Pilatus Sunrise hike
April 2020
There is a lockdown, no cable cars are running and the Easter holidays are just around the corner. Luckily, the weather was forecast to be perfect and we were both in the mood for a sunrise hike. After a little research, we decided to climb Mount Pilatus. From Alpnachstad we climbed 1627 metres to the 2106m high Pilatus. Bene spontaneously joined us on the hike.
We left home at 1.00am to start the hike shortly before 2.00am. At first we walked along the steepest cog railway in the world before turning off into a wooded area. The full moon shone down on us so brightly that we didn’t need our headlamps. At the Ämsigen middle station, we decided to take the path on the left-hand side of the railway tracks. However, as there was still a lot of snow and the path sloped steeply down to the side, we turned round and took the path on the right-hand side of the railway tracks from the middle station.
The sun slowly appeared on the horizon and bathed the last large snowfield in a beautiful warm light. It was quite cold and the snow had fortunately frozen overnight. So we made relatively easy progress. We kept taking photos and enjoying the wonderful view of Lake Lucerne. As we continued our ascent, we discovered two other hikers who had the same idea as us.
We decided not to climb all the way up to the hotel, but to stop at 2000 metres on a small plateau. The view was fantastic. We enjoyed our breakfast and a warm cup of tea in the light of the rising sun.
After a long breakfast break with lots of photos and enjoying the peace and quiet of the mountains, it was time to descend again. The warm sunlight had melted the snow. Suddenly we were sinking into the snow up to our thighs. Bene came up with the idea of using the picnic blanket as a sledge. It worked really well.
