Muotathal is a long valley village in canton Schwyz, strung along the Muota river in a deep cleft between steep, wooded mountains. It has a population of about three and a half thousand, most of them spread out over small farms and hamlets, and the place has a reputation for being slightly mysterious. The valley is known across Switzerland for its weather prophets, the Wetterschmöcker, a group of local men who claim to predict the weather by watching nature, and whose forecasts for the coming winter are reported in the national newspapers each year.
Beneath the valley is the Hölloch, one of the longest cave systems in the world, with well over a hundred and fifty kilometres of explored passages, all of it carved by water in the limestone. Guided tours take visitors into a section of the cave, in helmets and boots, and tell of the explorers who have spent days underground mapping it. Above it, the Bödmerenwald is the largest natural spruce forest in the Alps, a primeval-looking stand of ancient trees, left largely untouched, where the trunks are covered in lichen and the forest floor is thick with moss.
History arrived here in an unexpected form in 1799, when the Russian general Alexander Suvorov, leading an army out of Italy to join allied forces in Switzerland, found that the allies had already been defeated. He marched his exhausted troops over the Pragel Pass into the Muotathal, fought a series of battles against the French in the valley, and then retreated eastward over the mountains in a campaign of extraordinary hardship. A memorial in the valley remembers the Russian soldiers.
For a rider, Muotathal is the heart of the Pragel and Ibergeregg loop, a good place to stop for a coffee and to check the tank. The road along the valley is narrow in places, with tight bends, tunnels and sheer rock walls, and the surface is patchy. The climb to the Pragel Pass begins here, with a narrow road that can be slow in summer when the cars are many. In the early morning the valley is cool and quiet, and the river is a deep green.
The village has fuel, a few shops, bakeries and restaurants serving Swiss mountain food, including cheese dishes and Älplermagronen, the macaroni and potato dish served with apple sauce. Schwyz, about ten kilometres away, is the nearest large town, with more services. The valley can be dark and cold in winter, when the sun barely reaches the valley floor.