Winter in Elm

March is here and with it, the first signs of spring. Here in Zurich there’s hardly any trace of winter. Maybe it’s still possible to find tiny patches of snow or ice in Uetliberg, but not in the city anymore. There are tiny flowers growing already. A lot of crocuses and snowdrops cover the parks like a colorful blanket. And trees are starting to show some green sprouts again. The days are getting longer and brighter and everything feels a bit more alive. Even if I tried to go to the mountains as much as possible, almost every weekend since we came back from Dublin, I feel this winter has been shorter. Maybe it’s because I didn’t feel as cold as last year… And now I’m trying to squeeze every last minute of winter I can!

A few months ago I visited Elm, a small town in canton Glarus at the end of a gorgeous deep valley, in the heart of the Tectonic Arena Sardona (a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site). I had already gone there last year to visit the regional cheese market and the Alpabfahrt (when the farmers take their cows from the summer alpine pastures in the mountains to the valley for the winter), and I fell in love with the beautiful autumnal atmosphere in the valley. After having to change plans because of the weather, we decided to give Elm a try in winter. And we couldn’t have chose a better location!

There is a small ski resort in Elm with some winter hiking trails. I though there would be a lot of people hiking. But again, what seemed a busy place at first, soon became a very calm hiking trail through the forest, with beautiful views of the valley and all the summits of the area. The light that day wasn’t the best. The clouds weren’t too thick, so they didn’t filter the intense sun light. But as the sunset was approaching, the clouds started to move fast and there was a beautiful display of light in the mountains and the sky.

Here are some photos I took that day. I hope you like them!