Hiking in Switzerland, summer of 2010

[Mohamed Ellozy]

On the way down I shot a ton of photos of the mountains peaking out from the clouds, will need much weeding and editing before they are fit for public viewing.

Did a lot of weeding, some captions ... problem is that I really cannot ID the peaks south of the Jungfrau. Anyway, they are here.

Let me know what you think of the photos ...

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

By and large a rainy week in Mürren, gorgeous day today as I leave for Saas Fee. Still was able to get out every day as the rain was more of a cold miserable drizzle than real rain.

Forecast for coming week looks good!

Went out for some early morning "farewell" photos, will post one or two from Saas Fee after selecting and editing.

What the hell, quick photo of morning sun on Breithorn and Grosshorn:

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[forestgnome]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

... gorgeous day today as I leave for Saas Fee.

I am staying in a hotel, rather than an apartment, in Saas Fee. Tiny room, but with a view! Lagginhorn (4,010 meters) Fletschhorn (3,993 meters) from my window in setting sun:

Fletschhorn alone:

I am hiking as much as my aging body allows, taking lots of pictures. Getting lazy about the writing, hope to catch up back in Thornton.

 

[Maddy]

Fantastic. Positively beautiful.
Thank you.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Hey Mohamed is that you I see waving from the top of that peak there?

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Saas Fee is an idyllic car-free village ... think of Heidi and Peter ...

And here is one of the parking facilities that make it an idyllic car-free village:

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Hey Mohamed is that you I see waving from the top of that peak there?

Ed,

Anyone who is on the summit of an almost 4K (metric!!!) about half an hour before sunset is in deep trouble

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Ed,

Anyone who is on the summit of an almost 4K (metric!!!) about half an hour before sunset is in deep trouble

You can share your troubles with us Mohamed, we've got big shoulders.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

I am staying in a hotel, rather than an apartment, in Saas Fee. Tiny room, but with a view! Lagginhorn (4,010 meters) Fletschhorn (3,993 meters) from my window ...

It is easy for me to photograph the Lagginhorn and Fletschhorn as all I have to do is open the window.

But to get the giants of the Mischabel Range (including the Dom, 4,545 meters, highest mountain entirely within Switzerland) in the rising sun I have to get out before breakfast (it is cold before breakfast at 6,000 feet!). Did so yesterday, results here. Sample of two:

The summits waking up, village still asleep:

The mighty Dom in all his splendor:

I guess I got carried away and zoomed a bit too much on the Dom (no cropping); effective focal length 363mm. But I am pretty pleased with the result.

FWIW the effective focal length on the Fletschhorn in the setting sun photo in a previous post was 296 mm.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Today I went for what I expected to be a low key short walk (about three hours) down to the valley, then along the valley, and back by bus. Sneakers, fanny pack and hiking poles. Turned out more interesting than expected!

Just out of the village I met a couple with a camera who pointed behind me. I turned around, looked, and got my camera out just in time to shoot this chamois before s/he bolted:

Then I came across a field (enclosed with electric wire, as usual) with five llamas. Best I could tell there was a family of four plus an unattached white llama. Lots of pictures here, here is a shot of mama llama with the two kiddies:

At the end of the walk I reached the village of Saas Balen, with a very unusual round church:

Not bad for a three hour hike in a minor key!

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Just added a new post to my blog: Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger in Sun and Clouds.

There are at least a couple of hikes that I think are worth writing up, but my writing energy is low, so don't hold your breaths! I will probably be able to summon the energy to produce another post of selected mountain photos, mainly early morning/evening ones with interesting colors.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Good stuff; thanks for posting, Mo.

I need to attend a climate conference in Bern next July, so definitely will plan to spend some time in the Jungfrau-Eiger area either before or after the conference, or both!