Friday 28th August: Hot with clear skies all day: 19°C to 30ºC.
Engelberg to Altdorf: 17K: 9.00am to 6.00pm: 7hrs - Bus (30min) Cable Car (30min) Walk (15k, 5hrs), Cable Car (30min) Walk (2k, 20min)
Accommodation: Hotel Zum Schwarzen Lowen Altdorf
Familiel and Jurgengherberge (Youth Hostel) Engelberg
Another STUNNING Day! But very hot and dehydrating - we were thankful for icy mountain streams. A mixture of buses, cable cars, 15k walk, more cable cars and a 2k walk into Altdorf. Highlight was the climb to Surenen Pass at 2291m through alpine meadows surrounded by snowcapped alps, closely followed by a DIY Cable car from Brusti 1000m down to Attinghausen!!
The day started with a scant breakfast at the youth hostel: one slice of bread, one slice of cheese, 1/4 of an orange, and the signs says don't take sandwiches for lunch! Ok, we wouldn't want to anyway, the breads stale. The freeby bus leaves from around the corner and Graham arrives half dressed and we see he's wearing Icebreaker jocks. In 30 minutes we’re at the Furenalp Base cable car station. The temperature's already 19ºC as we queue to buy combi tickets for the up-section to Furenalp and the down-section from Brusti to Attinghausen. We ascend 600 metres to Furenalp along with 30 other walkers. Within a short time, it's 25ºC as we stroll through alpine meadows amid snowcapped alps on a picture perfect warm day.
Graham doing a Pat Rafter (showing brand of jocks) at bus stop
Cable Car to Furenalp
At the top - Furenalp 1850m
Schematic of walk from Furenalp to Surenen Pass
It's already 25ºC when we set off for the Pass
Surenen Pass in background
Jenny and Graham with stunning alps in background
Coffee break at Blackenalp church
It's a steep climb to the pass
View from top is just stunning!
Lunch at Surenen Pass with dozens of other day trekkers
On top of the world
Scratching for clean snow to put in bottle for cheese and butter
Jenny has a slip - do it again Jenny so we can get a better photo
More photos on top of the world
A real tap with icy cold water
Looking back at the Surenen Pass
We're looking to fill water bottles from any cold stream. Water flowing near moo poo overground, forget it. Cold water from underground is ok. At 11am, coffee time near the Blackenalp church, a small white stone building. The track to Surenen Pass at 2291m is well graded and busy with day trekkers from all directions. It’s hot and there's no shade at the top so we find a ledge in a cool breeze for lunch of hot bread, runny butter, melted cheese, mushy tomatoes, limpy lettuce with hot water from our bottles.
The alps are stunning on the other side and we can see the Klausenpass way off in the distance. A friendly Swiss gentleman lends me his binoculars and I can pick out the white speck of the Klausenpass Hotel where we'll be tomorrow night. After a steep initial descent, the track runs through lingering snow, and I scratch up enough to fill a bottle to try to turn our runny butter back to solid.
The day gets hotter, nudging 30ºC by my Coghlan's thermometer. Later, there's a stand pipe delivering icy cold water - a welcome relief as we head to Brusti for the cable car down into Attinghausen, 1000m below. Soon there's a forested area providing shade from the heat and it's time to slump on the bench seats in a picnic area in a small clearing with another pipe with icy cold water from deep underground.
In 30 minutes we're at the Brusti Cable car station. It's deserted and there's no signs in English. We wait and wait until Ian decides to pick up an emergency phone and someone on the other end tells us the cable car will leave at 4.45pm - 20 minutes away. More waiting and we're not sure what to do. Times ticking so we decide to jump into the cable car and hope for the best - a sip of hot vodka and orange replenishes our nervous energy. At exactly 4.45pm, the cable car launches itself automatically and starts its descent 1000 metres down. We stop and swap to another gondola that descends into Attinghausen where we're supposed to catch a bus. Graham jumps on the first bus that arrives, then finds it's going in the wrong direction. A quick consult with Ian's GPS and my mud maps of the hotel, and we decide to walk the last 2k into the centre of Altdorf, arriving at the Hotel Zum Schwarzen Lowen at 6pm.
We're given the two worst rooms overlooking a busy road on a Friday night - and it's stifling hot with the windows shut. Ian and I trot up the road for the usual salmon, cheese, bread, beers and a Swiss Syrah, arriving back to drink 4 cold beers. A quick shower then dinner in Jenny and Graham's room. Time to study tomorrow’s route - 23k with a 1400m ascent. Mr Google finds the Brugg to Biel cable car that goes 1500m up and from where we walk 15k along the Schachental Hohenweg to the KlausenPass Hotel. \
It’s a choice between sleeping in a hot room with windows closed or a noisy room with windows open. It's so hot our washing hanging in the room dried in an hour. We opted for open windows until 1am when it's a touch cooler and we shut out the continuous noise of the Friday night traffic and revellers.