Bürgenstock is a few things: an island-like massif visible from many directions and mountains around Lake Lucerne; a relatively recently (2017) renovated luxury resort; a fantastic vantage point for the peaks surrounding it, from the Rigi to Pilatus to Stanserhorn and on.
On this day I took a boat to Kehrsiten, at the foot of the Bürgenstock funicular which, like the resort, was completely renovated over several years from 2014 to 2017. I decided to hike to the top, rather than taking the Hammetschwand lift and gravelly Felsenweg, and the views from the top were, as always, a delight.
In another change from the usual on this spot, I decided to go to Obermatt, a restaurant on the shore of Lake Lucerne, directly opposite Weggis, and in general reachable only by private boat or water taxi. But the trail map said there was a path, so that’s the route I took.
This turned out to be an hour or two of buggy, steamy, steep, slippery switchbacks, perhaps ultimately doing one time, but not again. The restaurant was quite nice and the Coupe Danemark came with a gravy boat of hot fudge. The hike from Obermatt back to Kehrsiten went along the very steep lakeshore, over talus and scree slopes with the occasional sign reading “danger, rockfall, keep moving”. It was another epic race to catch the scheduled boat, but I made it just in time.
Enjoy the photos and a video montage!
