Winter Panorama Trail on Mount Rigi from Scheidegg to Kaltbad

Wednesday December 27, 2023 -- We invited friends to stay for a couple of days with us, and one of our planned outings was a winter walk on our local mountain, Mount Rigi.

The day was better than we could have hoped for, with very clear air and lots of sunshine. We parked the car at the parking lot for the Scheidegg cable car (Kräbel), rode the cable car to Rigi Scheidegg, and walked 7 km to Rigi Kaltbad, where we had lunch on a sunny terrace at the Alpina Hotel. From there it was another train ride to Rigi Kulm summit for additional views across the Central Plateau of Switzerland to the north, followed by coffee at the Station Bistro because we just missed the train back down the mountain and had to wait a full hour for the next one! As there is a train station right next to the cable-car station where we started our excursion, we were able to complete the loop right back to the car park.

Mount Rigi has a nick-name: "Queen of the Mountains", as it is the first "real" mountain on the north side of the Alps, offers 360-degree views of a substantial part of Switzerland including the Alps and all the way into Germany and France, and has had easy access since the construction of the cog-wheel train in 1870. Unfortunately, because of this easy access, the mountain has become a popular destination for locals and tourists alike, especially on such a rare beautiful day, and right dead center in the Christmas holidays! 

But this day trip was enjoyed by all!

(Side Note: We have done this walk many times in summer and winter, and once before in much better snow conditions. Those photos are HERE).

We came by car this time to Mount Rigi, where we parked at the Chräbel parking lot, or base station of the Scheidegg Cable Car. This view is of Rigi Kulm, where we also ended our excursion with a train ride at the end of our 7-km walk. The summit is just under 1800 meters above sea level. 

This is the Scheidegg Cable Car. We were hoping to get to the cable car station before the masses coming up from Arth Goldau train station, but an extra run had just arrived with about 50 people! Lucky for us, we were in the first cable-car run up the mountain. In the background is Lake Zug and Mount Rossberg, where one of Switzerland's most disastrous rock-slides occurred in 1806.

From the Scheidegg station on the east side of the Rigi range, we get a view down to Lake Lauerz and the Mythen mountains. 

To the north, a better look at Lake Zug, which is half covered with the typical fog we get there. The communities below are called Arth (at the head of the lake) and Goldau, a major train station. 

At the start of our walk westward is this huge bench, fun to climb up on and great for a photo!

I was happy to get on a photo too!

Here at Scheidegg are several summer homes and a hotel or two. Even though there isn't as much snow as hoped, we still had a winter landscape. 

Looking directly south, you can just see part of Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) and the Uri Alps, plus Mount Seelisberg where we had been a couple of days earlier. 

A close-up shot of the main peaks of the Bernese Alps to the southwest, in this case the recognizable north face of Mount Eiger, with part of Mt.Jungfrau just barely visible behind it, and Mt.Mönch on its left. These are the famous Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen trio. 

Our 7-km walk along the Rigi Winter Panorama Trail. Having parked the car at "Chräbel" at 10 a.m., we took the cable car to Scheidegg, walked to Kaltbad where we had lunch at about 1 p.m, then from there took a train to Rigi Kulm. We had to wait for the 3:15 p.m. train back down to Chräbel, so we looked at the view for a bit, and relaxed over coffees in a warm restaurant!

We started out on our 7-km walk on the Panorama Trail at 10:30. They aren't kidding about the panorama!!!! This view is across the Alps of Central Switzerland, including Bernese Oberland. 

Enjoying the winter sunshine with friends. 

Only on this section the slope made descending a bit difficult. A plastic bag made a good slide, we should have brought more! From here on, the trail was level. 

The pink signs indicate times for the winter trails, which take about 20-30% longer to walk. So in effect, this was about a 2¼-hour walk altogether to Rigi Kaltbad.  

A view to the West to Mount Zug on the left (like a table-top mountain) and Rossberg in the center (the highest peak there is called Wildspitz) 

For most of the way we had very good snow conditions for this winter walk!

Unfortunately the lack of snow makes the mountain look unattractive, but this is a view to the summit, which we traveled to by train later. By the arrow on the left is the panorama trail which we reached later. 

About halfway along the trail is an old railway bridge (no photo this time, but here is a photo from one of our other hikes here --> BRIDGE) at a location called Unterstetten, from where you get this spectacular view of Mounts Bürgenstock, Pilatus, Stanserhorn and the mountains of Ob- and Nidwalden. Plus of course, Lake Lucerne. 

A look down at Lake Lauerz and the two Mythen Mountains above the city of Schwyz. In the background are the Glarus Alps 

Nearing the end of our walk, this is the most fantastic view over the Alps. 

