Short Hike on the Upper Plateau of Melchsee-Frutt

Thursday October 12, 2023 -- On the second day of my company's visit, we also stayed within an hour's drive from home, but I wanted to take them into a different valley with a totally different landscape. I chose the Melch Valley and the Melchsee-Frutt Plateau, where we could do a nice walk between the lakes without having to exert ourselves too much.

In retrospect, as nice as it was, it wasn't quite as exciting as the excursion we did the day before. The first half of our walk was, once again, in the heat of the late "summer" sunshine we have been having lately, almost uncomfortably hot without any trees up here for shade. Then we lost the sunshine with the rapid onset of a wispy cloud cover, and it became almost uncomfortably cold! The cable-car ride, though interesting with its circular gondolas, was incredibly expensive. And as we had started pretty late in the day, we ended up in end-of-workday-traffic around the city of Luzern on our way back home (this time the trip was by car), something I am not at all used to, and which I found strenuous, even though I wasn't driving!

I have to mention that my guests, not such seasoned hikers as we are, did well on this 6-km and 2-hour loop hike! 

The gondola cable-car takes you from Stöckalp at the back of the Melch Valley to the large upper plateau called Melchsee-Frutt, 850 altitude meters above the Melch Valley!

At the summit of the cable-car station is a small village called Frutt, mostly vacation homes and hotels, as it is a popular winter destination. (Village is behind us). Below is the first lake, Melchsee. 

Heading to the look-out platform, which also has an elevator (saves on the uphill climb on our return). 

View to the east to the next lake (at the arrow) which is the goal of our hike. In the very back is the popular tourist destination of the summit of Mount Titlis, accessed from Engelberg in the next valley over. 

As we start off on our hike, this is a look westward across Lake Melchsee. The mountain behind the lake is Mount Hochstollen, which we summited in August (those photos are HERE). 

We managed a 6-km, 2-hour walk from the village at Melchsee-Frutt to the Tannensee Lake and back via the wider road. For the first part along the narrower trail, the sun was quite warm, and I had to change into my shorts right away! (We started late, it was already 1:30 p.m. by the time we got up here). 

There is another cable car which starts at the east end of Lake Melchsee and rides to the summit of a peak called Bonistock. We did not take this one, but it probably gives you a view into the Bernese Alps to the south. (This is a cable-car Urs and I have not yet been on).

Lots of conversation along the way.... usually I don't like to listen to other people's conversations when I go hiking, but there were barely any other people on the trail, so it didn't bother anyone!

First glimpse of the water at Lake Tannensee. It is held back by the long, grassy dam on this side. 

Lake Tannensee and the dam which we later walked across. The mountain range in the back are the peaks on the southeast side of the Gental Valley. We walked a trail below the cliffs there (just visible) in August last year, those photos are HERE

A zoomed view of the summit of Mount Titlis. There is usually year-round skiing here, but I wonder how long that will last. The glacier really looks small now. As part of the Aug.2022 hike we did in the Gen Valley, we also took the chair lift up to the Joch Pass (before descending to Engelberg), which is the building you see on the bottom left. 

We found a nice picnic spot for a very late picnic lunch (2:45 p.m!)

I was there too!

The little tourist train does a few runs around this upper plateau, for people who prefer not to walk!

We were hoping for some still waters on Lake Tannensee to get a nice reflection of the mountains, but the sky started to get overcast now, and there was a cold wind blowing.

Heading across the dam

Heading across the dam

On the way back to the cable-way at Melchsee-Frutt, we took the wider road. 

Passing the chapel next to Lake Melchsee, and heading back to the look-out tower. We are glad of the elevator there!

What today's walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps

On the way back out of the Melch Valley, we took a detour (along a very narrow, very winding road... so glad it's a little-used road and no other vehicles came toward us!) to the village of Flüeli-Ranft, the birthplace of Switzerland's Patron Saint Nicholas of Flüe. (Better known as Brother Klaus, 1417-1487)

This is the house where Nicholas of Flüe lived with his wife and 10 children before heading into a life of solitude at the hermitage in the nearby ravine. We were hoping to visit this, but it was not open (too late in the day). 

Location of Melchsee-Frutt within Switzerland.