Solo Hike down the Western Flank of Mount Buochserhorn

Thursday July 20, 2023 -- Again another week with many thunderstorms, but Thursday promised to be a nice day, so I set off on a solo hike again, the idea being just to get out of the house and walk for a while. It didn't even need to be a long hike, but also not too far from home.

So my choice for the day again was to go up to the mountain village of Niederrickenbach, a lovely peaceful place which I like to go to, as it's not far from Luzern on the south side of Mount Buochserhorn. I chose to walk along the west side of Mount Buochserhorn this time, a side we have not covered yet, although the first part of the trail to get there was pretty familiar (To date always done in the opposite direction).

I started very early so that I could do the short uphill portion in the cool of the morning, but the west side of the mountain was in such dark shadow at 8:45, that I opted to go to the village and the monastery there for a while, and sit in the sun. I started 30 minutes later than originally planned. 

Lately the clouds have been low on the peaks of even the smaller mountains in Central Switzerland, but I had plenty of sunshine and nice views up the Engelberg Aa Valley. The descent back to valley bottom was trickier than I expected, as the trail was very narrow and steep and wet from recent rain. 

By the time I got to the nearest village with a bus stop (approx. 1:15 p.m.)., there was a bus ready to leave in three minutes, so I ended the hike there, having had enough for the day. It had turned into another 3-1/2 hour hike!

The village of Niederrickenbach is accessed by a cable car from Dallenwil. This is the view up the Engelberg Aa Valley on the way up the mountain with the cable car. The village at the bottom there is Wolfenschiessen. I got to the summit at 8:45.

It's a five-minute walk to the church at the south end of the mountain village called Niederrickenbach. I sat here in the sun for a while, and enjoyed the view I had of Dallenwil below, and the alpine pastures at Wirzweli on the opposite side of the valley, on the southern flank of Mount Stanserhorn, whose peak is also hidden in the clouds. (Makes for lousy views for all the tourists who go up there with the double-decker Cabrio cable-way)

To the south, the clouds are also low on Haldigrat. There are so many lovely trails at those elevations, but the last thing I would want to do is walk in that fog. I had it much better here at half-elevation. 

A couple of hotels in Niederrickenbach

Niederrickenbach is known for its Benedictine Monastery, still in use, known as Maria-Rickenbach. Even though we have been here in this village many times, this is the first time I saw that we can actually go down into the monastery gardens. 

A nice sitting area at the monastery, although at the moment there is too much shade here for me!

Back at the cable car station again, I headed out on my planned hike at 9:20. I am headed to Gibel, a 30-minute section which we have walked many times. (40 minutes is way more than necessary)

Looking down the corridor where the cable car comes up. I just missed the next ascent, therefore no photos of the cable car this day!

Starting in the village of Niederrickenbach, I first walked to Gibel along a lovely forest trail which we have done many times but in the opposite direction (40 minutes); then there was the 200-meter uphill section to Arhölzli (35 minutes), then the partially quite steep 900-m descent to the closest bus stop in the village of Büren (1 hour 35 minutes). It actually takes longer because of the steep descent.  

First section after leaving the village, before entering the cool forest

Here I had to make an uphill detour around these two, as they were doing some wrestling along the trail, and I wasn't going near that. 

The 30-minute section through the forest

A close-up look back at the mountain village of Niederrickenbach .

As I left the forested trail, this is the view over the entire hillside, with the village in the red circle. 

I made to Gibel at 9:53, exactly 30 minutes. The next "milestone" is Arhölzli, the highest part of the hike (only 200 meters ascent, though). 

A view up the Engelberg Aa Valley again as I start heading uphill. It was already kind of warm, but luckily it was only a 200-m ascent. 

Panorama view about 3/4 way up. The mountain on the right is the famous Stanserhorn

I thought it looked cool, the cow up on this plateau, and the cities of Stans and Hergiswil below... but she got curious and started to run toward me. Which means I high-tailed it up the hill! Even small cows can do damage, if they want to run you over....

There's the cow way below. And the farmer mowing the steep hillside

This was my favourite section. There was a paved road, but the most beautifully-flowering hillside. An entire section was filled with what was probably oregano, and the butterflies were loving it!

I spent a very long time here, just astounded at the hundreds of butterflies and bees which were gorging themselves on this field of what looks like oregano. There were so many different types of butterflies! I counted at least seven!

Such a pretty meadow here on this hillside. 

At 10:40 I was at Arhölzli, with about two more hours now to descend to Büren. Even with the long time I spent photographing butterflies, I was here in the suggested 1 hour 20 minutes. 

The highest point of my hike!

Heading downhill now, I have to cross this very steep hillside which has recently been mowed and harvested. Past the barn at the back, the trail got very steep. 

This narrow trail was on a pretty steep slope!

For the next 20 minutes or so, the trail was like this. It was slow going. 

A glimpse of the town of Buochs at the west end of one of the many arms of Lake Luzern. In the background is Mount Rigi and the summit called Rigi Kulm, a popular tourist mountain. 

Down below is the city of Stans, from where I caught a train back home (after the bus ride from Büren). Straight ahead is Mount Pilatus, whose summit is also covered in clouds. Another view mountain popular with tourists (probably not a lot of view today). The dark mountain on the right is the Bürgenstock. 

At 11:30 I spied a bench, where I then had my picnic lunch. Below is the city of Buochs, at the foot of Mount Bürgenstock. 

I ended up sitting here for at least 20 minutes, reading a book, before continuing on my descent. 

This was a cute little section of trail. The summit of Mount Pilatus is still covered in cloud. Originally, it was my plan to go up to the summit there, so I am sure glad I changed plans!

For most of the descent past several farms, the trail through the meadows wasn't very visible, and I had to use my GPS a lot. 

Getting closer now to the valley bottom. That town below is Dallenwil. From there, there are a couple of cable cars that access the high pastures on the right and the village of Wirzweli

Passing through some farm yards, right between the barns and the farmhouses!

View towards Stans. The river here is called the Engelberger Aa River (thus the name of the valley) which has its origin in the mountains "behind" Engelberg, and flows into Lake Luzern at Buochs. 

A long section of steps, that's always fun!

Originally I was going to walk an additional 20 minutes along the river to the train station in Dallenwil, but it would have been a boring 20 minutes, and since this bus here in Büren NW (Nidwalden) was leaving in just 3 minutes (i.e. 1:16 p.m.), I figured I'd had enough walking for the day. After all, it ended up being an 8.7 km and 3-hour hike to here! I was back home just over an hour later

What this hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps (It's about 3 to 3-1/2 hours of walking)

Heading to Stans by bus, we first cross the Engelberger Aa River, which I would also have crossed had I walked the final 20 minutes to Dallenwil station. 

Looking at Mount Buochserhorn from the west, I can actually see how high up I was and where I walked down. It was a descent of 900 meters!

Because of the easy access into the mountains with the cable car, Niederrickenbach is a good starting and ending point for us for all kinds of day-hikes! It also only takes us 90 minutes to get here from home!

Location of Mount Buochserhorn in Switzerland.