Wirzweli is a little village on an elevated plateau at the foot of Mount Stanserhorn (the latter is renowned for being accessed by the world's first double-decker roofless cableway). After ascending to the plateau via cable car (not the roofless one!), we climbed a rather steep 300m to the ridge above Wirzweli, from where we could look all the way down the Engelberg Valley to Mount Titlis (covered in snow year-round) and North to Lake Lucerne. A tasty lunch at the Gummenalp Mountain Restaurant and then pleasant mountain trails for two more hours to make our way back to the cable car.
Best impressions besides the view: Cow bells, meadow flowers, and the cry of the cuckoo echoing through the forest....
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| Ascending from Dallenwil in the Engelberg Valley, by cable car to Wirzweli |
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| We are just in time for the start of the meadow flowers |
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| Lush pretty farming country up here, the yellow is mostly dandelions. All this grass will be harvested for the cows. |
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| First part of the hike: A steep ascent above the village of Wirzweli. In the background is Mount Stanserhorn. The Cabrio Double-Decker Cableway ascends on the other side of that mountain. |
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| At the top of the steep climb we had a coffee break. In the back below is Lake Lucerne to the North. |
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| And on the South side of the ridge we look down into the Engelberg Valley |
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| That behind me is a couloir between two cliffs. It would be wide enough to walk through. |
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| A popular place for paragliders. On the ridge in the back is the restaurant where we are planning to have lunch. |
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| A popular place for paragliders |
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| Lunch on the view terrace at the Gummenalp Restaurant |
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| Continuing our hike high above the Engelberg Valley. In the back to the left is the distinctive peak of Mount Titlis, which has snow (and skiing) all year round. |
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| The distinctive peak of Mount Titlis (3238m) |
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| All the early meadow flowers! |
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| Moving along, our round tour takes us to the ridge across the way for a look into the Sarneraa Valley to the West, at the foot of Mount Pilatus. On the way we pass a dairy farm which sells homemade cheese. |
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| We like to support the mountain farmers by buying their homemade cheese, usually available on an honour system in a little shop attached to the farm buildings |
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| A beautiful day for walking |
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| Heading up to the next ridge |
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| These are happy pigs |
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| Heading back to Wirzweli, and to the cable-car station. |
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| This 11 km walk took us 3 hours and 40 minutes |
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