From Sargans train station, head to the west to the Zum Ritterhof hotel and continue alongside the railway line as far as the rail and motorway underpass. Then turn left into the village of Mels. The trail leads over the Seez bridge up to the hamlet of St. Martin with the little Nidberg castle. Follow the road for a short while and turn left at the large curve immediately at the start of the forest onto the old Vermolerweg trail. This continues mainly at a certain distance from the road up to Hintervermol. An occasional glance back into the Sarganserland area and into the Principality of Liechtenstein is always worthwhile. Continue at the same altitude over alpine pastureland, through woods and past several barns to reach Mülli, where the trail again meets the road into the Weisstannental valley. After around 200m, leave the road behind and climb uphill to the right. Then follow the high-alpine trail across varied terrain to Weisstannen. From Weisstannen, walk along the little road further into the valley. Strange high-alpine worlds with ravines and waterfalls make up for the length of the walk before the first climbs begin. Over the boulder fields caused by a rock fall, the trail spirals leftward, each sharp bend taking you further up the slope carpeted in bushes, allowing lovely backward views into the Seez valley and finally opening into the wild Foobach ravine. Behind this, head to the right in the rock wall onto the secured trail to the Foo Alp.
Softly shaped green slopes now lead into the Heiteli sheep pastureland. Above this, the sedimentary rock layer of the Foo massif comes clearly into view, a visible sign of the Glarner Hauptüberschiebung (main thrust fault). The terrain now becomes a gentle incline to the Foo pass. The sudden appearance of the Glarner Alps on the other horizon with the last metres has to be one of the most striking moments of the tour. The impressive Vorab, Hausstock and Kärpf mountains dominate the panorama.
Next comes a steep descent to the Elmer side, but thanks to the well-built trail it is not a knee-breaker. A little dirt road begins at the Raminer Matt meadow, stretching towards the valley over several wooden bridges. Mighty waterfalls and sparse maple woods enliven this stretch of the route. From Stäfellegg, note should be taken of the short cut of the climbing meadowland path to the Niderenalp cable car station. After passing the sawmill, the trail finally arrives in Elm.
(Glarner Wanderwege)

Mels
With its surface area of 140km2, the community of Mels is the biggest community in the canton of St. Gallen. Iron ore was mined on the Gonzen at various periods in time between the 14th century and 1966. The extracted ore used to be stored in Mels, and an iron forge existed here as early as 1412.
The large village square framed by interesting buildings also served between 1831 and 1861 as a “Landsgemeindeplatz” (a square where the cantonal legislation votes took place). Parish church of St. Peter and Paul, built between 1727 and 1732, late baroque renovation in 1922/23. Parish house, three-storey gabled building dating back to 1748.
Capucine monastery, built between 1651 and 1654. Community administration centre, previously Haus Good, built in classical style in 1842. Group of houses from Haus Lendi to David-Nagler-Haus, typical 17th-century wooden constructions. Weisstannen
The pretty little mountain village of Weisstannen is situated at the very back of the valley named after it. According to legend, the little village in turn got its name from a mighty silver fir, which once stood in the square that today accommodates the small parish church of John the Baptist built in 1665. Documentation on the village dating back to 1398 exists.
The former administrative building built in 1772 for the alpine district of the Schanis monastery is the only old stone house that still remains in the valley. The first road through the wildly romantic valley was built in 1874. A magnificent linden tree several hundred years of age stands in the village square. Elm
The neat little mountain village of Elm lies in the vast basin of the upper Sernftal valley in the midst of lush green meadows and surrounded by beautiful maple and fir trees. It owes its wind-protected setting to the steeply towering summits of the Piz Sardona, Piz Segna, Vorab, Hausstock and Kärpf mountains. A late Gothic church, built in the 15th century, boasts a carved pulpit dating back to 1615 with a memorial plaque for the 114 people who lost their lives in a rock fall on 11 September 1881. The beautiful and well preserved village centre was registered in the inventory of village settings deserving protection with the following buildings: the “Grosshaus”, built in 1585/86, a wooden construction on a walled base that in the late 16th century belonged to the landvogt and bannerherr (city district administrator) Hans Eimer; the “Zentnerhaus”, a simpler building but all the more impressive for its size; the “Suworowhaus”, presumed to have been built in 1671 by landammann (head of cantonal government) J.C. Eimer. It was also the residence of the last Glarus landvogt, J.H. Freitag (1798). In early October 1799, the house served as quarters for General Suworow before he marched his army over the Panixer pass.
On 12 and 13 March at 8.55am and on 30 September and 1 October at 8.34am, the sun projects its rays through the Martinsloch gap (gap in the face of the Tschingelhörner) onto the village church. Mineral water sources: in the early 20th century, Elm developed into a climate spa resort with a mineral spring and a spa house. The Elmer Citro mineral water has been bottled there since 1927.
(Schweizer Wanderwege)