Into the Mountains

Today's weather was a drastic improvement over yesterday's rain.  After exploring Luzern for a while, I decided to take an excursion to Pilatus, a mountain southwest of Luzern, with a height of 7,000 feet.  The trip started with an hour and forty-five minute boat ride across Lake Luzern to the foot of the mountain.  We then took a cog railway (the steepest in the world) straight up the mountain for half an hour.  The incline was unbelievable.  So was the view.

We passed through the clouds, which combined with the snow caused near whiteout conditions.  We were allowed to wander around the viewing platform, but the additional 10-minute climb to the top was closed off due to the two feet of snow that had accumulated.  The experience was beautiful and surreal, and very cold.  The outside air tempurature was 0 degrees celsius and snow was falling.  I, unfortunately, was not even wearing my heaviest jacket.

The ride back down the mountain was nearly as impressive, via a series of different sized cable cars.  We again passed through the clouds, trading the snow and cold for green hillsides full of grazing cows and traditional Swiss houses.

I'm now thawed out and back in Luzern, ready to move on to another town.  Tomorrow I head to Bern, the capital of Switzerland.  I've read that there is a pit of bears close to my hotel and I can't wait to see what the next adventure brings.