We drop down into Altdorf valley by bus, get out by taking the cableway up, and hike through the fog for a few hours. After the pass, the sunshine comes out, and so does the rain and the waterfalls, all the way to Engelberg.
We've opted to avoid walking the 1000m elevation drop into Altdorf with the 8:35 bus down the hill. Easy, though once again we're suffering through news in the bus about California being on fire and something about a Los Angeles Rams sportsball game against a Buffalo squad. (at least it's not Hollywood courtroom drama of Lindsay Lohan that was last week's bus fare).
Yep, Altdorf is bigger, the cantonal seat, and we walked around William Tell square finding the stamps. I found a 1 liter pre-filled canteen (aka a nice plastic bottle with a sweet tart something called Spar Wildberry inside) and we headed up the cableway to avoid the 1000m 'brutal' climb on the trail. If the tourist guide says it's brutal, there's no sugarcoating.
Once at Brusti station, it was already cool and foggy, and we trudged uphill, imagining a little bit what the scenery looked like. We thought about a stop at a restaurant, but it was down over there with the cows and the flies. Occasionally we'd get glimpses of things--a pretty waterfall across the valley, a pasture below--but mostly it was just a steady climb punctuated by steep stairs.
Closer to the pass, it got rockier, and for the first time on the trip we spotted sheep around, nibbling everything. It got colder too, and the little temperature sensor dangling off my waist pocket was saying 9C, so brrrr time to break out the long sleeve red WOOL shirt. I say WOOL all in caps because cpratt is always going on about how he loves his WOOL shirt, and he does.
Finally, trudge trudge trudge, there's the pass, not that it was scenic going up. But the other side--the down side, was clear with scattered clouds and big mountains looming above. We descended a bit and warmed up in a hut and looked at the long descent to town... and decided if there was a bus stop to cut off the last few km of tedium through the exurbs of Engelberg, we were totally taking it.
A pleasant walk down--paid 5SF for a bottle of cider from a trough--and then it started getting soggy in that Pacific Northwest style of steady slow rain. Rain gear on, a bit of a road walk, and we were at the bus stop with only 30 minutes wait time until the last bus of the day.