Trying to find the best weather, we discovered that the Engelberg region would be dry, even if not exactly sunny. We thought we’d take a look at Titlis from the other side of the valley for our Sunday stroll.
We set off somewhat earlier than the day before and from Engelberg station we make our way to the cable car station. Buy our tickets and cram into the busy cable car for the five minute ride to Ristis. Not too much chance of keeping your ‘social distancing’ in this tiny space… The next stage to Brunnihütte is by chairlift. From Ristis, it looks like Brunnihütte is in the cloud so we stop for a coffee and a ‘Nussgipfel’ before jumping on the chairlift.
As we approach Brunnihütte I notice a queue of tens of people below the little peak above the hut. Queueing for the easy via ferrata no doubt. The more difficult variation, also visible from down here, ending at the same summit only has about half a dozen people on it by contrast.
We head off towards Rugghubelhütte. The first part of the path is shared with cows. Meaning that not only was the path muddy from recent rains, it was also covered in fresh cow pats… much to Barbara’s delight, who was wearing her new boots!
The path from Brunnihütte eases gently upwards, ending about five kilometres and 440 vertical metres later at Rugghubelhütte. Clouds are drifting past, down to about about the 2000m level. Leaving no trace of Titlis, or any of the other higher summits. Apart from occasional glimpses of the Hahnen, the interesting looking peak that I’ve been eyeing since the first visit to Engelberg, our view is restricted to valleys and lower peaks…
After drinks and a bite to eat, we make our way back to Brunnihütte. On our way down we come across a herd of cows grazing; some along the footpath. One decides not to move out of our way. I thought I’d give it a gentle pat on the head, which most of the time would have got the lady out of the way. But she wasn’t having any of it. In fact she started pushing back, and not very gently. When she became more aggressive, and it looked like one of her friends wanted to join in the fun of pushing the human around, I decided we should move out of their way. We headed slightly uphill and made our way around them before rejoining the path and continuing on our way.
On the other side of the valley, the path to Trübsee, which we had walked to a few weeks ago, is clearly visible. The snow that had stretched all the way to the lake, has now retreated to several hundred metres above the lake. In a few weeks’ time the route to Titlis may be ready for an ascent…
We stop at Brunnihütte to kill some time before heading for the next hourly train. Then it’s off to the chairlift, cable car, and finally onto the train to make our way home.
And even though we didn’t get to see Titlis it turned out to be another perfect mountain day!
Queueing for the easy ferrata… 
View from Brunnihütte
