Sunday 1st September : Weather: Cool 13°C in Engelberg then 20°C at Joch Pass: Sunny and blue skies all day
Engelberg to Tannulp: 9.0k walk: Gondola to Trubsee, walk to Tannalp via Joch Pass
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 593m, Descent 442m,
Time: 9am to 2.30pm: 9am Gondola to Trubsee. 10am to 2.30pm 3h 40m Walk + 1x30min stop + 2x10m breaks
Accommodation: Berggasthaus, Tannalp
Breakfast at St Jakob with view
Trubsee - 1st stage Titlis cable cars
Morning tea Joch Pass 2,208m
Englstensee - most charming spot
Glorious Alps in distance
Mountain bike hurtling towards us
Another magnificent day in the Alps with blue skies all day. Highlight was getting to Joch Pass at 2,207m and watching the hundreds of mountain bikers who have swarmed ine the area taking advantage of the gondolas up and down both sides of the Pass.
We both had a good night’s sleep from 8.30pm to 4.30am. An early morning cup of tea in our room courtesy of our jet boil before sorting photos and publishing my blog while we had good internet. Breakfast is at 7.30am, and we’re not the first down. The dining room is already full of people, mostly Sunday hikers, and we choose a window seat with views to the second Titlis cable car station. We have a hot cappuccino followed by a wonderful buffet of cereals, yoghurt, fruit, cheeses, cold meats and hot fresh bread. I’m full after a bowl of meusli, fruit and yoghurt so I make a sandwich of bread and cheese to take with us.
We dilly dally at breakfast for an hour, then back to our room to pack and leave at 9am to walk up the road to the cable car station to the Titlis. We pay 26 CHF each to take the first stage to Trubsee and while we were in the queue for tickets, an advertisement flashed on the screen for an Indian Restaurant at the top of the Titlis! In 2015, there were hundreds of tourists from India at the Titlis, all wanting a selfie photo taken with a real life image of their idols dotted around the mountain top. So it was not surprising to get into the gondola with an Indian couple going all the way up to the Titlis!
Trubsee at 1,796 metres is a beautiful lake surrounded by green pastures and cows with ringing bells. I’m sure they are placed there as a tourist attraction as Swiss farmers are subsidised 50%, the highest in Europe. I suppose the government sees the subsidy as an advertisement for Switzerland as people come expecting to see cows with bells. The place is crawling with tourists, fake hikers (tourists with brand new hiking gear), real hikers (like us with dirty shoes and well worn hiking clothes), mountain bikers (mostly e-bikers), dogs and a few trail runners. Following the signs to Joch Pass, we’re soon steadily climbing a new hiking trail as the old path is now a dedicated mountain bike trail - it’s a big business with gondolas fitted with special bike racks.
The views are magnificent looking back to Trubsee and across to the second Titlis station. The final station is out of view. At 11.30am, after one hour and 30 mins walking uphill, we arrive at the busy Joch Pass (2,207m) dominated by mountain bikers more than hikers. Time for a coffee watching the parade of bikers exiting the gondolas from both directions and then hurtling downhill. It’s a warm day, and we spread our sweaty long sleeved over shirts across the bench seats to dry.
Leaving at 12 midday, we follow the signs to Tannalp. The downhill track to Engstlenalp and the nearby Lake Engstlensee is a good grade, but it’s slow going having to step aside for hikers coming up from the lake as per mountain etiquette to give way to the walkers coming uphill. An hour later we’re at the pretty village of Engstlenalp and it’s old Hotel. We stop for a rest sitting on a concrete slab which anchors a steel cable linked to a wooden trolley for milk cans to be hauled to the top of the mountain where the cows are milked at the dairy. There’s hundreds of people hiking in all directions or just picnicing near the lake. Engstlenalp was noted by Professor John Tyndall (vice-president of the Alpine Club) in 1866, as "one of the most charming spots in the Alps", And we're here on this picture perfect day.
Time to move on to Tannalp, and we can see the path rising gently up the side of the mountain. It’s an easy well graded track climbing 100 metres to the Tannansee. The only problem was the mountain bikes coming down towards us on a loose, stoney track and we needed to squeeze against the side of the track to let them pass. The other issue we had was when I stopped to take a photo of these mountain bikers speeding down the slope towards me, I was almost bumped off the track by a large man hauling a screaming three year old up the track, closely followed by an eight year old and a large lady whom we presumed was his wife. He had already knocked Ian backwards then rammed into me in a “get out of my way” motion “can’t you see I have a screaming child”. The woman then passed me with a wry smile as if to say “you shouldn’t have stopped to take a photo!” We heard the kid screaming for the next 15 minutes while unwillingly being dragged along.
At 2.30pm, we arrive at the Berggasthaus, where we stayed in 2015. The restaurant is busy with day hikers and bikers enjoying the warm sun while eating and drinking on the deck. The kitchen staff were rushed off their feet but the waiter quickly gives us room 110 key with scant instructions how to get to it, before he gets back to serving customers.
Our twin room is basic but clean and comfy with a shared bathroom just across the corridor. We dump our gear, quickly wash out our socks and take our jetboil and lunch across to the seats outside the small Roman Catholic church. Back to our room to shower, wash our shirts then rest and blog while making the most of a few spare hours before dinner at 7pm. I get a notification on my phone from the Swiss Meteo service app which I had recently down loaded. There’s a thunderstorm warning for this region of the alps. Almost immediately, there’s a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder then rain. We hope it’s gone by tomorrow.
Down in the dining room at ten to seven, we choose a beer called Mohl which turns out to be apple cider. A nice drink but not nice enough to order a second bottle. Dinner is cream of asparagus soup, followed by sliced beef in cognac cream sauce, spinach noodles, and mixed chopped unkonwn vegetables. Dessert is meringue and icecream, very filling after the soup and pasta so we rescue the meringue part for morning tea. We’re in bed and asleep by 8.30pm, with thunder still rumbling around us.