Benediktusweg (Benedictine Trail) in the Engelberg Valley

Thursday August 22, 2024 -- As we were planning a very strenuous hike on Friday, but still wanted to take advantage of another beautiful summer day, we undertook another one of our "short" hikes nearby and traveled to Engelberg to hike a short piece of the Walenpfad trail (one we had walked at the end of September 2015) and descend to the village of Oberrickenbach. (As it turns out, we actually followed a newer themed trail called "Benediktusweg" the whole way, and only a part of the Walenpfad)

The hike started with a cable-car and chair-lift ride to a mountain restaurant and hostel called Brunnihütte, and then we walked north parallel to the Engelberg Valley. We had more nice weather with enough cool breeze so that our easy hike was quite comfortable. The air was clear and the views were great again. (Back in 2015 when we walked this stretch, the valley was full of very thick fog, almost up to the trail!). This is a popular hiking trail and there were several other hikers doing the Walenpfad. All of the other hikers, though, continued on to Lake Bannalpsee at the Walenalp junction, while we headed down the mountain along the Benediktusweg over the Wellenberg hill to Oberrickenbach, where we caught a bus down to the train station in Wolfenschiessen, for the 90-minute trip home.

This is the popular town of Engelberg as seen from the Engelberg-Ristis cable-car. We can be in Engelberg in 90 minutes from home, and after a short bus ride, were at the cable-car station at 10 a.m.

The large-cabin cable-car is a short 6-minute ride taking us 600 meters up the mountain.

Watching the cable-car head back down to Engelberg.

A close-up look at Mount Titlis, south of Engelberg, (a favourite with foreign tourists, and a peak I have not yet been on). There is snow and skiing here year-round, but it is always getting less.

The second section to Brunnihütte is a chair lift.

The main goal of this chair lift is the Restaurant and Hostel at Brunnihütte, and the start of various hiking trails.

There is an interesting trail around this small pond called the "Barefoot Trail" where you walk on top of several interesting "sensory" objects like rocks, wood chips, mud etc. It seems to be pretty popular!

Heading out on our hike with a look back at Mount Titlis. On the side of the lake is part of the Barefoot Trail. We started here at 10:45.

This was a relavitely short walk for us, under 10 km! But we had good weather and good views and it was not too hot. The Benedictine Trail is a 22-km trail from the Benedictine Monastery in Engelberg to the one in Maria Rickenbach further north in the Engelberg Valley.

Heading out on the popular Walenpfad Trail.

Across the valley is an interesting formation in the mountains, vertical striations which indicate a folding of the Earth's crust. Here at the corner is an explanation of how this occurred.

The view to the south toward the back of the Engelberg Valley, past the town of Engelberg.

The fabulous Walenstock Massif.

It always fascinates me that the cows have a wide range in the higher alpine elevations, and they can go wherever they want!

Another cow on the trail, watching Urs go by!

Another close-up of the summit of Mount Titlis

Across the valley to the southwest we can see the alpine pastures which we walked on a previous hike, when we first took one of those farmer's cable cars and then walked over the pass to the next valley (Storeggpass to the Melch Valley, photos are HERE). It is always interesting to see hikes we have done from a different vantage point.

We got to the look-out point at Walenalp at about noon, and there were convenient benches here where we sat for a while, ate our lunch and enjoyed the view.

The view north all the way down the Engelberg Valley.

The benches where we ate our lunch and enjoyed the view. From here we descended at the barn, but all the other hikers continued up the mountain to the left. The lovely Bannalp Lake is on the other side.

We headed down through that forested section and into the valley on the other side. The small hill as an extention to this massif is called Wellenberg, and there is another themed trail called the "Engelberg Chapel Trail" which makes its way over and around that hill.

From here it is another hour and 40 minutes to Oberrickenbach along the Benedictine Trail.

Heading downhill now

Across the valley we studied another hillside where we descended on a different hike in August 2023 (Those photos are HERE). At the end of the hike we got to a cable car (Bielen) at an alpine farm, which is very popular with paragliders, as they have a nice take-off spot there.

Far below, someone has caught sight of us and is watching us carefully!

We are following Trail no.569: "Benedictine Trail". From here it's another hour to our destination. It's 13:40, and there is a bus at 15:06, so plenty of time.

Now the final descent into this side valley, from where there are several cable-cars into the higher regions here. One of them is up to the saddle across the valley, called the Schonegg Pass, which we have crossed twice. There are two sets of farmer's cable cars, and it's really fun to ride them! (See also HERE)

This is the pleasant kind of trail that makes descending a real pleasure.

A close-up look at the village of Oberrickenbach, the end of our hike. (The bus stop is at the north end of the village on the left, but we have a long detour to the right to do first).

Slightly further up the valley from Oberrickenbach is a small group of buildings, from where at least three cable cars offer rides up into the mountains.

This is the main cable-car that goes up to the Bannalpsee Lake 800 meters higher up on the right.

Down at the valley bottom now.

This part of the trail is also a part of local trail no.564: "Engelberg Chapel Trail".

The village church in Oberrickenbach.

Watching for our bus as we wait in Oberrickenbach. It was late picking us up, and we were sure we would miss the train connection in Wolfenschiessen. But the train from Engelberg often runs late, so it was just pulling in as the bus came to the station, and we made the connection on a run.