Hiking - Schynige Platte

 We checked out of our beautiful Airbnb and made our way to Wilderswil. Scotty had pre-purchased our tickets after seeing that the day promised blue skies and warm temperatures.

The cogwheel train ride up the mountain takes about 50 minutes. Along the way, the track winds through 67 bends, four tunnels, and climbs a total of 7 km. Even more impressive is the fact that the railway was built in just two short summers, from 1891 to 1893. Over 200 years later, it still feels like an engineering marvel. As the train steadily climbed higher and higher, we passed mountain chalets, grazing cows, tall pines, and—off in the distance—the snowcapped peaks.

At Schynige Platte, we headed above the station and restaurant to the right, following the Oberberghorn Panorama Trail. The altitude today was much higher than yesterday’s hike, but the trail itself was gentler. Everywhere we looked, sweeping vistas stretched in every direction. The sound of distant cowbells followed us along the way, and eventually we were lucky enough to find the herd close to the path. I climbed down a short section to get a few photos—it just wouldn’t feel like Switzerland without a proper cow picture!

We continued on to the Daube viewpoint. I had read beforehand that going counterclockwise on the loop makes the climb up to Daube easier, and I was glad we followed that advice. The views from the top were stunning, well worth the effort.

Back at Schynige Platte, we took a leisurely stroll through the Alpine Garden. It holds around 600 different species of alpine flowers, beautifully arranged and carefully maintained. The variety and colors were lovely, a perfect finale to our day in the high mountains.

2.9 miles, 2 hours 40 minutes