I was hoping to go to Oktoberfest in one of the previous two weekends, but timing proved difficult. Long story made short, I chose to go to Switzerland instead of drinking beer. The weather was right for hiking, and the long weekend was right for finally doing some more “extreme” photography.

First, I have to make a plug for the hotel I stayed at. As is usually the case, I started by looking at booking.com and saw that the Hotel Silberhorn was decently rated and priced. I called them to ask if they had availability — and they quoted me an even better price than what I had seen online. When I arrived, the owner (the hotel is family owned) asked if I would be able to attend breakfast, and I told him I’d probably be gone an hour before it started. He offered me a sandwich, but in packing it also packed me a lunch sandwich, bottle of water, and an apple. He did this the next day, too. Parking was free, breakfast was included, and the hotel was literally a three minute walk (across the street and up a small hill) from the Lauterbrunnen train station. I usually don’t writing glowing reviews about hotels, but this one was fantastic. The room even had a balcony. I could gush on about this forever, but…

As I wrote a long paragraph ago, the weather was right for hiking. In fact, it’s been nice for a few weeks now — maybe to make up for the dismal (i.e. cold and wet) July and August. While this seems perfect for picture-making, rain helps bring down dust in the air, which otherwise gets in between a camera sensor and the intended subject. This was especially evident in Hegau. 20 km before exiting the A81 autobahn for the Swiss border, there’s a rest stop with a decent dinner selection. A month ago, right before my second trip to Switzerland, this is what the sunset looked like.

Continue reading “When it doesn’t rain” →