Mount Pilatus
Because I’m your average basic white girl, I so desperately wanted to fulfill the stereotype and take as many prime opportunities to snap a few stellar pictures during my time in Luzern, Switzerland. I eventually decided on taking the Golden Route to reach the summit of Mount Pilatus which neighbors the small city. This route, despite being pricey (crying), first glides you through a boat ride on the lake, drops you off in front of the cogwheel station, which shuttles you up into the peaks of the mountains, and once you’re finished with your hiking adventure, you can slide your way down the other side of the mountain on a gondola ride, right back into the city.
Yes, this journey offered up plenty of picturesque scenery, coupled with the sheer shock of literally being above the clouds at such a quick and simple pace. Yes, I loved my time here. But my heart did tear at the seams when I realized that I wasn’t going to be hiking all the way up to the summit. Although I knew that I was pressed for time and wouldn’t have the opportunity to do everything I would like to do, I still felt a sharp dagger in my stomach, slowly twisting and wedging itself further into me as I watched others ascend the hill below me. But, nonetheless, this has remained one of my favorite hikes.
Once you reach the end of the cogwheel/gondola ride, you’ll be greeted by a massive hotel establishment, cleverly named “Hotel Pilatus-Kulm”, situated right at the top of the mountain. From there, you can choose from five different hikes to go on, all weighing in at different difficulties and inclines. I do want to be perfectly clear about this, I don’t know if it’s European grit, or Swiss strength, but these hikes were much more difficult than I had first perceived them to be. Granted, I’m not necessarily a seasoned veteran in hiking, it was still slightly off-putting to be practically dying every 20 minutes or so. I’m going to blame this on the elevation and pretend I’m not growing lethargic and fat throughout all of my traveling.
Because there are so many hikes, I’m going to summarize this as best as I possibly can, and then write a couple of sister blog posts detailing a couple of my favorite trails from this main starting point. But for now, I’m just going to give you the SparkNotes of my adventure. There are five trails you and your family can choose from, ranging from easy to medium (yeah freaking right they were not medium), and all of these will take you anywhere from (supposedly) 10-35 minutes. That’s also a sack of lies people. The more difficult hikes took WAY longer than I had imagined, and if you’re thinking about how to budget your time, definitely plan to spend an entire day here if you’re thinking about wandering on the trails.
I arrived with the impression that these trails were going to be easy-peasy and I would be rather disappointed by there lack of toughness. Oh how wrong I was. From drop-offs that inexplicably made my palms sweat from both fear and excitement, to views that (actually) pulled whatever air was left straight out of my lungs, these were more mentally grueling than I could have hoped for. Be sure to check the openings and closure of this mountain, as some of the cogwheel and gondola services may not be running during the winter. Also make sure that you bring a hat and some mittens because it can be pretty chilly up there, despite the weather down below!
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