This is the hotel Alpina where we had lunch, on the table in the corner on the terrace at the arrow. We would actually have been just in time for the next train from here to the summit, but it was 12:30 and that was the only table that was free, so we took advantage of it. 

Enjoying our lunch on the sunny terrace at Rigi Kaldbad station. Surprisingly, not a single person on the crowded terrace smoked! (THAT has never happened before, I was preparing myself mentally to have to put up with cigarette smoke!)

From our table on the terrace we looked down at the new and modern train that we could have caught to the summit of Mount Rigi from here. This train does the run from Vitznau on the south side of the mountain at the lake, to the summit. (The old trains were red-and-white, and so much cuter!) We caught the next train up an hour later. 

At 13:35 we caught the next train up to the summit. This was our first time riding in these modern trains, which have been in operation here since only the spring of 2022. 

Heading up to the summit of the mountain by train. This building at Rigi Staffel is the "Schwinger-Haus". Schwingen is a national sport here, a type of wrestling, and there are competitions held up here every summer. 

And here at the Rigi Kulm summit station is the view that all the tourists come up here for! This view is to the Uri and Glarus Alps. Our hike took place on the next crest from here, straight ahead. 

This view is to the Bernese Alps, slightly southwest. 

This is the Rigi Kulm Hotel. We still have a small hill to hike up to the summit. 

On the steps to the communication tower at the summit of Mount Rigi

A fantastic view today to the north! Lake Zug is clear of fog. We live in the city at the northeast corner of the lake. Far in the back we can see all the way to Germany and the Black Forest. 

Directly below the north side of the Mount Rigi is a large upper alpine pasture called Seeboden Alp. Directly in the center is the town of Küssnacht where my Dad spent his late teenage years. And on the far right on the lake is where Urs grew up. 

From here you can see right down to the city of Schwyz, and all across the Schwyzer and Glarus Alps. 

We're heading back down to the train station, but just missed the 14:16 train down, so we went into a small cafeteria and had coffee while waiting for the next train. 

At 15:45 we are almost down the mountain now. Below is Lake Zug, Arth and Goldau

Here we are back at Chräbel parking lot. We came down in the blue train, which is continuing to the valley bottom. The red train is part of the original fleet which was replaced by the modern trains, but deployed on this line when there are lots of people on the mountain, which was the case today. 

Here's what the panorama trail looks like on Google Satellite Maps. 

Short Walk on Christmas Morning from Seelisberg to Bauen

Monday December 25, 2023 -- Weather forecast was once again for sunshine, so we decided to walk along the "Swiss Path" from Seelisberg to Bauen on Lake Uri again, a hike we did last time almost exactly 10 years ago, on January 3, 2014. (The "Swiss Path" is a special themed trail circumventing Lake Uri, created in 1991 for the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederacy). At that time the sky was very overcast, so we were really looking forward to doing the same hike (with a couple of variations) on a brilliant morning. Being on the west side of Lake Uri, we expected a lot of morning sunshine.

As is often the case, though, the only clouds far and wide that morning were once again directly between the sun and where we were walking, so not as warm and sunny as I had hoped. We had expected to have sunshine in the town of Bauen (the goal of our hike) by the time we reached it at 12:30, but it was already in shadow by the time we got there.

Even without as much sunshine as I had hoped, we had quite the highlight when we spotted chamois on two different pastures along the way, at one point even a very large herd of them, which was quite a surprise. We also were the only passengers on the funicular ride up to Seelisberg. Being Christmas morning, there were not a lot of people out and about yet at 10 a.m.

We finished the excursion with a boat ride on Lake Uri from Bauen to the dock in Flüelen, from where it is a short train ride home.

Heading by train from Zug to Brunnen, we pass by Lake Zug with the fantastic view of Mount Pilatus to the West. 

Also passing by Mount Rigi (where we were two days later)

In the town of Brunnen, on the way from the train station to the boat dock, this is quite cute!

We were the only passengers boarding the boat in Brunnen at 9:48.... transferring from our bus, anyway. 

On the short ride across the lake to Seelisberg, we can see that there is indeed sunshine where we are planning to walk! Although the clouds in the east are a concern. 

As usual, there seem to be clouds blocking the sun exactly where we have chosen to walk this day! Those mountains are the Uri Alps. 

Arriving in Treib at the dock, from which you take the funicular to the top of Mount Seelisberg.

As a small Christmas gift, the ship's captain gave us these little boxes of tea as we disembarked! The saying printed on the box is "A boat ride is like a cup of tea at Christmastime: Relaxing and Heartwarming!

We were the only passengers on the funicular for the 8-minute ride up the mountain!

