One of the most difficult hikes we did from the village of Engelberg was a climb up to this gorgeous alpine lake. Trubsee.
It had rained the day after Peter and Whitney and our cousins went home, so we sat around the house and moped. They left from the train station in Engelberg with all of us standing on the platform, crying and waving. Well, Simon and I were crying and waving. Everyone else was just waving. We had such a wonderful visit with them that it was really hard to see them go.
So when the rain stopped, we decided to get outside and try to hike our blues away.
Taido and Cole had hiked up to Trubsee before so we followed them up through woods.
The hike started out steep and stayed that way for pretty much the whole day.
I had to use my trekking poles for most of it, as it was also super muddy from the rain.
We crossed one valley where we were level with the gondolas and cable cars going up the mountains, and then they started going straight up and so did we.
There were two cables taking people above us, one to Trubsee and the other to Titlis, which people come to Engelberg by the busload to ride.
We hiked switchbacks underneath the gondolas for a long time, watching the cars disappear into the fog above us.
Eventually we were in the fog ourselves. The air was really heavy and it was almost muggy until we got up to the lake.
It was a little sad to hike so high up and not be able to see all the mountains, but the mist on the lake was uncommonly beautiful.
I took a loads of pictures of it.
We walked all the way around the lake before descending by a different, more gradual route.
I was grateful for rolling hills instead of the switchbacks we had hiked up.
The trail down was actually one of the loveliest we went on in all of Switzerland.
So much of the Swiss Alps feels like a scene from the Sound of Music, and I probably sang the words, “The hills are alive…” about one hundred times, but this little stretch really felt like a place you might meet Maria and the Von Trapp Family playing around the corner.
I was slowly picking my way out down the rocky path and around the boulders, but the boys were all full on running down the mountain.It amazes me to watch them. Even when I was young, I could not run downhill without twisting an ankle.
I think it must be a treat to fly down a mountain like they do!
The fog was still hanging onto the sides of the mountains while we hiked down, but the air seemed cooler.
We were all excited when we got to where we could see the town of Engelberg again. The hike took us much longer than we had expected, so we stopped for ice cream before we went back to the house for soup and bread. I’m pretty sure it took me about an hour or two of pigeon stretches to work out the kinks from all the uphill climbing, but so rewarding!
