Last Sunday, I was feeling very tired in the morning and didn't really want to do anything. We planned to go to the mountains but I tried to convince my husband to change the plan and go to the town for a cup of coffee instead.
We had some breakfast, checked the weather forecast and realized that it would be a pity not to go as it was supposed to be sunny and warm. We got dressed, packed our hiking shoes and got in the car.
When we arrived to the mountains it was quite late (around lunchtime) and it looked like we picked a popular location as there were so many people that we had to wait for 30 minutes to purchase our tickets, so that we could get to the starting point of our hike. I wasn't very happy about it as I don't like crowded hiking trails but we were already there...
When we reached the top it looked like a busy shopping street. There was a restaurant, a playground for kids, an observation platform, many tables for picnic and too many people. Kids were running around and parents were enjoying the views of the surrounding mountains and Vierwaldstättersee also known as the Lake Lucerne.
I was surprised to see so many families as the trail was supposed to be challenging and not very suitable for kids. However, a few moments later I've noticed a different trail which was much shorter and easier and I guess that this is where these families were planning to go.
Just a few hundred meters away, the atmosphere changed and we started to feel relaxed again. There were just a few people and all we had around us were mountains and many lakes.
Fronalpstock (1922 m) and Klingenstock (1935 m) are located in Central Switzerland. Our tour started with the steepest funicular railway in the world from Schlattli to Stoos.
The carriages are shaped like barrels and they adjust their floor so that people can stand upwards when they climb towards the Alpine plateau that inclines up to 110% gradient. There are a few tunnels on the way too. It's amazing when you get out of the tunnel and you see that you're driving so steep but you can't feel any difference.
From Stoos we took two ski lifts to get to the Fronalpstock. The hiking trail to Klingenstock is about 5 km long with 500 meters both increase and decrease in altitude. Sounds challenging, doesn't it?
Shortly after we started walking, there was a long and steep descent to the Furggeli, before the opposite ascent to the Huser Stock. The descent was so challenging that I could feel it in my tights already when we reached Furggeli, and we still had almost 2 hours of hiking up and down the hill ahead of us.
We took many breaks to catch the breath and enjoy the views (more to catch the breath though)
Here we can see the Chaiserstock (the biggest mountain peak in the photo - 2515 m) in the Schwyzer Alps. We can also see two cantons - on the left side is the canton Schwyz and on the right side the canton Uri.
Here we have the Grosser Mythen (1898 m) and the Kleiner Mythen (1811 m) that overlook the capital city of the canton Schwyz.
View of the valley from the Furggeli...
And now up to the Huser Stock...
View of the mountain massif Pilatus and the Lake Lucerne on the way up...
Up the hill again...
And again...
We finally got to the Huser Stock when we thought that we would never get there...
This is the view of our starting point from where you can see the steep descent...
I couldn't get enough of the lake views...
And here you can see the rest of our ridge walk...
View of the Urner Alps, located on the border between Nidwalden and Obwalden in Central Switzerland.
And finally some rest. I couldn't feel my legs anymore...
This is the easier part of the trail...
And the last steep ascent behind us! YAY!
Perfect view for another break...
And the last part of the trail before reaching the ski lift on the Klingenstock...
We were not in the hurry, so we sat there in the grass and talked about our hike. We were so happy to have finished the trail and I was extremely proud of myself that I managed to do it without hurting my hip!
At the beginning of the trail I asked one older lady if she knew where was one specific mountain that we visited a few months ago. She told me that it was not visible from where we were standing but she explained to me where I should be looking when we reach the end of the trail. When we were sitting here, she approached us and showed me where it was. She even told me which canton I can see in which direction and which mountains we should definitely visit. She was so nice to us!
And back to the Stoos...
It was my first time ever in the ski lift and I was a little nervous at the beginning as it was open, but then I got used to it and enjoyed the new experience.
I think we will have to go to the Grosser Mythen as well as it looks so lonely in the middle of the plain.
And here we are! It was at the beginning of our hike, so we were still smiling 😊
I hope you have enjoyed our hike!
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina
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