Originally we were going to start our walk here at the summit station of the Seelisberg funicular, but the sign said it would take 2 hours 10 minutes to walk to Bauen, where we needed to catch the 12:35 boat to Flüelen. As it is now 10:10, this would be cutting it too close, so we hopped the bus to the south end of the village to start the hike. We were also the only passengers on the bus!

Starting at the south end of the village of Seelisberg, it was less than two hours to walk to Bauen along the "Swiss Path" (also part of national trail no.2: "Trans Swiss Trail"). So we didn't need to rush. This was a short walk for us, only 6 km. 

The first section was through the sun-dappled forest, very pleasant. 

At the Marienhöhe look-out point we get this fantastic view to the north, to the city of Brunnen at the north end of Lake Uri from where caught the ship across. And in the back, the distinctive peaks of the Mythen mountains as well as the city of Schwyz.

And down below is the Rütli Meadow, where representatives from the three original Cantons Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden met in 1291 to create the Swiss Confederacy!!!

Marienhöhe look-out point along the Swiss Path on the west side of Lake Uri.

Continuing on southward now along an easy trail with lots of sunshine!

On the pasture below is where we saw the first three chamois!

The zoom lens on my camera helps me to find where the chamois are!

These are the chamois we saw here, two small ones just sneaking under a fence, and another keeping a careful eye on us!

Beautiful animals

And then we passed a barn, and the baby cows raced out to greet us!

Trail no.2 is the "TransSwiss Trail", and Trail no.99 is the "Swiss Path". Not quite halfway to our destination we pass the little Beroldingen Castle. 

Schlösschen Beroldingen, or "Little Beroldingen Castle", was built here in the 15th Century, with the current build with wooden panels dating from 1671. The small attached chapel was built in 1545. It has a gothic "winged" altar, which we saw in October 2021 when we did a different hike, descending from the mountain behind it. The chapel was open to visit at the time. Here is that PHOTO. 

Farmhouses along the way. (Nearby is another farm which offers the "Sleeping in Hay" experience)

We still have some weak sunshine, but at the south end of Lake Uri, the Reuss Delta and the town of Flüelen have more! (I walked in the Reuss Delta recently, those photos are HERE)

Continuing on, we came to the next pasture where we also saw chamois. (On the far left is a small one, running up the hill. On the right in the dip is the herd). 

It was so much fun to watch the chamois!

VIDEO:

Two of the chamois racing to join the rest of the herd.

A close-up look at the pretty chamois. One of them has spotted us and is looking very closely at what we plan on doing....

The lovely pasture where we watched the chamois

Another closer look at the Reuss Delta. 

To the east, the "Swiss Path" passes across that sunny pasture, then down to the lakeside village of Sisikon, which will be in shadow till late afternoon. 

There were also cows here watching us. 

Heading down a long stone stairway toward lake level. 

This time we left the themed trail which we had walked 10 years earlier, and took a different mountain trail above Bauen, approaching the village from the south once we got to lake level. 

Crossing the Bauerbach River

Some of the fancy houses at the south end of the village as we approach the lake. 

The mild microclimate here allows for the thriving of palm trees. We got to the village at 12:20, so this gave us 15 minutes to look around before our boat docked.

A monument of importance here: The Zwissig house, birthplace of Alderik Zwissig who composed the Swiss National Anthem. 

Even though there were other chapels in Bauen since the 14th Century, they kept being destroyed by storms and rock slides. This one (St.Idda) is fairly recent, from 1810. 

The inside of the St. Idda church

Other details from the church interior

This isn't the dock for the large ships, but it made for a nice photo!

A look at the church from the dock

Here comes our ship! Time to head to the actual ship dock, where about 15 people were already waiting. 

For us, the only public transport from Bauen is the boat. Otherwise, it would be another 30 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop at Isleten, but the bus there runs only every 2 or 3 hours. 

A look behind us at the village of Bauen as we head out on the 20-minute boat ride to Flüelen. 

At the south end of the lake is the Reuss Delta and the mighty Mount Bristen.

The lakeside town of Flüelen

Ship docked in Flüelen, heading back to Brunnen. But we are taking the train back from here. 

What our hike and boat rides look like on Google Satellite Maps

On our way by train back along the east side of Lake Uri, we get a good look at Seelisberg and where we walked along the sunny pastures and down to Bauen. Now, there is more sun there! And as Bauen never got any sun anyway, we could have done the hike later in the afternoon, although the only other boats were at 14:35 and 15:21, and I didn't want to be there that late in the day. 

Location of Seelisberg in Switzerland, near where we live. 

(Links to websites with history of Bauen, in Germany:  HERE and HERE)