Pt5WT8eBgV7Focd2A2FTt7Bz3f6EJAs1k93g/21.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

![22.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmXtQTrr4Mq6ahJxndy5mTxoB6vJNMGXa7CvFGb5GumRRr/22.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 29 mm

![23.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmXcZQrEoJpn9uhBUFkzCNzHRdDjFe4obwUSybWocppXeu/23.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

![24.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVdebGn52HnEb7YeN1Bf2twhzD8GKkBA6cFNwPYxMhcT5/24.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

![25.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRW8LqzePTnkchKFN7QX1uYggVhQ4yTSP4Mu33trEmeLV/25.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

![26.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYhJ3Qu9vXGUAeFgoyky1ap3Dk1ymgJA8nWLkFe9hoNc3/26.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm

After some time we reached an asphalt road which led us directly to the village. Overall, we walked almost 10 km instead of 7 km but we didn't mind as the weather was pleasant, we had a lot of fun, took way too many photos and had full bellies 😊

![27.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeDsrpihZjVYDASfcQWYTx6uzZCBRbrcxjpqbLNUYKAHU/27.jpg)
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 29 mm

And here are some flowers that I came across...

![28.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUwKMMeJBosnrtSaocWPvDEFRBEhWtea2faCBEfjnXBcL/28.jpg)
ISO 100 1/800 sec. f/3.5 48 mm

![29.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmcw7Ns4bXtQvmFomtVkTFbyvpyu1FXtmzzBmFA7KoXx8W/29.jpg)
ISO 100 1/800 sec. f/3.5 65 mm

![30.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVrWoKSQKyk2iC9vb5nZ9GnUfBTjg3D9yKs4fcTh8EQtX/30.jpg)
ISO 100 1/800 sec. f/3.5 48 mm

![31.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUEb2nrbE6oeGfKEH1bxh2LMCC6UrBwnLonXcVstfZZv5/31.jpg)
ISO 100 1/800 sec. f/3.5 60 mm

![32.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZd14RhETX7Z64WRaf1SHrAG7upwZUajKVqhiREMLnifw/32.jpg)
ISO 100 1/800 sec. f/3.5 62 mm

No matter what I did they just didn't pay the slightest attention to me 😊

![33.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUHNKHVqHeghWwd5UE5UTQazVcR1VVtZH9ednpL3K6mpu/33.jpg)
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/7.1 45 mm

![20190714_155854.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZRsDGmiabypHQBu4rbgpegLtW9aaSznc9wLMRmNcGw7q/20190714_155854.jpg)

I hope that you enjoyed our walk today!

Thank you for reading!

Cheers,
Martina