Not really a long weekend in the Mythen

 The plan was to take advantage of the good weather and long weekend to have some fun around the Mythen, so we booked a couple of nights at Holzegg and headed out on Friday morning.

Friday: trains and bus to Brunni, chair lift up to Holzegg, drop off the extra bag and then head to the Adlerspitzli. The route is now marked (or maybe it was marked before and it's now better marked?), so it's pretty easy to find. This is, as always, a fun climb. Up top we eat, then follow the Ruchband until we get to the beginning of the Wysswaendli. Here we put the ropes back on and follow that route. The very first bit of this (across the slab) is a bit sketchy, but it's otherwise technically easy and super fun. Requires a bit of route finding and has some fairly long run-outs (again, technically easy, so ok). Up on the Mythenmatt we pack the rope away and then follow the trail up, and around to the Rotgraetli. This is easy fun scrambling with awesome views and lets us out right in the crowds at the top of the Gross Mythen. 

Another food break and then we head down to the hotel. The way down still has some snow in it, but there are plenty of steps kicked in that since loads of people are heading up and down each day.

After dinner we do a quick hike up to the Furggelenstock to enjoy the sunset and the great views. We had hoped to also see the moon rise, but that happened too late for us.

Saturday: G woke up with what was clearly about to be a bad case of his grass allergy. He did at least some of the climbing on Friday with gardening gloves on, but those had to come off in order to do anything real with the rope and he clearly ended up in contact with plenty of grass. There was also a lesson learned here about the rope picking up whatever oils cause the allergy (he had rash on his neck from where the rope sat when took up coils and a bunch on the palms of his hands from handling the rope). So after a morning long run and breakfast together, G took the train back home so he could at least suffer at home. A did a day hike and then came back too.

G needs a different plan for how to protect himself from the grass, and we need to go back so that we can play more in the Mythen.

Arete des Sommetres

 The forecast was for sun, but maybe too cold for climbing shoes, so we decided to do the Arete des Sommetres again.

We weren't alone (unlike last time) since another pair started just before us, but we didn't have to wait for them too much and there was no one pushing from behind.

It's a really nice scramble and it was great to be out and moving with perfect weather conditions. 

After finishing (in just under three hours, with a short snack break to let the other pair get a bit further ahead of us), we did a nice lunch break at the top and then enjoyed the walk down to Saignelegier.

Climbing at Stockhorn

Good weather forecast day, so off we head to the Stockhorn. The train ride is a bit scary since we're still under the hochnebel, but that clears up once we turn into the Simmental. The views open up as we take the gondola up... nice!

Our first route is Chum u lueg, which we did nine years ago. We're faster now (though not as efficient today as we were last year... the missing practice shows), but it's still an enormously fun route, and the bit of coming out into the crowds at the top of the Stockhorn is definitely entertaining.

After a bit of food, we head down to one of the sport climbing sectors and did the first pitch of Märitfroueli 5a (A did this one in lead, which was her first lead since injuring her elbow), then the first pitch of Pistache 5c (A top rope) before going back to Märitfroueli and doing both pitches. After eating a bit more we moved up to the next sector and did ??? 5b. At this point G's motivation was lagging (some was the fact that we haven't been climbing outdoors much in quite a while, some was irritation at a loud group with a screaming kid), so we had another snack and then walked down to Chrindi and the gondola down.

Beautiful day and great rock. More! :-)

Muelenen to Oey-Diemtigen via the Niesen

 Text to come

Dos d'Ane climb and scramble

Climbing the Rigi Hochflue

We've climbed the Rigi Hochflue before and really enjoyed it, so we decided for a repeat.

We meet M, a colleague of Greg's, at the gondola and spare ourselves some unneccesary vertical. From the top of the gondola we follow the trail along the top (beautiful weather, beautiful views) to the alp at Egg and then follow the smaller trail/cowpath into the woods. Finding the start of the ladders takes longer this time (we end up too low), but we do get the eventually and start our way up, up to the beginnings of the routes (Note to ourselves: the first time we did this we wore helmets for this part... we didn't think of it this time, but we definitely should have).

We opt to climb Edelwis again and enjoy the slabby, but mostly relatively non-stressy climbing. We haven't climbed as a team of three since Mt Whitney (and that was different since we were with a guide), and we do swap the lead at each stand, which adds a bit of complexity, but we enjoy orselves and make decent time (all things considered). At the end of the route we have a snack and then pack the gear away and continue on to the Hochflue itself. It's madness up here! Loads of people enjoying the great weather and views. We find a good place to sit a ways further back along the ridge and have a food and view break before starting the descent.

