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One of the most epic days ever was when me and B. (a (Dutch) friend of mine, who is an exchange student at ETH for the next semester) went to Mt. Pilatus. After a train journey of about an hour to Luzern and a 15 minute bus drive, we boarded the panorama gondolas at Kriens to Fräkmüntegg and changed there to the aerial cableway up to the mountain to Pilatus Kulm. This was the first stage of the Golden Round Trip of Mount Pilatus from Luzern. The Golden Round Trip includes the bus, gondola and cableway up to Mount Pilatus and a ride with the steepest cogwheel railway in the world (more on that later) down Pilatus, followed by a lovely boat cruise on the Vierwaldstättersee. I can’t even begin to describe the awesomeness of this trip. I will however, try to show it to you via pictures.
Caution:
Prepare for lots and lots and lots of pictures.
Possibly too many.
Nope, scratch that: you can’t have too many pictures of these beautiful Alpine views!
Going up the mountain
One of the cablecars going up to Pilatus Kulm.
Once arrived at Pilatus Kulm, there were several hikes to beautiful viewpoints, even though there was also already a panorama deck at the Pilatus Kulm station. It was lovely weather: a very clear sky and sunny and not cold at all! We decided to do two walks: one 40 minute walk to the top of Mount Pilatus (2132 m above sea level) and one 10 minute walk to a 360° panorama viewpoint.
Hike to Tomlishorn: the top of Mount Pilatus at 2132 m above sea level
Of course we wanted to go to the highest point of Mount Pilatus. This was supposed to be a 40 minute walk with medium difficulty and an altitude difference of 60 m. However, they clearly didn’t calculate any time for taking pictures into the approximate walking time. As we stopped every 2 m to take a picture of the beautiful views it took us a bit longer than 40 minutes. But is was so much fun!
The hike started pretty easy. In fact, we were walking downwards all the time, which we though was weird, as the aim of the walk was to reach the highest point of the mountain. It also scared me greatly, because I thought about all the extra meters that we went down now, we needed to go up again to reach the highest point.
Posing like a pro (this is the second attempt at this picture. Naturally, my hair was all over the place the first time the picture was taken).
Look at the view! Look at the view!!!
We saw actual Alpine Ibex!!! Aaaaahhhh! I can’t contain all the excitement! How cool is this? We never ever would’ve spotted them on our own, but some very nice (and obviously more experienced mountain people) pointed them out to us!
A picture to satisfy my inner geologist heart that is suppressed most of the time. Look at the beautiful layering!
Chilling with a beautiful view to catch my breath before we go up up up, up to the top!
The actual final path to the top turned out to be slightly more rocky and diehard than the previously well maintained path. This however, made it all the more adventurous!
At the top! - Tomlishorn
And then we made it to the top! Oh yeah! In the above picture you can see the starting point of our walk: Pilatus Kulm, where the cablecar stops: it is wedged between the two peaks. The right peak is the Esel, where we went for our second hike. Also note the lonely, white church at the left on the mountain. I just keep wondering who had the outrageous idea of building a church there. I mainly have 2 questions about this:
1. Why there? Are there so many people living there that there needs to be a church there? It seems to be pretty desolated, so why a build a church?
2. Who brought up all the materials? It must have been horrendous.
Oh yeah, that is me: right there at the top!
Another picture to prove that I was actually there at the top!
To be fair, I wasn’t exactly alone at the top: B. was there too.
The view in another direction.
A close-up of one of the most beautiful mountains in our vista: Mount Titlis. It is over 3000 m high and therefore always has snow on top of it.
Hike back to Pilatus Kulm
While walking back to Pilatus Kulm, I just couldn’t resist taking a couple of more pictures. I like these pictures in particular, because they have nice artistic feel about them..
Look at the beautiful asymmetry!
A walkthrough bit with a fantastic view (again!).
