Mountain meandering

Sunday is a family day and the plans were for a hike in the Rigi mountain area! When your hosts secure the deal of the century – an all day transport pass, that included….Buses, trains, Ferries, gondolas, and special trains in the mountains….you take them all, and we did following a carefully planned itinerary to include an 8 km hike in the mountains!

Departing at 8.15am we caught the Bus to Zurich Oerlikon train station and train to Zurich central….

From Zurich main station we took the train to Lucerne…a town on the edge of Lake Lucerne

Timed perfectly to catch the Ferry to Weggis (pronounced Vegas) a town at the base of the Rigi Mountain range….heading towards our hike!

Looking back at Lucerne…

Soaking up the sunshine and the views of the surrounding mountains from the Ferry ride…

The sky was clear with a few clouds wafting in and out!

Not quite there yet…and as we didn’t want to start the hike with a practically vertical climb, it was gondola time! My height aversion swallowed with a gulp!

Sticking to a tight timeframe we had a 15 minute (run) up hill to Gondola which would take us to the start of our walk!

Standing room only in a very crowded claustrophobic space…I kept breathing…

As we ascended suspended!

Higher and higher, leaving the town of Weggis looking like a bunch of Lego blocks in the distance! ….

To Rigi Kaltbad (elevation 1433 meters above sea level)

To where we started the walk….the panoramic circuit…to finish in the mountain village of Rigi Scheidegg(elevation 1659 meters above sea level)…feet on solid ground and breathing back to normal! So off we went…Florian and Verena honing their geo caching skills on the way!

While I soaked up the views (and the cool mountain air) and Benjamin…

Took the chance to rest!

It was a gradual incline, with a couple of steeper bits only elevating just over 700 feet in total…not much downhill which is good for the knees, which have been lying low for a while!

Heralded all the way with the clanging of cow bells…very noisy at times as these guys were continually chomping at the grass, nice and lush in these mountain areas!

As We kept on walking….while the geocachers did their thing in our wake!

The clouds rolled in and out…and on the odd occasion we could see the higher snow capped peaks in the distance!

And looking down to the flatter areas in the distance…as we were following an old railway trail, that closed down in 1942 due to lack of funds for maintenance….

This trail would not be complete without a tunnel!

Nearing the top and more than ready for the celebratory beverage…the panorama of the hills, lakes and mountains unfolded before us!

The place of beverages…which halfway through my rather large bottle of beer, it was decided that we needed to get a wiggle on and race for the downhill gondola! With a more traditional resealable top, Florian bagged up my beer and off we went to catch another breathtaking (literally) gondola decent!

Distracted only by some playful goats…to queue up for the 14 person claustrophobic, stomach churning ride down!

As we waited at the top….we were once again at a tight timeframe to meet our next transport option in Krabel

We made it without me passing out with only a minute to spare…to catch this Special cog wheel powered train to Arth….the town at the bottom!

From here we rode the Bus to the lakefront in Arth…to catch the late afternoon Ferry…

With half an hour up my sleeve, I managed to finish my beer and decompress after the hurried steep decent!

The Ferry arrived and we boarded to spend an hour cruising Lake Zug to Zug township!

A roof top terrace (open air) table was secured…and a leisurely hour snacking and rehydrating was had by all!

A March through Zug town to catch the Train to Zurich central station, change over and another Train to Zurich oerlikon, filled by a Bus home

12kms! Walking….lots of public transport, a few refreshment stops, geocaching and a good break in for my new Salomon’s (tramping shoes…