We've been on the Hochflue a few times and always descended via the ladder towards Gätterlipass, but today we opt to head down the other side, towards the lake. This is clearly more popular and barely deserves to be blue-white, but it takes us efficiently down, down to the west ridge. Here we follow the path down, down to Gersau. We say bye to M and then catch a bus to Vitznau, where we get the boat to Luzern (the bus is late, but the bus driver has called ahead and the boat waits for us... yay!) . Given the Sunday crowds, we buy first class tickets for the boat and the train from Luzern... definitely a good decision. Nice boat ride along the lake and then the standard train trip back home.

Fun day!

Track:

Stats: ~6:30, 9km (hiking), ~400m up (hiking), ~1359m down (hiking)

Up to the Huser Stock and Fronalpstock

We wanted to do a fun training tour, but the forecast called for dodgy weather in the afternoon, moving from west to east. So we took advantage of the weird new efficient train connection to central Switzerland and started in Sisikon.

We get out of the train and start the climbing (Andrea special, yeah!), up , up, up out of town on a nice path. After about 2km of that we cross onto the road for a couple of hundred meters and then continue our way up, up, up, past the Oberer Acherberg, steeply up, up through the woods with the occasional nice view and loads and loads of tiny flies, up, up until we get to the alp at Huseren (there are actually people here!). A food break a bit above the alp and then we continue up the grass flank, without a path and more steeply now, up, up, threading through some cliffs under a big shiny eagle statue, past a couple of huts, through the woods on an animal path, to another bit of cliff. Here we scramble through an obvious weak spot and end up on more steep grass above. More steep up, up, up with good footing (grass climbing! yeah!) in sight of the quite populous path along the ridge above us, up, up until we hit the ridge and the path. 

steep gras and scramble

From here up along the path a bit more to the Huser Stock, where we luck into a safely distanced (there are plenty of people following the nice path along the ridge) spot at the long picnic table and take another food break to enjoy the views. Now we follow the path, along with the crowds, down into a saddle and then up, up to the Fronalpstock. We use the excuse of a table being free on the terrace to indulge in the decadence of fries and a cool beverage and enjoy the views.

snack with a view

After the snack break we continue along the path downwards for a bit before forking off onto the blue white path that will lead us back down through the Chälen. We pass two other couples coming the other way during the traverse, but fortunately don't have to deal with other traffic while heading through the steep parts through the cliffs. Down, down, down we go, past Wissenflue, on an amusing path through the field between Wilgis and Bergi, down, down to Brunnen, where we have time to buy some refreshments before grabbing the train that starts the trip back home.

Fun training tour with really good views, and we didn't end up having any inclement weather at all.

Vierwaldstättersee from the Fronalpstock

Track:

Stats: 18.5km, 1720m up and down, 7:12h total

Ascent: Huser Stock from the south:
https://www.sac-cas.ch/de/huetten-und-touren/sac-tourenportal/4131/mountain_hiking/4314

Descent: Fronalpstock through the Chälen: 

https://www.sac-cas.ch/de/huetten-und-touren/sac-tourenportal/fronalpstock-sz-684/berg-und-alpinwandern/von-morschach-ueber-die-chaelen-2400/

Tomlishorn and Widderfeld

More or less exactly a year ago we did a nice T5 trilogy on the Pilatus and, along the way, went up the Tomlishorn. In discussing that tour we found a hikr report about doing a T5 tour up the Southwest ridge of the Tomlishorn that sounded fun. Today we did that tour along with a bit of extra fun that Andrea found.

We start with the train to Alpnachstad and then start hiking through town and then up, up along road, forest road, and hiking path. Up, up, through the trees, through the gorge that's not really a gorge near Tiergarten, and then up some more until taking the first break near Polentablätz. We're on our own through all this and everything nice and quiet. Fun to be doing all this vertical with light packs and below 2000m! :-) Coming into the open below Fräkmünt we get our first good view of the ridge. Looks good! The ridge to the Matthorn, to our right, also looks good; going to have to come back and do that one too. Onwards past the picnic area, where we see the first people of the day, and then up, up a bit more to the alp at Tumli.

Here we leave the path and scramble up to the ridge and the bench that's directly above the alp. Nice food break here enjoying the views and quiet and then we continue along the ridge.

There's some easy and fun scrambling in this interspersed with nice walking and great views, always heading up, up, up. Someone is playing an alphorn in the area, so we've got a bit of musical accompaniment (yeah! back in Switzerland!). Towards the top, as the ridge broadens out and gets gentle, we catch up with a group of five who had clearly also just finished the ridge. We also walk past the guy who's playing the alphorn and continue up to the normal hiking path for the last bit to the Tomlishorn.

