Hike on our Local Mountain: From Rigi Scheidegg to Urmiberg

Monday July 12, 2021 -- Because of the very long hike we did the day before, we got home quite late on Sunday evening, and opted to do a local hike on Monday to cut down on travel time. We decided to go up on Mt.Rigi (practically our local mountain, and referred to as the "Queen of the Mountains" due to its splendid view of the Alps) because it has been a couple of years since we've been up there, and we had not yet tried out the small cable car at Urmiberg. Mt.Rigi is actually a long stretched-out mountain range and there are many options for hiking. The hill called Urmiberg is the easternmost section of the range, and less frequented than the summit of Mt.Rigi, which is on every Asian tourbus schedule. 

Judging the weather at the moment is tough, and it's only once we got up to Rigi Scheidegg under a cloudy sky that we could see the skies were clear to the West, in the Luzern Back Country. But these days, you have to be glad it isn't raining. The trails were quite wet and muddy though, and when the sun did come out for a bit, it was humid and hot.

Of the total 7.5 km from Rigi Scheidegg (also accessed via cable car) to the restaurant at Urmiberg, about 1/3rd of the stretch is on a wide gravel road, slightly uphill, which is the hardest type of terrain for me to walk. So on the final stretch we chose to walk OVER a hill instead of continuing along the road, which added quite a bit of ascent, but was much easier to do. Furthermore, this option gave us a better view: North across Lake Zug, east to the Mythen peaks in Schwyz, and westward across lake Luzern and the magnificent hills of the Rigi range.

We treated ourselves to ice coffee at the restaurant, with the most stupendous view South along the Uri arm of Lake Lucerne, a view which made the 3-hour hike well worth the effort.

There is a cable car up to Rigi Scheidegg, but first you have to ride the Arth-Rigi Train. Below is lake Zug. On this side the town of Arth, and on the far side the city of Zug, where we live

From Rigi Scheidegg this is the view eastward to the Glarner Alps, and even all the way to the Alpstein Massif (Mt. Säntis). Below is Lake Lauerzersee

There are still some pretty meadows!

As we head East, this is the view South to Lake Luzern (Vierwaldstättersee) and Seelisberg

Mt.Rigi is called "Queen of the Mountains" because it is right at the edge of the Central Alps with some fantastic views all the way to the Bernese Alps

Those snow-capped peaks are the highest peaks in the Bernese Alps, including Mt. Finsteraarhorn and the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau Trio

We are heading Southeast along the ridge below and to that pass at the arrow. Right on the other side of the ridge at the arrow is the restaurant with the cable car

What would the mountains of Central Switzerland be without the Swiss Brown Cows (usually right on our walking trail, so we have to make a detour around them!)

Heading along the ridge. The trail was a bit muddy from all the rain we've been having.

At this point the sky did clear up a bit, and the mountain outline was clearer.

Urs putting on sunscreen while I am standing at the ridge-line, looking north to Lake Zug

This is not a bad view of Lake Zug to the north, and the summit of Mt. Rigi on the left (Rigi Kulm, where most of the tourists go)

As we head toward the Gätterli Pass (half-way point) we glimpse Lake Luzern again. On the other side of the lake is Beckenried. That cone-shaped mountain on this side has a double-name: "Gersauer-/Vitznauer-Stock" because the two communities of Gersau and Vitznau on the lake below cannot agree to whom the peak belongs!

Heading toward the Gätterli Pass. That peak at the back is called Hochfluh, and there is a trail over it, traveled by surprisingly many people, probably locals!

Now we've reached the Gätterli Pass (behind me). On a different hike we had walked the same trail to this point, then headed (West) along this road toward the Gersauer/Vitnauerstock. This time we are headed East.

The little restaurant at the Gätterli Pass is closed on Mondays, but we were not the only people who used the picnic tables for our lunch.

This little beggar seems to live here, and he was sure eyeing that sandwich!

I had to take a self-timed photo with the cat, but he wasn't too happy about it!

Continuing onwards, this view is down to Lake Lauerzersee. From here you can see how the high water is flooding the moor landscape

Sometimes we see cows, and sometimes we see chickens!!

When we got to this farm called Egg, which is perched on the ridge, we had just walked 30 minutes along a wide forest/gravel road, always slightly uphill, which I find very tiring. More of the same would have gotten us to the cable car in 35 minutes, but we chose the narrow trail up the hill instead. Longer but less tiring!

The trail up the hill gave us a better view of the lake and the Uri Alps!

Heading up the hill from Egg, instead of taking that wide road around the hill. There is an alpine trail over that rocky mountain, and we were surprised at how many people walked there. Including a young couple in running shoes and bare feet (????)

Below us is the "annoying road". This narrow trail uphill is much better! And so is the view! Again, this is North across Lake Zug, with Mt.Rigi Kulm in the center.

VIDEO:

Panorama View as we are heading up the hill

To the South we now can see the full Uri arm of Lake Luzern

And to the East, the two Mythen above the town of Schwyz

Back on the road for a bit, but going over the hill was worth it.

A last look to the North before going over the ridge to the lake side of the mountain.

Right over the ridge is this restaurant, with an incomparable view of Lake Uri. We had a perfect viewing spot

We treated ourselves to ice coffees and enjoyed the view of Lake Uri and the Uri Alps.

An incomparable view directly to the South along the Uri arm of Lake Luzern, down the Reuss Valley

It was also a good spot to watch the cable car. Lots of people were coming up here. The food and the view are simply worth it. The Muota River is bringing some dirty water into the lake!

Getting ready for the 2 p.m. descent to Brunnen. We had planned to finish early, as there was bad weather forecast again. In fact, this Monday was the last nice day of the week. 

Down at lake level. From here it would be a long way to walk to the train station in Brunnen, but there is a bus....

A relatively "short" hike of about 3 hours from Rigi Scheidegg summit station, to the Timpel cable car station (restaurant) on Urmiberg. 

The hike from Rigi Scheidegg to Urmiberg on Google Earth Maps

Obviously we have hiked in this area quite a lot, because we live nearby.