Hike to Esel: 360° panorama view
As we hadn’t had a clear view of the Vierwaldstättersee yet, we decided that we really needed to do the hike/walk to one of the other viewpoints: a zig-zag path to the top. They said it would take 10 minutes. I was convinced it would take me way longer than that. B. was convinced it would take him only a couple of minutes. B. was right and managed to get to the top in no time. I was incorrect, but very pleased nonetheless as I made it to the top in 6 minutes. The difference in altitude was 50 m.
At the top! - Esel
Beautiful view of the Vierwaldstättersee!
This is Pilatus Kulm: the tourist centre of the mountain, let’s say. In the background on the left, you can see the highest point of Mount Pilatus: the Tomlishorn, which we climbed earlier.
The Vierwalstättersee again and Mount Stanserhorn (just out of the middle on the right).
Snowcapped mountains in the distance (amongst others, the Eiger and Jungfrau and Titlis) and nice folds on the rock face in the front.
Another beautiful mountain vista! Tomlishorn on the right.
Looking at the beautiful views. Just breathtaking.
B. doing the same. Obviously.
Hike back to Pilatus Kulm
Just one picture on the way back, because it was such an ideal spot for making a picture of someone with the lake in the background. However, after this picture, we decided we actually shouldn’t stop every 2 seconds any more, because that would lead to us missing the train.
Needless to say, I did stop one more time (very shortly!) at Pilatus Kulm to buy souvenirs in the shop. As you do.
The steepest cogwheel railway in the world
With a gradient of 48°, this cogwheel railway is the steepest in the whole world. It was a pretty cool ride. Basically, the driver was braking all the time to prevent us from plummeting to our deaths.
Looks pretty steep, huh?
The train in front of us. Do you see how steep it is? Yeah? Did I make my point?
Boat cruise on the Vierwaldstättersee
After all this excitement, we were quite tired already, but luckily we saved the boat cruise for the end. Therefore, we now had the opportunity to relax and take in the breathtaking views from the Vierwaldstättersee from a different perspective. As the battery of my camera was dying at this point, there are not as many pictures any more.
Luzern
We concluded the day by walking a bit through the city centre of Luzern. We didn’t have time (or the energy, really) to visit any of the landmarks (except for the old city bridge), so I will have to return to Luzern at some point. I don’t mind at all, because it is such a beautiful city: very picturesque. In fact I’d like to go back now!
Caution:
Prepare for lots and lots and lots of pictures.
Possibly too many.
Nope, scratch that: you can’t have too many pictures of these beautiful Alpine views!
Going up the mountain
One of the cablecars going up to Pilatus Kulm.
Once arrived at Pilatus Kulm, there were several hikes to beautiful viewpoints, even though there was also already a panorama deck at the Pilatus Kulm station. It was lovely weather: a very clear sky and sunny and not cold at all! We decided to do two walks: one 40 minute walk to the top of Mount Pilatus (2132 m above sea level) and one 10 minute walk to a 360° panorama viewpoint.
Hike to Tomlishorn: the top of Mount Pilatus at 2132 m above sea level
Of course we wanted to go to the highest point of Mount Pilatus. This was supposed to be a 40 minute walk with medium difficulty and an altitude difference of 60 m. However, they clearly didn’t calculate any time for taking pictures into the approximate walking time. As we stopped every 2 m to take a picture of the beautiful views it took us a bit longer than 40 minutes. But is was so much fun!
The hike started pretty easy. In fact, we were walking downwards all the time, which we though was weird, as the aim of the walk was to reach the highest point of the mountain. It also scared me greatly, because I thought about all the extra meters that we went down now, we needed to go up again to reach the highest point.
Posing like a pro (this is the second attempt at this picture. Naturally, my hair was all over the place the first time the picture was taken).
Look at the view! Look at the view!!!
We saw actual Alpine Ibex!!! Aaaaahhhh! I can’t contain all the excitement! How cool is this? We never ever would’ve spotted them on our own, but some very nice (and obviously more experienced mountain people) pointed them out to us!