Now we're in the masses you expect on a peak like this on a lovely fall Sunday. There's barely room to stand on the peak itself.

After a short stay at the peak, we continue on our way along the ridge towards the Widderfeld (we last did this with Kristen ten years ago). Instead of following the path along the right of the Widderfeld, we turn off to the left and follow a use trail (later marked with blue stripes) that continues under the cliffs of the Widderfeld. Here we're alone again. :-)

The path takes us to a tunnel with stairs that take us up through the cliff and to the steep grass on the other side. Here we follow the use trail/markings until topping out on the trail down from the Widderfeld. We continue to the top and enjoy another food break and views across the madness on the Tomlishorn (we're alone up here). Supposedly there's an interesting direct route down from there, but we don't manage to find it, so after the break we continue along the path down the ridge, past a *really* nice bivvy spot (lacking water, but that's probably solvable) to the saddle between the Widderfeld and the Mittaggüpfi (11 years since we were last there), and then down, down, down. At Lütholdsmatt we stop for cool beverages and then continue the rest of the way down, down, down to Alpnach Dorf, where we start the trip home on trains that are as full as one would expect on a lovely September Sunday.

This was a nice long tour that's not particularly technically challenging. Since it's South-facing it might be a good one to add to the list of possible early-season training tours.

Amusing aside: two weeks after doing this tour, we found a very similar tour on the list of new tours added to the SAC tourenportal (though that one is a lot shorter since they start from the Schybach parking lot).

Track:
Stats: 23.7km, about 2000m up and down.

Climbing in the Sierras: Mt. Whitney East Buttress

yet to come

The complete Mythen traverse

Another trilogy that's been on our list for quite a while: doing a complete traverse of the Mythen massif. 6+ years ago we hiked up to the Grosser Mythen, back down the same way, and then up to the Kleiner Mythen and down the same way. This time we did a full traverse: Haggenspitz, Kleiner Mythen, Grosser Mythen.

Kleiner Mythen and Haggenspitz from Brunni

We start under a blue sky (it's a beautiful day!) at the end of the bus line in Brunni Talstation with the masses of people who are headed to take the gondola up to Holzegg; it's going to be a busy day up on the Grosser Mythen, hopefully we get to see it. :-) Our route takes us up out of Brunni towards the Haggenegg. Up, up, up we go, along the red-white path, through the woods, and then across a field until we arrive at the street and the parked cars (oh yes, people are out today...). Here we turn left and follow the ridge, with its clear use path, towards the North face of the Haggenspitz. This is one of those great "if we didn't know that there was a route up there, we wouldn't think it's possible" faces. The use trail takes us up and along, catch up to another group of three, up, up until we reach the bottom of some climbing routes. Here another hiker encourages us to head up a chimney that's marked with a green arrow next to the climbing routes instead of continuing along the use trail. Sure, why not? So on with the helmets and we get to start with a bit of nice scrambling. Up, up we go, staying with the other hiker (really him staying with us), up, up along a reasonably easy to follow route with the occasional red marker, until we hit the Müller Kamin. This is as exposed as promised in the route descriptions, but not particularly difficult (aside from the risk of the backpack getting hung up in the tight chimney!). We've got a rope and a bit of climbing gear with us, and there are a couple bolts available, but we opt to solo it. Up, up we continue with some more light scrambling, until we hit the peak. This is unexpectedly full (5+ people there... unbelievable!), so we have a very quick food break to enjoy the views and then continue on our way. Our temporary companion stays behind (guess he wants a longer break) as we start down towards the saddle between the Haggenspitz and the Kleiner Mythen.

trying to find space in the Müller Kamin

This is a relatively easy route down, though we manage to lose it a few times and end up scrambling more than we need to. Once at the saddle we continue up to the face of the Kleiner Mythen and follow the very nice (and straightforward to follow) route up. This has a couple of good scrambly bits and is just in general loads of fun. The peak of the Kleiner Mythen is even more full than the Haggenspitz was (10+ people!), so after taking a few pictures we continue on our way. For the first time today we're repeating a route we've done before. With all the practice over the past few years, this isn't nearly as dramatic as it was back then. Still fun though! And very populated... tons of people making their way up to the Kleiner Mythen to enjoy the views. Back down at Zwischet Mythen we stop for another food break (longer this time) and enjoy the views and the sitting (haven't done much of that so far today!).

