2018 week 31: Flumserberg

The first of August is the Swiss national day. I didn't take any photos this year, and because of the general drought conditions, I didn't find myself in a celebratory mood anyway. 

We did go for a hike in Flumserberg this week and this is one of the photos I took there. The backdrop is the Churfirsten.

2018 week 17: Finsterarhorn and Eiger

I think the Finsterarhorn and Eiger (the north face) are visible here. Please let me know if I'm wrong, so that I can make the necessary corrections!

Shot this from the (economy seat) of a plane as I was returning from a work trip. The window glass was pretty scratched up.

2018 week 14: Mud flats of Lake Gruyere

The Lake of Gruyere, a manmade reservoir in the canton of Fribourg, is drained every spring to accommodate rising water levels from the melting snow as the temperature rises. This photo I took on Saturday shows the lake bed as it is currently. I'm guessing this is mud that is deposited as sediment by the water washing down the mountains.

This year the snowpack is thicker than usual, and there are concerns about flooding.

Rossens Dam
Year: 1947
Type: Arch

Height: 83 m
Reservoir
Length: 13.5 km
Watershed: 954 km2
Volume: 220 mil. m3

Links:
For some excellent drone shots, search for the following terms: greyerzersee flauraud

62. Boats on Lake Zurich

Boats on the lake, with the alps in the background.

61. Red tram, blue tram

The alps in the distance over Lake Zurich. 
The Quaibrücke with two trams on it.
Boats docked in the foreground.

It's a pity I didn't get a better exposure.

Excursion Titlis: Inside a glacier

A foray into a tunnel inside one of the glaciers. This was anticlimactic for me to some extent. Granted the full extent wasn't open to the public when I was there. 

It seems one still has cell-phone reception... Or maybe she's just checking the time.

Excursion Titlis: Engelberg

Here is a view of part of Engelberg, the town at the foot of Titlis. This is to your back as you ride the cable car up to the top.

Excursion Titlis: Cliff Walk

Here we have "Europe's highest suspension bridge", the Titlis Cliff Walk.

Excursion Titlis: power stations as beacons

Looking out to the north from Titlis.

The two plumes in the distance belong to the nuclear power stations at Gösgen (left) and Leibstadt (right). Villigen is close to Leibstadt and some of you may have seen the plume in my photos from there.

At the Simplon Pass

This is an old picture, from April, when we went to the Simplon Pass (2005 m above sea level) in the canton of Valais/Wallis. Shown here is the Hospice du Simplon/Simplon Hospiz. In English, think of the archaic version of "hospice": a lodging for travelers, esp. one run by a religious order (Source OED).

More at the Wikipedia page:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplon_Pass>

I'm going to take a break from blogging because of personal reasons. Hope to see you back here before too long.

Trottinett on the line in Filzbach, Glarus

I think I'm back...

Anyway, would you take a ride down the slope on one of these?

House with lake and mountain view

One of my favorite houses ever, in one of my favorite locations ever. More at ArchDaily.

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A view on the lake

*Sigh*

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Around Rigi Scheidegg

The mountain Rigi is perhaps the best known feature of Schwyz and around that area there are others to explore. This is somewhere around Scheidegg as in yesterday's photo. I have a few more for the next couple of days.

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Blues in Schwyz

Okay, moving on to canton Schwyz now, one of the founding states of Switzerland. Both the name and the flag possibly originate from those of Schwyz. Wiki entry for Schwyz here.

Note the Bernese mountain dog in the lower left... I'll have to do a series on the Swiss dog breeds one day.


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Somewhere along the Nufenen pass

A photograph I took while traveling along the mountain pass that connects canton Valais to canton Ticino. Sometime in 2006. Note to self: Return there.

A glimpse of a glacier

Hopefully I'm not embarrassing myself by falsely calling the smooth piece visible in the center, at the trough of the curves, a glacier.

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Where the Rhone begins

The Rhone river doesn't make it to my part of Switzerland, but it rises here, near where the Aare begins and it would be remiss of me not to mention it. More about it at this Wikipedia page: Rhone.

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Totensee

Translates to "sea of the dead". Elevation at the surface: 2160m above sea level.

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Hydroelectric power

Dams help to harness the energy held by the water at these altitudes. Power lines feed them into the grid.

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