A picture to satisfy my inner geologist heart that is suppressed most of the time. Look at the beautiful layering!
Chilling with a beautiful view to catch my breath before we go up up up, up to the top!
The actual final path to the top turned out to be slightly more rocky and diehard than the previously well maintained path. This however, made it all the more adventurous!
At the top! - Tomlishorn
And then we made it to the top! Oh yeah! In the above picture you can see the starting point of our walk: Pilatus Kulm, where the cablecar stops: it is wedged between the two peaks. The right peak is the Esel, where we went for our second hike. Also note the lonely, white church at the left on the mountain. I just keep wondering who had the outrageous idea of building a church there. I mainly have 2 questions about this:
1. Why there? Are there so many people living there that there needs to be a church there? It seems to be pretty desolated, so why a build a church?
2. Who brought up all the materials? It must have been horrendous.
Oh yeah, that is me: right there at the top!
Another picture to prove that I was actually there at the top!
To be fair, I wasn’t exactly alone at the top: B. was there too.
The view in another direction.
A close-up of one of the most beautiful mountains in our vista: Mount Titlis. It is over 3000 m high and therefore always has snow on top of it.
Hike back to Pilatus Kulm
While walking back to Pilatus Kulm, I just couldn’t resist taking a couple of more pictures. I like these pictures in particular, because they have nice artistic feel about them..
Look at the beautiful asymmetry!
A walkthrough bit with a fantastic view (again!).
Hike to Esel: 360° panorama view
As we hadn’t had a clear view of the Vierwaldstättersee yet, we decided that we really needed to do the hike/walk to one of the other viewpoints: a zig-zag path to the top. They said it would take 10 minutes. I was convinced it would take me way longer than that. B. was convinced it would take him only a couple of minutes. B. was right and managed to get to the top in no time. I was incorrect, but very pleased nonetheless as I made it to the top in 6 minutes. The difference in altitude was 50 m.
At the top! - Esel
Beautiful view of the Vierwaldstättersee!
This is Pilatus Kulm: the tourist centre of the mountain, let’s say. In the background on the left, you can see the highest point of Mount Pilatus: the Tomlishorn, which we climbed earlier.
The Vierwalstättersee again and Mount Stanserhorn (just out of the middle on the right).
Snowcapped mountains in the distance (amongst others, the Eiger and Jungfrau and Titlis) and nice folds on the rock face in the front.
Another beautiful mountain vista! Tomlishorn on the right.
Looking at the beautiful views. Just breathtaking.
B. doing the same. Obviously.
Hike back to Pilatus Kulm
Just one picture on the way back, because it was such an ideal spot for making a picture of someone with the lake in the background. However, after this picture, we decided we actually shouldn’t stop every 2 seconds any more, because that would lead to us missing the train.
Needless to say, I did stop one more time (very shortly!) at Pilatus Kulm to buy souvenirs in the shop. As you do.
The steepest cogwheel railway in the world
With a gradient of 48°, this cogwheel railway is the steepest in the whole world. It was a pretty cool ride. Basically, the driver was braking all the time to prevent us from plummeting to our deaths.
Looks pretty steep, huh?
The train in front of us. Do you see how steep it is? Yeah? Did I make my point?
Boat cruise on the Vierwaldstättersee
After all this excitement, we were quite tired already, but luckily we saved the boat cruise for the end. Therefore, we now had the opportunity to relax and take in the breathtaking views from the Vierwaldstättersee from a different perspective. As the battery of my camera was dying at this point, there are not as many pictures any more.
Luzern
We concluded the day by walking a bit through the city centre of Luzern. We didn’t have time (or the energy, really) to visit any of the landmarks (except for the old city bridge), so I will have to return to Luzern at some point. I don’t mind at all, because it is such a beautiful city: very picturesque. In fact I’d like to go back now!
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