I had the most amazing time in Amstedam (you can see my photos from this city here: Part I and Part II), but after almost a month away from Switzerland, I was eager to put on my hiking boots again and going to the mountains… Since I arrived to Switzerland one and a half years ago, hiking every weekend has become a routine… my favorite routine!! Well, I don’t know if that’s the appropriate name… I love planning the weekend hike during the week (this makes the week way more bearable), waking up early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, watching from the window if the sky is clear (not because I mind the clouds… I just like to think about the kind of photos that I’m going to take that day), taking the train or the car and travel to the destination I chose for that weekend… The travel itself is usually gorgeous, the sights you get from the windows are always worth the trip… And then, you arrive to this awesome new place… or even if I have been there already, it always looks like different, as Swiss landscapes change so much in each season… And the fun begins! It’s a tiring routine, but it’s also a very rewarding one! And, of course, it’s easy to become addict to the Swiss landscapes… they are so beautiful!!
For the first hike of this new season, I chose a new location. We had tickets to take one of the oldest mountain trains still operative in Europe: the cute wood Stanserhorn train, from 1893. It takes you from the town of Stans (Canton Luzern) to the mountain station of Kälti, where a “cabrio” funicular takes you to the top of the Stanserhorn mountain at 1989m above sea level. They were two great rides. The first one, slowly climbing the first part of the slope with the old wood train while the cows around looked up to watch us passing. The second one was fun, being in the upper deck of the gondola, entering the low clouds that seemed to cover the whole mountain. But as the gondola was ascending, the fog went from thick to blinding white light all around, until it came above the clouds just before reaching the summit of Stanserhorn.
I stayed for a while enjoying the autumn sun on my face while I was taking photos of the sea of clouds below and some Alp summits sticking out from the clouds like islands on a white sea. After that, I headed to the valley below, in a trail descending the mountain covered by a thick fog. That was not great for landscape photos, so I turned my attention to the small details around: tiny droplets from the fog, small mushrooms on the sides of the path and other autumnal signs that cheered me all the way… After a few hours walking in this condition (and after buying some cheese and yogurt produced by local farms on the valley), the circular route went back to the top of Stanserhorn. I reached the summit just in time to see one of the most spectacular sunsets I’ve ever seen in Switzerland!
So, here are the photos from the first autumnal hike of this year! I’m so happy to be back in Switzerland after summer! I don’t know why, but I feel this season I’m going to take more photos than ever… So I hope you’re ready for a lot of golden tones in my future posts!! 🙂
In the meantime, I hope you like these ones! Have a great week!!
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Mil gracias, Carmen!!! Que ilusión que te haya gustado el post!!! 🙂
Mer,muy bonitas todas.
Mil gracias, Isaac!!! Qué ilusión que te hayan gustado!! 🙂
Me ha encantado tu reportaje y me han impresionado varías de tus fotografías. No me defraudas nunca eres detallista y muy buena fotógrafa
Seguiré viendo todo lo que pongas en tu bloc, continua con tu faceta fotográfica. Un beso muy fuerte 😘
Muchas gracias, Mariola!!! De verdad que me hace muchísima ilusión que te hayan gustado las fotos!! Gracias por seguirme y apoyarme siempre!!! Un beso enorme!! 🙂
Spectular. I’ve never experienced a sunset above the clouds and have never seen a picture of it. Amazing!
Thanks a mil, Anne!!! I loved this hike… it was so special being in the cloud, and then above it!! It was like being in a totally different place just walking a few meters down the mountain… a ethereal and cold world of fog, where the dew covered everything and the only sound was the bells from the distant cows that you couldn’t see… and then, above the clouds, warm and sunny, like being in an island surrounded by a white fluffy sea…
When I saw the conditions and once we knew that we could take the cable car down to the valley after sunset, I knew I had to see it from the summit… it was so beautiful!! I had only seen something like that when I had taken a super early fight… but on the plane the sunrise is super fast and impossible to photograph! I only regret not having my tripod with me for this hike (I though it was going to be cloudy all day… you never know what you’re going to find in the mountains after all!!)… lesson learnt! 🙂
Mercedes, I love your story – make me all dreamy, seeing those wilds with my inner eye. And your photos are so beautiful, fog being no excuse, but a wonderful reason 🙂 Mysterious atmoshpere in the foggy photos, and the details are so lovely. For those drops and mushrooms only I would wish you were hiking in those woods, hehe. Such a lovely photo walk with you! 🙂
Thanks a million, Marina!! So happy you liked my little hike in the clouds! For me it was beautiful… not being able to watch the great landscapes in front of me makes me realize how much beauty is on the small things around :)There’s always something worth to be photographed!
You are so positive, Mercedes! And it is so wise what you say. When the big clouds cover the views – you turn your attention to small things. A good lesson. I would like to take it with me outside of hiking too :))
I try to be positive… I just forget it sometimes, hahaha. But I do think that this is a good way to stay positive… as we talked in other post, it’s just about trying to find the little good/beautiful things around you! It’s just the first step! 🙂
I am in the same boat 😁 trying to be positive and getting off the track)) Yesterday I bought myself a mug with a print “Enjoy life”- just a reminder to myself. I can get too stressed at times, trying to control all the processes of life, and forget to let it go and smell those roses))
Oh, those misty nature details were so beautiful!! You have a way with your camera, very enjoyable to see!
Thanks a mil, S! Well, before we took the train to ascend to the mountain summit I was a bit disappointed with all those clouds… but then I saw from the webcam (a lot of peaks/mountain restaurants in Switzerland have webcams, so you can check the weather conditions in real time!) the sea of fog around the summit… I knew it was going to be a great hiking day! Well, we hiked all day in the cloud… so no landscapes, I had to focus on the small things I found around me… You can find so much beauty in those small details! And then, the grand finale… the sunset! It was glorious! I’m so happy you like the photos!
Have a great weekend with your little 2! 🙂
Thank you dear Mercedes, we will! 🙂 Hope you have fun weekend plans too 💕(And yes, nature’s details are always beautiful and a few droplets always make things look magical! Plus, your talent with the camera! win-win combination!)
Awesome set of photos Mercedes!
Thanks a million, Michael!!! It was a very beautiful day… even if the best part of it I was hiking in dense fog and I couldn’t see anything around me! hehehe! But I like how this kind of days make me be a bit more creative and practice other types of photography! It’s challenging and fun! 🙂