Night Travel

Night trains are fun. This time, we travelled in the fancy 2-person cabin from Zürich to Ljubljana.

gardens

community garden patches are an important part of many european cities... zürich is no exception. People set up fully-functioning houses on their tiny plots of land sometimes and use them as a refuge from the city.

Winterhorn: Ski Season is Here

First tour of the season with the Zürcher Studenten Skitourenclub was to Winterhorn (2660m), a little peak near Gotthard pass on the border between Uri and Ticino. We braved the 6 am departure from Zürich HB, then we braved some nice winds, and skied from just below the summit in a solid whiteout. Good fun with some great people!

Coming out of the valley

abandoned ski resort -- for sale!

wind 

approaching the fog

into the darkness

Sečoveljske soline & Piran

out for a stroll on a sliver of land between countries, on a ray between light and darkness.

Soline (saltpans):
    










Piran:

Glattalp - Glärnischhütte - Inner Fürberg - Klöntal

Hard to believe, but this was our first overnight in the mountains. We chose a beautiful traverse from Glattalp to the picturesque Glärnisch massif. The path led over a bizarre Karst-like landscape and down into a beautiful valley that was densely inhabited by sheep. The overnight at the Glärnishhütte was fantastic with hearty food and comfy duvets... the following morning we bravely rose at 7 am (several hours after all the rest of the overnighters at the hut) and headed up for an easy scramble to Fürberg. Easy but exciting, with a few places where use of hands was required. The descent to Klöntal was grueling, but we were rewarded with a few hours of lounging about a terrace eating and drinking well-deserved beers...

Patchy fog at Glattalp

We descended into the valley and up to the saddle between the two peaks in the distance

bright grey limestone suddenly gave way to its orange cousin

first view of Glärnischhütte - and the fun switchbacks that lead to it... 

view of the valley we descended into from the saddle in the upper left

heading up to Fürberg

On top of Fürberg (2627m) - on the other side of the crazy dropoff view to Klöntalersee

Looking toward the Glärnischfirn glacier and Vrenelisgärtli, the highest peak on the massif

Looking south - our path on the right, in the distance the more impressive peaks of Glarnerland

Idaplatzfest

Idastrasse is a small street. It runs into Idaplatz, a small square. It's a funny little place and once a year it throws a party.

 

Captain Ludd

Trio from Hell