One of the things that I love about Switzerland is its weather. It may sound like a weird thing to say for a Spaniard. But it is true. I love that Switzerland has four very distinct seasons, that it is cold in winter and hot in summer, and the seasons in between are always an explosion of colors… And one of the things that I love more about this country is that, even if it’s grey and gloomy in Zurich, you can take the train or the car and don’t need to travel far to find the sun in another valley. Specially after living in grey (and green) Ireland, this fact about Switzerland is something that amuses and amazed me. Definitely, it’s one of the perks of living close to the majestic Alps.
That’s what happened a few weeks ago. The last days had been dark and rainy and we were a bit fed up with that mood. So we started looking at other locations for the weekend, searching for a place where, at least, it wasn’t going to rain… And we found one that, no matter the weather, is always a beautiful one: Flims. I’ve already been there twice before. Once last autumn, it made me fall in love with the impressive colors of its lakes and forests. And another one in winter early this year (no photos… I carried my camera and heavy lenses but I forgot my SD card at home… I learnt my lesson!!). A hike in this pretty region of canton Graubünden is always very rewarding!! And it is an easy one, perfect for those days when you just need a nice day walk in the nature, long enough to leave you just tired, not exhausted.
So we woke up to a very foggy morning in Zurich. After driving out of the valley of the Zurich lake, the fog started to disperse and when we arrived to Flims, there was a beautiful blue sky with some scattered fluffy clouds. It was a cold November day (we were already wearing our winter hiking clothes). While we started to walk to the first lake, Crestasee, all the landscape around was covered with a beautiful layer of frost. The beautiful autumn colors had already faded around the lake, but there was something that got my attention: there was a thin layer of fog covering the lake. It was a beautiful sight, something I’ve never seen before. From Crestasee, we walked to Ruinaulta, the impressive white canyon of the turquoise Rhine river, and then, to Caumasee, the other lake of Flims, where I found again that mesmerising fog covering the beautiful lake…
I’d have loved to stay longer by the lake and see the sunset there… But we decided to go home early, as an important task was awaiting us: decorating our Christmas tree :)!
Here are some of the photos I took during my last hike of this year. I hope you like them!
Morning frost. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 278mm f/5 1/200sec. ISO125
Morning frost. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/200sec. ISO125
Crestasee. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/11 1/160sec. ISO125
Crestasee. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/60sec. ISO125
Crestasee. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/160sec. ISO125
Ruinaulta. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/160sec. ISO160
Frozen leaves. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 70mm f/5 1/400sec. ISO640
Caumasee. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 47mm f/11 1/200sec. ISO160
Caumasee. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/30sec. ISO640
Caumasee. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24mm f/11 1/640sec. ISO160
Exquisite photos, Mercedes
Thanks a mil, Amanda!! The lakes of this region are just stunning, but in autumn they are beyond that! This time I missed the autumn colors, but that fog dancing above the lake was mesmerising and so beautiful… I hope I can go back again after Christmas to capture some winter scenes there 🙂
Have a great week!
Glorious reflections, Mercedes. I love the mist floating too. My Saturday post featured some quite thick mists swirling up in our hills. Nicely atmospheric! And not cold. I was surprised by your remark about the blue skies. I thought mountain weather was notorious for being changeable. 🙂 🙂
Mountain weather is very changeable indeed!! But I think I have suffered more those changes in summer than autumn, hehehe. Here in Switzerland there are areas very prone to fog. Zurich is one of them, it’s low and with a huge lake… So when it’s only fog or low clouds, it’s easy to find a place in the mountains higher than the clouds or where there isn’t fog. And we try to plan all the trips carefully, using more than one weather app and checking the webcams of the location we want to visit, so we have a very precise idea of what are we going to find when we arrive. And we pack always extra layers, just in case, hehehe (I always carry with me thin gloves and wool hat even in summer, just in case!!). This is something I love about Switzerland. The high mountains act as a barrier for the low clouds! But, of course, there are also weeks when the bad weather is everywhere and you can’t just avoid it, hehehe.
Que maravilla de paisajes y como sabes sacarle lo mas bonito de la naturaleza. Me encanta
Mil gracias, Mariola! El mérito es del paisaje… ese día nos recibió con frío y con una escarcha y niebla preciosas! Yo solo he intentado capturar lo bonito que se veía todo aquel día! 🙂