on top of the Kleinen Mythen

After the break we follow the easy hiking path around the foot of the Grosser Mythen towards Holzegg. At the big scree field we leave the path and head up the left side of the scree. After a bit of height gain, there's a clear zigzag trail through the scree (which is nice, because this isn't the nicest surface to move steeply upwards on). At the top of the scree we hit the first of the pink markings which will lead us the rest of the way to the top along the Chalberstöckli route. The route is really, really nice. Definitely a bit easier than either of the other two ascents we've done so far, but still with great views (and exposure). We absolutely enjoy ourselves until we hit the main hiking path up to the peak. After collecting the usual funny looks as we climb over the railing and take off our helmets, we continue up to the peak and the absolute madness up there. Another short break to enjoy the views and the madness and check the bus schedule, and then we start our way down. We have about 75 minutes to complete the 85 minute descent to Brunni. Should be no problem! The first bit is pretty slow due to the masses of people underway, but we finally manage to pass the big clot in front of us and then do some trail running for the rest of the descent. This starts as a bit of a joke but it works really well and is quite fun, so we continue until close to the bottom, where the footing isn't as good since the rocks are more covered with dust. We make good time walking the descent from Holzegg and are at the bus stop with 20 minutes to spare.

scrambling up towards the Grosse Mythen

What a great tour. We're definitely going to have to do this one again!

Track:
Stats: ~12km, 1380m up and down.

Pilatus T5-Trilogy

One of our "interesting tours" books includes a couple paths on the North side of the Pilatus that sound great but that only be done when it's dry and late enough in the season that all the snow is gone. Today was one of those days, so we linked up a couple of the paths with another trip up the Esel (also in the book) to form a Pilatus T5-trilogy.

After taking the gondola up to Fräkmüntegg we leave the crowds (sunny September Sunday on the Pilatus... there are crowds!) and follow the hiking path towards Alpgschwänd. Just short of the alp we turn uphill and follow another trail up, up, up through the woods, past some folks gathering mushrooms, up up, until we come out of the trees and things steepen up a bit. Here, above us in the first (very) light scrambly bit (there's even a cable), we see the first other people on this path: a large group working their way up. We're moving faster, but they're enough ahead of us that they aren't really a bother. Up, up some more with the views getting progressively better, until we come out at the Steinbockhütte. This seems to be the destination for the group in front of us (nice destination: the views are really great) so we weave through them and continue on our way. There's steep grass ahead, so we break out the trekking poles (we have ice axes with us, just in case, but they aren't necessary yet) as we traverse and climb on an easily followed trail through the Hängifeld.

Grass flank above the Steinbockhütte

We traverse to the top of the Sulzgraben (this bit of steep grass over a sharp drop is a bit of a pulse-raiser!) and then do the last bit of ascending to hit the East ridge of the Pilatus. We've done this bit of ridge before more than once and it's great each time. The ridge takes us up, up, up to the Rosegg. Along the way we do a quick food break and enjoy the views. From the Rosegg we traverse across to the steep wall of the Esel, which we scramble up (nice pic showing that line here, from this post), climb over the railing (plenty of tourists around wondering where the hell we're coming from), and then go up to the top to enjoy the views and the madness.

On the way up to the Esel

Now it's down to the buildings at the Kulm, through the tunnel, a bit down the standard trail, and then a left turn to star the third part the day's trip: the Nordwestpassage. This small, but easy to follow, trail takes us westward more or less directly under the cliffs leading to the ridge. There isn't anywhere that it's particularly challenging, but it is certainly quite exposed.

Part of the Nordwestpassage. If you look carefully you can see the path.

At the beginning of a big scree field, we descend steeply a bit along the last grassy shoulder and then traverse to pick up the broader path of the Alten Tomlisweg. This leads us up and through the wall, with a bit of easy (though uncomfortably wet in places) scrambling to the ridge. Now we're on a normal hiking path that takes us up to the Tomlishorn and the crowd that's up there (not as bad as the Esel since it's more walking). Another quick food break to enjoy the views, and then we take the normal hiking path back to the Pilatus Kulm (we'd thought about going down the Alten Tomlisweg, but the though of descending through some of the wet bits isn't particularly appealing). The easy and crowded path takes us back to the tunnel and the path down. At the saddle near the chapel we turn off to the right to follow the path down, down, down to Gsäss, and then back to Fräkmüntegg, where we enjoy cool beverages and watching the people in the rope park before hopping in the gondola and starting the trip back home.

This really was an exceptional tour and is one it's very easy to imagine doing again.

Track:
Stats: 11.4km, 1300m up and down.

Stansstad to the Pilatus

This is more or less a repeat of a trip we've done before, but this time we started in Stansstad instead of Hergiswil.

