Route: Muottas Muragl
Area: Eastern Swiss Alps
Date of walk: 27th June 2014
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 11.3 miles (including 1.5 miles from hotel to funicular)
Weather: sunshine and blue skies at first, clouded over later on
We were staying in the Engadine area of Switzerland based at the excellent Hotel Albris in the quiet town of Pontresina. We set off from the hotel and walked out of the village to the base station of the funicular train which quickly whisked us up to about 8,000 feet above sea level. The views of St Moritz, the Engadine lakes and the surrounding mountains were out of this world
An easy path follows the contours of the mountain side and we traversed along it at high altitude, gaping at the views all the while, until we reached Alp Languard – a small restaurant at the top of a chair lift. We had lunch here and then took a detour into the Val Languard and the Paradis Hut
There then followed a long but easy descent down from the Muottas Muragl, the last section being through pine woods, until we finally made it back down to Pontresina
It was a memorable walk, with too many highlights to mention in this brief summary, so I’ll let the photos tell the whole story
Click on the icon below for the route map
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
The day before the walk, a few photos from the window of the train
The journey from the airport at Zurich to our base in Pontresina was spectacular
The railway twists and turns around hairpin bends, crosses deep gorges, and goes through rock tunnels - an amazing feat of engineering
On the section between Chur and Pontresina, the track rises nearly 4,000 feet
All too soon the incredible journey ends and we reach our destination - Pontresina
Next morning, we look out from our hotel balcony and it’s a perfect day for walking - let’s go!
As we walk through Pontresina we look up towards the mountains where we’ll be later
Walking through meadows to the foot of the funicular just outside Pontresina
The ride takes about 15 minutes and gets us to an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet above sea level
What a view from the top - this is looking towards St Moritz and we can see five lakes along the valley
We head into Val Muragl towards Piz Muragl, the pointed peak. We’ll turn back further along the valley to join the path on the right
At this point we cross the Ova da Muragl to head back down the valley for a short distance, before continuing the traverse along the mountain side
The path we’d followed to this point is on the right of the picture
St Moritz and its lake come into view again
Val Roseg
We bear left to stay on the Panorama route
The views were superb along this section which runs above Pontresina, down below and out of sight
Val Roseg again
Ladies first
Alp Languard restaurant - time for a spot of lunch
We could have descended at the restaurant but decided to follow the path towards Piz Albris - the mountain which our hotel is named after
Marmot territory!
Looking down Val Languard
The highest point of our walk today, about 8,400 feet
We’re now on the other side of the Val Languard
We had some refreshments at the Paradise Hut, set in a dramatic and isolated location. We chatted to the friendly owner - every day for the last 31 years (weather permitting), she has carried up the fresh produce for the restaurant by hand, involving a ski lift ride from valley level and a trek from the top of the lift at Alp Languard. We were full of admiration
The Morteratsch Glacier - we hadn’t planned it at the time, but we’d walk to the foot of it later that week
On the way down now
Gilly looks down over Pontresina
Almost back down to Pontresina
A well earned drink on the balcony after a fantastic walk
