missing cows in the swiss national park
i really didn't want to, but shell forced me.
it's always a struggle getting up early on a saturday morning, at the expense of sleeping in, eating pancakes, and drinking lots of coffee, but the mountains and sun were acalling. so off we went to the engadine valley in the southeastern corner of graubünden for a weekend of pleasent strolling.
after dumping our still spiffy new tent at the local campground, we were off upwards. the swiss national park was established a bit over 100 years ago, in a region that had been totally deforested, overgrazed, and overmined, so much so that leaving it as a "wilderness" was about all that could be done. impressively enough though, it's bounced back pretty well, and there are apparently the largest herds of gemsen and steinböckli in switzerland there now - especially in the hunting season. and even a bear at the moment! we only spotted a friendly deer or two, but the cow-free hillsides were quite a novelty.
back in zernez for the evening, we filled up on bearpizza (spinach, berries and baby sheep) and checked out the nock circus that was the big hit in town for the weekend. zebras really look like fake painted ponies.
the best thing about sleeping close to the mountains is that it's possible to sleep in and start walking early. perfect. after checking the paper for the tour result (impressive for cadel evans to be so close to the spanish drugcheat) and some coffee with gipfeli we were again up and away. two ascents of 1500m in two days is a bit much for the legs, but the lakes of macun were very pretty. it's cool to be able to see into the beginnings of the italian and austrian alps as well.
arriving back in zernez on the train from lavin, we had a scanty 16 minutes to race to the campground, pack up our tent, get back to the station, buy tickets, and jump on the train. it was close, but our efficiency was very impressive, and we were able to relax all the way back to zurich, where it had been raining all afternoon. so i wasn't really all that mad with michelle.
it's always a struggle getting up early on a saturday morning, at the expense of sleeping in, eating pancakes, and drinking lots of coffee, but the mountains and sun were acalling. so off we went to the engadine valley in the southeastern corner of graubünden for a weekend of pleasent strolling.
after dumping our still spiffy new tent at the local campground, we were off upwards. the swiss national park was established a bit over 100 years ago, in a region that had been totally deforested, overgrazed, and overmined, so much so that leaving it as a "wilderness" was about all that could be done. impressively enough though, it's bounced back pretty well, and there are apparently the largest herds of gemsen and steinböckli in switzerland there now - especially in the hunting season. and even a bear at the moment! we only spotted a friendly deer or two, but the cow-free hillsides were quite a novelty.
back in zernez for the evening, we filled up on bearpizza (spinach, berries and baby sheep) and checked out the nock circus that was the big hit in town for the weekend. zebras really look like fake painted ponies.
the best thing about sleeping close to the mountains is that it's possible to sleep in and start walking early. perfect. after checking the paper for the tour result (impressive for cadel evans to be so close to the spanish drugcheat) and some coffee with gipfeli we were again up and away. two ascents of 1500m in two days is a bit much for the legs, but the lakes of macun were very pretty. it's cool to be able to see into the beginnings of the italian and austrian alps as well.
arriving back in zernez on the train from lavin, we had a scanty 16 minutes to race to the campground, pack up our tent, get back to the station, buy tickets, and jump on the train. it was close, but our efficiency was very impressive, and we were able to relax all the way back to zurich, where it had been raining all afternoon. so i wasn't really all that mad with michelle.
posted by benjamin at 8:46 pm
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