A day in the mountains

Last Monday, I spent the day in the mountains, a day trip I've been wanting to do in a long time. It was the perfect day, and with temperatures reaching up to a humid 30 degrees Celsius down here, it was definitely more agreeable up there. I took the train at 7am, and after changing trains twice and then on to the postbus for the last bit, I finally arrived at my destination. It felt so good to get off the bus, in that fresh air, with uninterrupted views, surrounded by beautiful nature. I love the mountains. I always feel at peace up there.

At an altitude of 2,007 metres, Dürrboden lies at the end of the Dischmatal. Above the tree line, the alp is treeless, the grass covered with rocks and heather, and at this time of the year, also with an abundance of wild alpine flowers that is just simply amazing.

From Dürrboden, you can continue and hike up and over the Scaletta pass at 2,606 metres, and on to the Engadin on tours of several hours. I only walked a few hundred metres futher up, spending about an hour happy about just being there.

I prefer to take the 13km walk down through the valley back to Davos. The path is easy to walk, and the landscape always slightly changing. Surrounded by mountains, gorgeous views, deep blue sky, fluffy clouds, the lush greens of the meadows, the colours of the wild flowers. Hardly any people, just the occasional alp farm. And of course cows.

I had also taken my sketchbook and watercolours and found great spot with a bench overlooking the valley. It was rather windy up there, though, I had to put the water on the ground, which wasn't very convenient, and the paint kept drying out. But at least I captured the feel of that day. The intense colours, the deep blue sky, the lush greens.

The Dischmabach, a small river, flows down the valley, carrying with it the fresh, cold water from the snow of the mountains. I love these alpine rivers. The colour of the water! I wish I could have put my feet into the water.

Toward the end of the valley, the landscape becomes gentler and richer. No more rock covered meadows, but instead rich farmland and trees. And more people. But still that abundance of wild flowers.

From the end of the valley to the train station was another good 45 minutes, and when I finally arrived, I could hardly walk anymore. The whole walk had taken me almost 5 hours, with time for taking photos and my quick sketch, and by the time I got on the train, I felt sore and aching from head to toes, and every little patch of skin that I missed with my sun cream was burnt, and the rest was also glowing in a bright lobster red. I was exhausted but happy. What else can you be, after spending the day in such a place!

I did some more drawing and sketching, but it is one of those weeks, when everything just turns out wrong. I'm okay with it, even a rubbish drawing is better than no drawing, but they're just not shareworthy. But I hope that the photographs make up for it. And I'm sorry for posting so many of them, and the small sizes, but I didn't have much time for editing, and I just couldn't make up my mind about which ones to choose. And I took over 200 pictures, so this is still just a small selection... :). (I think when you click on them, you can see them larger).