24th August      

Today we left behind our lovely apartment  at Gaschurn in the Montafon Valley and headed for Engelberg in Switzerland.

 

Travelled via Klausson Pass. Spectacular scenery but 'gosh' what a long drive over the pass. A long way up and then a long way down. Both tired by the time we arrived in Engelberg.

Engelberg was a huge surprise. I didn't do a lot of research about Engelberg other than it being a spot on Google Maps and a place that I thought would have some nice mountains and great walking. The town is situated at the end of a valley and is completely surrounded by peaks over 3000m. This is the view looking down the main street of Engelberg. This view is on all sides and the place is simply stunning. But I couldn't say that about the weather. We had awesome views as we drove into Engelberg, but within an hour it was raining and completely shrouded in clouds with the forecast for similar for most of the week. And you could not even tell that there were any mountains nearby the cloud was so thick and low. The apartment is very nice. Modern for a change instead of the usual traditional. It is right in the middle of Engelberg with everything within walking distance. Oh! All except the golf course. And we have heaps of english channels which makes a nice change. Euro Sport has the Us Open Tennis at the moment.


                                                           26th August

We spent a cool, showery day on Sunday looking around and going for a small walk. There are numerous chair-lifts, all in walking distance to our apartment, and today we decided that even with the bad forecast, we would make use of one of them and go up into the mountains and hope for the best. Our starting point was Furenalp and totally in cloud when we started off.

Looking up at Furenalp from the bottom station of the chair-lift

At the top station and a brief glimpse of the peaks across the valley.

Engelberg from the path from Furenalp. Afternoon weather an improvement on this morning.


                                                   27th August

Another bad day forecast so I left Ray at home and took the train to Luzern.

                                                               29th August

Today the forecast is cloudy but no rain so it is off to the top station of the Brunni chair-lift, with our destination Rugghubelhutte. Contrary to most other hiking valleys, Engelberg has very few huts. Only 2, I think, and this is the easiest one to get to.

This chair-lift is 2 stages and here we are nearing the top.

Even though the weather was cloudy in Engelberg, just as well we decided to hike today because it was beautiful high up and as we hiked, we were looking down upon the cloud-filled valley. In this photo, the highest mountain on the left is Titlis at 3239m and on the smaller one on the right of it, Klein Titlis (small Titlis) at 3020m, is the top station for the main tourist attraction in the valley, the Titlis Rotair (revolving) Cable Car.

The hiking trail can be seen on the mountain on the right.

                                             Rugghubelhutte.

The clouds clearing enough the get a brief glimpse of Engelberg

Looking back at the hut as we start our hike back down. Just as well we started early. Can you see the line of hikers as they are nearing the hut? I think the hut is about to get busy.!!

                                         Ray as he stares in awe at the views.

In the end, a great day for a hike. Cool weather with great views and it is always good to start with a chair-lift as they can be an adventure in themselves. Tomorrow the weather is forecast to be sunny, so it will be a good day to go up to Titlis.