We were going to hike and spend time in the Alps much more this summer, but somehow, time passed by way too fast. So this was our last trip of the summer to the mountains and it wasn’t even much of a hike either. And though it was very crowded – lots of Chinese tourists – and despite the overcast weather it was nice and the views were beautiful. Also, the closer we got to the lake in the last picture, the less crowded it got.

It took me some time to post this but it’s much better to look at those photos from this past summer in the Swiss Alps now that it’s cold out. Oeschinensee is a mountain lake with a wonderful blue color in a region that offers many hiking routes, from an hour short to a few days long. We chose a rather short one for a day-trip we had long been waiting for. It took us a few hours to walk from the cable car station to the lake, halfway around, and back. The views were gorgeous.

The Matterhorn is one of the most famous and best marketed mountains of the Alps. A good place to see it is usually the Gornergrat summit, 3135 masl, reachable by Europe’s highest open-air railway (and second highest railway in Europe after the Jungfrau). The Matterhorn is usually the star and steals all the other mountains in the area the show. But what if it hides behind a wall of clouds?