This is a very nice hike. Today things were a bit overcast, and we were actually in a cloud from about the Windhorn to the Steiglihorn, but that just made things more dramatic. :-)

We didn't end up doing the scramble up the Esel since the ground was just a bit too soft. Instead we followed the (non-marked) path around the front of the Esel and joined the main hiking path up to the Kulm. The top was as crazy and packed as one would expect it to be, but the views were just fantastic: we were above the clouds and had an awesome panorama of the alps. The Matthorn, lightly sprinkled with snow, was really, really, cool looking. We need to do one of the ridges up to that peak.

The track:
And stats: 9.8km, 1885m up, 196m down. It took us almost exactly 4.5 hours to get to the Kulm, including breaks, so we weren't moving slow. :-)

Climbing the Galtigentürme

This climbing tour along the Galtigentürme was on our list from earlier in the year: we had signed up to do it with the SAC, but then the tour ended up being cancelled due to bad weather (like so much this summer). Since we had good weather forecast for Sunday, we decided to give it a try on our own. It's been raining a fair amount, so we figure a climbing day is better than doing one of the "more interesting" hikes involving steep grass slopes.

After the train to Alpnachstad we buy tickets for the cog railway up the Pilatus. The woman at the counter lets us know that if we want to come down on the cog railway, we will need to reserve a slot for it. She recommends that we do this "as soon as possible" once we get up top. Yikes... guess big crowds are to be expected! Mixed in with the large group of Asian tourists waiting to board the train are a fair number of climbers (recognizable from the helmets and/or ropes on their packs)... not too much of a surprise that we're not going to be lonely on the mountain today. ;-) We, along with the rest of the climbers, get out at Ämsigen and head up the trail towards Matt. This takes us up, at first through woods, then up, up along a nice, if somewhat muddy, trail.  When we hit Mattalp we can already see at least two groups on the "standard" route up the Mattalpplatte and there are three groups who've arrived in front of us who are waiting and at least one behind us. Hrm. That's a crowd. There are other routes up the face, but we don't have a real topo with us and aren't sure which ones are both of an appropriate difficulty level and go all the way to the top, so we opt to skip this first bit and go straight to the first of the towers.

crowd heading towards the Mattalpplatte

There seems to be something like a path along the cliff to the left, so we head up that way along with another pair who seem to not be interested in waiting. Partway up someone calls them back and directs them around the cliff the other way; being stubborn (imagine that), we continue up. The traces of trail are steep, particularly once we get into the grass, but the footing is good, so it's no problem to get up to end of the face and then around it and back to the entry point for the first tower. Here we wait for two groups to clear the way and then start climbing ourselves. The first three towers don't have anything more difficult than 4a, so we climb in our boots (as does pretty much everyone else we see).

view down along the grat of the 1st towers and further down to Mattalp

The ridge is a fun climb: it's not particularly difficult (though quite exposed), but it's interesting and the views of the surrounding mountains rising over the sea of clouds are great. We do some waiting because of the two in front of us, and cause the two behind us to wait a bit, but there's enough room at all the stands so it's not overly cramped and the atmosphere is good. We do an ok job with the communication bits, certainly better than on the Brüggligrat, despite the occasional noise from the cog rail below us.

climbing above the clouds

Between the third and the fourth tower we take advantage of the broad grass ridge to take a lunch break. It's a nice spot for a break, but this turns out to be a strategic mistake. The first pitch of the fourth tower is the trickiest bit on the ridge (4c), so it's a natural choke point. By the time we're done with lunch there are two groups climbing the first pitch and another four groups waiting to start. We opt, reluctantly, to skip it rather than dealing with that line. It might have been better to do lunch "in line" at the bottom of the tower (though that still would have resulted in climbing in more of a crowd than Greg is enthusiastic about).

long line at the bottom of the fourth tower

Up the steep grass slope to the right of the tower we go, until we hit the ridge at it's top, from there along the ridge, with a bit more scrambling, until we hit the Rosegg. From there we opt to head up to the Esel. This bit ends up being just as fun as the climbing itself. There's a clear use path that leads us to the wall below the Esel. From here there are blue markings along with the use path that lead steeply up, up, up. There's a great mixture of scrambling and steep grass, snaking back and forth, at times very exposed, great views all around (and down), until the path ends at the walkway down from the Esel to the Pilatus Kulm. We climb the fence, getting some funny looks from the tourists atop the Esel, and walk the last few meters up to the top to enjoy the views. Looking down, the funny looks are completely understandable: it really doesn't look like there's a way down there. :-)

view from Pilatus Kulm

At the Kulm itself we manage to get a reservation for a train leaving in an hour and half, so we go grab some cool beverages and enjoy the people watching, mountain views, and the memories of a very nice tour.

The track: