Easy Walk through the Luzern Farmland North of Pilatus

Thursday July 25, 2024 -- The weather continues to be nice but hot, and since we didn't go far the day before for our short walk, I figured I would do another "short" walk on my own. I returned to the north side of Mount Pilatus as this is pretty close to where I live, and would get me back home quickly after my walk, because I was near the city of Luzern with good train connections.

I started in a town called Schwarzenberg (which had been the start and end of several other hikes we had done) and walked eastward for about 8 kilometers. Unfortunately the day was pretty hazy, so I should have had better visibility once I got closer to Lake Lucerne. And furthermore, this would have been a much better walk through the farmland of Canton Lucerne had it not been such a hot day, because much of it was out in the open. The few forested sections were very welcome! Furthermore, to the south I should have been able to see the Pilatus Range, but just like what happened on our hike a few weeks earlier in the Eigenthal Valley nearby (photos HERE), there was a blanket of low clouds blocking the view of the mountain once again! (In fact, I was the only person starting a hike in Schwarzenberg. The bus was full of people continuing on to the Eigenthal Valley, and I can only imagine that they had to hike without sunshine, just as we did at the time!)

As it turns out, I brought another tick home, found it right when it stung me. That's five tick bites this summer so far!

Heading by train to Luzern, you always get this view of Mount Pilatus. At 8:45 a.m. the sky is blue and it's looking like I might have some good view of the mountain's north side during my walk (on the right of this photo). 

On the way from Malters by bus to Schwarzenberg, this is a bus driver's worst nightmare, a group of bikers on narrow winding roads, where the bus can't pass!

I started in Schwarzenberg at 9:45, went to the church for a quick look inside, and then headed eastward in the direction of Luzern. There are many such lovely large farmhouses in this part of Luzern farming country. 

Hahaha, this figure looks familiar! It's Bender from a cartoon called Futurama.

A look back at the village church as I head out from Schwarzenberg. 

Starting at 9:45 in Schwarzenberg, I walked 8.7 km to catch the bus in Obernau, back to Luzern train station (There's a bus every 10 minutes). I was done the hike at 12:50, and back home by 1 p.m.  

A look toward Mt. Pilatus to my right as I  head eastward. The clouds are starting to move in around the summit. 

A look to the northwest to the town of Schachen, where there is a lot of industry. 

I passed several huge trees such as this one. They were maple trees. 

Most of the hike was along such small paths through pastures and forests, so quite nice except for the heat and the hazy view!

During this hot weather, the grass dries quickly, so the farmers were all out cutting and drying the hay (and also using leaf blowers, unfortunately!)

Another lovely farmhouse, except the flower boxes with geraniums are missing!

Lots of clouds now hanging in the valley in front of the Pilatus Massif. That's also a very neat-looking "Spycher", a typical outbuilding of these old farms. 

At this farm called Scharmoos (before I had a bit of an uphill climb to the forest), I noticed this very old chapel and another old outbuilding. But these buildings were on private property and not directly on the path, so I was not able to look inside. 

Heading uphill from the farm called Scharmoos. (This was actually a shortcut. The trail was a wide road in a curve, and I wanted to get to the shade of the forest more quickly). 

Now I'm on a crest trail with a lovely forest path, and welcome shade. In the meantime, the clouds have moved far down into the Eigenthal Valley, so I think there's no sunshine there anymore! And certainly no view of the Pilatus Massif for me. 

I caught sight of the cutest little red squirrel!

A small detour to the summit of a hill called Chruzhubel. This would have been a lovely spot to relax for a while, but it was too hot in the sun. I did sit on one of the benches for a while. (11 a.m.)

View to the Nidwalden Alps and Mt. Bürgenstock

Down there is the bus returning from Eigenthal. 

Taking a snack break on the hill called Chruzhubel. 

First view of Lake Luzern and Mount Rigi. Below is the community of Kriens, a "suburb" of Luzern. 

Another huge maple tree. 

The path continues along the crest of the hill here. It was actually a very nice walk. 

Fields and fields of cut grass drying. The hill ahead is called Sonnenberg, a popular place for the city people to spend a Sunday afternoon (we have been there once before, on another such hot day, those photos are HERE). 

Directly to the south now, and almost hidden in the forest, I spot the "towers" of the Hergiswald church, a lovely building with the most beautiful ceiling made of painted wooden panels, each one with its own story. We had the good fortune to visit it last year, on another short walk on another very hot day, as we walked from Eingenthal to Obernau, where I was headed once again. (Those photos HERE. On that hike we saw much more of Mount Pilatus!)

Last stretch now, heading down to Obernau. 

Crossing the river called Ränggbach. The river is fed by 30 streams from the north flank of Mount Pilatus, and there are apparently 700 of these steps to prevent major flooding when there is a lot of rain. 

The Ränggbach was greatly feared by the locals in Kriens and Luzern in Medieval Times. During thunderstorms, the stream would quickly transform into a murderous river. From 1530 to 1598 the town of Luzern experienced 14 floods. After many more floods, the city hired the renowned Engineer Conrad Escher to find the solution to tame the stream.

What my almost 9-kilometer walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps. This is pretty close to where I live, so I didn't have to travel far. 

We have done many hikes along the north side of Mount Pilatus, and around Lake Lucerne.

Location of Schwarzenberg and Obernau within Switzerland. 

Webcam from the summit of Mt. Pilatus at noon on July 25th! There are those clouds on the north side of Mt. Pilatus, just like the last time we were there. 

Loop Hike to Mount Regenflüeli on the North Side of Mount Pilatus

Friday July 5, 2024 -- This was the nicest day of the week with sunshine in the entire country, so Urs took the day off work to take advantage of this beautiful day. We invited a friend to come hiking with us, and let her basically choose the hike, which she wanted to be within a shorter distance from our homes, so we agreed on a long and not overly easy hike to a look-out point on the north side of Mount Pilatus near Luzern.

As we headed out at 7:30 in the morning for the 90-minute trip to the Eigenthal Valley, the skies were pure blue with some great views of the Bernese Alps (where there were no clouds all day), but there was one single band of cloud exactly over the summit of Mount Pilatus where we were hiking. We planned this hike because the weather forecast showed pure sunshine in three points very near our trail, but nevertheless, right where we hiked, the thick cloud cover persisted. The long uphill stretch was made less strenuous by the lack of sunshine, but it was disappointing to arrive at the summit right inside the fog...

The clouds lifted slightly on the summit of Mount Regenflüeli and we had a few minutes of a view over the Central Plateau to the north, and Lake Luzern to the east, but the flanks of Mount Pilatus were hidden to us by low clouds until we were already on the way home. 

In all it was a long 4½-hour hike which we took very slowly, also stopping for coffee and ice cream at the popular Berggasthof Unterlauelen at the back of the valley after we returned off the mountain. Generally speaking, it wasn't a bad hike, but because of the large amount of rain we've had lately, the cows had made a mess of the wet trails, which made walking uncomfortable. That, combined with little views of the otherwise impressive north walls of Mount Pilatus, and knowing that almost anywhere else we would have had views, means this wasn't one of my favourite hikes. 

On the way to Luzern at 7:30 in the morning, we got a really good look at the Bernese Alps, which appeared very large and close this morning!

As we got to the Eigenthal Valley just north of Mount Pilatus, it was looking promising for the day, except for the cloud blocking our view of the summit of Mt.Pilatus. Our hike starts through the forested part of the mountain on the right, to the summit at the arrow. We started on our hike at 9 a.m. 

The meadows are still very pretty!

This was quite a long loop hike, 12 km, 4½ hours, and quite a bit of an uphill section! We started at 9 a.m. and caught the bus out again at 16:45. After hiking up to the summit of Mt. Regenflüeli und then Mt. Studberg, we stopped at the restaurant in Unterlauelen for a break, before the final 3-km walk next to the river back to the bus in Eigenthal.

For the first hour or so, the hike was uphill like this through the forest. The many steps made it easy to walk and we gained altitude quickly!

Looking down now back to the valley bottom. At the back of the Eigental Valley is the Unterlauelen farm where we are planning to stop for refreshments on the way back down. The low clouds not only blocked our sunshine, but blocked the view of the summit of Mount Pilatus. 

Not only were there low clouds blocking the sun for our hike up the mountain, but we could see that the clouds were sitting exactly on the crest where we were heading, which meant we'd be right within the fog! Once in a while, for a minute or two, we got a bit of sunshine. 

Cute cows, but with all this rain the ground got soft, and the cows really messed up the trails. 

At least the trail was not boring!

Once in a while we had a minute or two of sunshine as the clouds lifted a bit so we could see Mount Pilatus an the massif just to the north. 

This farm is called Gumm, and we stopped here for a break before the final ascent. 

A mountain farmstead called Gumm. From here it was another 30 minutes to the summit of Regenflüeli (it took us longer because the trail was very muddy!)

Taking a pre-lunch snack break at the Gumm Farm at 11 a.m. 

Trying to find the best path up to the summit, i.e. the least muddy path!

This is what we arrived to at noon on the summit of Mount Regenflüeli. We decided we would eat our lunch here and wait as long as it took for the fog to lift.

Eating our lunch and waiting for the fog to lift!

Just a little teaser of what the view might have looked like from here!

That other hill is called Studberg, and we have to climb that one too!

We didn't have to wait too long and the fog lifted! This is the best view we got to the north, across the Luzern Backcountry to Lake Sempach. 

We also got a view to Lake Lucerne, although not the best, but we had to be happy with that!

A view to the foot of Mount Pilatus, and to the city of Luzern behind that, as well as Mount Rigi. 

What a lovely swallow-tail!

I was impressed by this cute bumble-bee look-alike that landed on my friend's hat, but Internet research indicated this is a Botfly, a very parasitic insect which lays its eggs under the skin and in the nostrils of cows and horses. 

After spending 45 minutes on the summit, we walked down to ascend the second hill called Studberg. Many of the trails this day were quite this bad!

As we ascended the second hill, we finally got some sunshine on Mount Regenflüeli, so we could see where we had been without the fog!

This one is the summit of Mt.Studberg, the last high point before the descent back down into Eigental Valley. 

A look down at the Hitzboden farm which we are now headed down to. 

It was a very steep descent from Mt.Studberg, and we had to go very slowly!

Reaching the farm at Hitzboden. I'm pointing up to the mountain we had just come down from!

This road was actually better than the steep descent we did! For sure easier to walk on. The whole summit of Mount Pilatus is still hidden by the low clouds. 

In the distance we can just make out the large cable-car which ascends to the summit of Mount Pilatus from Kriens on the north side. 

Beyond the Mount Pilatus range to the west, the skies are blue and cloudless! It is only right here where we are walking that the clouds have hidden the sun. 

At least we could enjoy the many different meadow flowers we encountered on the way down the mountain. This bumble-bee look-alike is also a mimicking fly, but not a parasitic one like the botfly. This one is called a Volucella. 

Heading down to valley bottom. We can now see some of the features of the north flank of Mount Pilatus.

Now we are pretty well at the foot of the vertical north face of Mount Pilatus. 

It's 3:20 p.m. now, and we are very glad to reach the Unterlauelen farm and hope there is room for us on their outdoor terrace!

We did find a spot at one of the tables on the terrace. Urs of course treated himself to his icecream sundae, while we two ladies desperately needed an afternoon coffee. We stayed here for about 20 minutes. 

The farm had its own chapel with a nicely painted wooden altar inside. 

A look back at the Unterlauelen farm as we set out for the final 40 minutes (almost 3 km) to walk out of the Eigental Valley to where the bus is leaving at 16:47. It's now 4 p.m. already, so we didn't have any time to lose!

There were quite a few people on this trail, as it is popular to come by car to the village of Eigenthal where they have to park, then they walk the 2½ kilometers to the restaurant, have something to eat or drink, and then walk back. 

Urs decided to use the bridge, and we "waded" across the "river"... 

Most of the almost 3 kilometers back to the bus was along the river, so it wasn't too bad at all. 

A look back again up the valley as we neared the bus stop. NOW the clouds are lifting from the summit of the mountain, or at least it looks that way from below. 

This is near where we started on our hike through the forest behind this house. 

More of the pretty Martagon Lilies; we have seen these on several of our recent hikes. 

There's our bus already waiting. It's now 16:34, and the bus leaves in 13 minutes, so we didn't get there too early!

Just before getting on the bus, another look at the Regenflüeli summit which was the main goal of today's hike. It doesn't look nearly as high as the 620 meters we climbed to get there!

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. It was a 4½-hour, 12-km walk, and quite an achievement! 

We have done a few hikes around the area of the Eigental Valley and Mount Pilatus. In October 2021 (green trail) we also stopped at the Unterlauelen restaurant, but at that time there were so many people that we didn't stay (those photos HERE) 

End of September 2023 we did a walk along the crest of Mount Pilatus, with much better visibility and no clouds that day, and from there we looked down at the two peaks (Regenflüeli and Studberg) which was our hike for this day. 

Heading down toward Luzern with the bus from Eigenthal,... there are no clouds here! We pass the little church called Hergiswald. In fact, in August 2023 we walked from Eigenthal via this church to the town of Obernau below, basically the same route we are now taking with the bus. 

And now on the train from Luzern to Zug, the summit of Mount Pilatus is almost free of the clouds, which are still basically blocking the sun from the Eigental Valley where we walked (right side of the photo).

The weather "forecast" on the far right was at 11 a.m. in Eigenthal when we took a break at the farm, and when the fog was settling just above us. It seemed to promise that the clouds would lift soon, which they did not. The updated reports for two nearby villages AND the summit of Mt. Pilatus (at 8 p.m. that day), of which we were right in the center, seemed to imply there was sunshine all day!

Webcams at the summit of Mount Pilatus did indeed show there was sunshine up here, and everywhere else in the direction of the Alps, except right on the north side of the mountain where we were hiking this day! This was at noon as we were on the summit of Mt. Regenflüeli, waiting for the clouds to lift there. 

And this is what it looked like at the summit of Mount Pilatus as we started on our hike at 9 a.m.