Canoeing Reuss, Aare & Rhine

Pentecost was a fabulous sunny long w/e. Therefore, some canoeing had to be done.

We started in Gisikon-Root. By the time we got to Bremgarten we were bit bored but still not quite up to paddling thru the local weir... until a guy mentioned it'd be real easy to do with such high water levels. And off we went. Very spontaneous. Paddle. Paddle. Paddle. And there we were: huge waves! It was so great and exciting that I actually forgot to keep paddling for a short bit (not recommended). But we did it! From then on, we kept taking the biggest waves wherever possible!

cooking fresh asparagus for dinner

The next day, we canoed on the Reuss, Aare and finally the Rhine. Along the Aare there is a watergate where canoes are allowed, too. Pretty cool! You just pick up the phone and request a passage. After the green light goes on, you paddle into the box, a wall starts blocking off the inflowing water, water level drops several meters until the door in the front opens and the journey continues downriver! :)

canoe at the German Rhine shore

The Rhine is more of a lake-like river in places. Wherever there is a dam for hydropower, one finds different options to carry the boat (involving all kind of carriages, elevators...). Quite entertaining. Although the water was still pretty refreshing, we went for a swim. Awesome! Getting back into the canoe proved to be somewhat of a challenge... at least for me ;)

At the end of the third day, we made it to Rheinfelden. As it was shockingly late already, we disembarked and took a train back to Zurich.