A few days ago, the Swiss government decreed a lock down in Switzerland. As coronavirus is spreading quickly, shops, restaurants, schools and everything that is not essential is closed until April 19th at least. It includes, of course, ski resorts and mountain trains and cable cars. Suddenly, winter is over. No more winter hikes or snowshoeing. I could say the same about social live. Now, working from home is the new rule and we only go out when we really need it. It means, we only go out for groceries or the pharmacy and maybe a short walk in the nearby forest. That will be all for the next month…

It’s hard to believe that not even two weeks ago we were happily planning many things… Hikes, trips, barbecues with friends… I wanted to go to so many places before the snow melted. Now it’s sunny and warm. Snow is melting in the mountains (I can see it from the many webcams in the Swiss Alps). My terrace is full of flowers and and bees and bumblebees flit all around. And from my window I see the cherry blossoms are blooming… I wasn’t prepared to say goodbye to winter just yet and now I’m going to miss the blossom season… It feels weird! But I’m not a negative person. I’m not planing to spend this whole month just watching the news, on social media reading about the virus or complaining. I prefer to go through old archives, reading and learning new photography and editing tricks, finding inspiration and beauty in the small things that surround me at home and, of course, I’ll plan new adventures for when life returns to normal!

Before all of this happened, we had time to go out for a last winter hike. A friend visited us and we took him to one of the most beautiful lakes I know: the tranquil Arnisee, in Canton Uri. Arnisee is a small reservoir. You need to take a tiny cablecar to reach the lake, where a few easy snowshoe trails start. It is a very quiet area, ideal to enjoy magical winter landscapes without all the fuss of bigger ski resorts. Arnisee is a great place to have a little taste of the magnificent Swiss Alps without having to go far from Zurich. We enjoyed a few hours of snowshoewing around the lake and the forests and a fantastic Rösti at the little mountain hotel Alpenblick.

Here are some photos from this last winter hike. I hope these photos cheer you up a little during these days at home!

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