Day 7: Mount Pilatus
The weather forecast had improved dramatically overnight, so we decided to attempt a trip up Mount Pilatus. A few different local legends about the origin of the name exist. One claims that Pilatus was named so because Pontius Pilate was buried there. However, a similar legend is told of a mountain in Italy. Another is that the mountain looks like the belly of a large man, Pilate, lying on his back and was thus named for him. The name may also be derived from "pileatus", meaning "cloud-topped." (that's my bet). We elected to do the "Golden Round Trip", a popular route involving taking a boat from Lucerne across the lake to Alpnachstad, going up on the cogwheel railway, coming down on the aerial cableways and panorama gondolas, and taking a bus back to Lucerne. At the recommendation of the concierge at the hotel, we went in reverse to avoid the crowds.
It started out overcast, but we saw a few blue holes in the sky so we had our fingers crossed.
