Visiting Swiss Grand Canyon and hiking till I got sunburned
The last holiday I had in July before facing up the exams this year has been spent quite well in Switzerland. This time I was really dying to be in the mountains. So I planned to spend a few days in Switzerland and some other days in the Dolomite, Italy. Unfortunately, the weather was not on my side. It was a kinda rainy week at that time so I needed to change the plan. Shortly instead of doing camp in the Dolomite mountain, I got an option to go to Bruen-Valendas and stay in a vacation house of my colleague.
I see gliders very up close
To kill time before starting the real trip, I made a short visit to an airfield in Bad Ragaz. For the first time in my life, I see gliders very close. Had really no idea about what gliders are and how they work. Luckily, my beloved colleague could gladly give me some information about gliders. I became very interested in this and paid him attention. From then I know that glider can not take off on their own because they have no engine! So they are depending on another powered aeroplane to launch them. Although I did not have a chance to fly a glider at that time, I still had some fun there.
The airplane I posed in front of has a very special history. The skin is very unique. While the glider crashed years ago and the front got destroyed, the owner had to repair the nose. After that, it got an arty front. A shark had was painted and it’s very good visible when the glide is flying. A fun moment when seeing a fish flying. The airplane is called “Haifish” by it’s owner.
By the way: Did you know that those gliders can do acrobatic? This aeroplane is one of those where it’s allowed to do and it can hold crazy G loads.
Walserhaus Brün
The vacation house is a Walser house which is in Switzerland and Liechtenstein used as a term of a historical wooden blockhouse style. Located in Bruen-Valendas at 1300 m above the sea with a beautiful mountain view, fresh air and the quiet surrounding make this place exactly the perfect place I really need to be for this holiday.
Swiss Grand Canyon — Rheinschlucht
Rhein gorge is one of the must-visit places in Switzerland. You can make a tour through this Swiss Grand Canyon by car, train, hike or mountain bike. It’s located in Flims, the canton Grisons (Graubünden).
To see the Swiss Grand Canyon, I went 3,2 km from the nearest parking place to Il Spir. It’s a viewing platform built by a Chur architect Corinna Menn. This place offers a 180-degree-view over the Swiss Grand Canyon. It’s free for everyone to come here with zero fees.
Caumasee — Flims
Right on the way to Il Spir, there’s the lake Cauma. It’s a hidden gem of a mountain lake in Flims. It’s situated within a walking distance from the centre of the village, surrounded by forest with well-maintained walking routes. In the middle of the lake, you can find an island with 3000 square meters wide, called Isla (island in romance, the local language). You should have not missed seeing the gorgeous green water, which the lake is famous for! During nice weather, you can get the opportunity to swim in or just sunbathe there. Moreover, there is a cable car at this lake that is linking the lake with the trail. What I found a shame here, is that they charged you overprice to get in and it’s even fenced around! It’s a very touristy place, but a must-see.
Schlüechtli — my first hiking and sunburn experience
The vacation house, where I stayed, located exactly on the mountain range. It gives me the opportunity to still go hiking on the mountain. My colleague arranges the plan for that day and Schluechtli is our hiking destination. I was getting very excited to see how I do my first hike!
Schluechtli is a mountain peak of the Swiss mountain range in the north-western part of the Alps. Located on the south of Versam in the canton Grisons with 2283 meters high above the sea makes this peak somehow exhausting to be hiked. Although the hiking track is perfectly suitable for the beginner, with only some steep parts on the way up there. But the track also goes quite uphill. There is one other option to reach there even with a light hike. It’s easily reachable from Tenna on its southern side via Tenner Chrüz.
From the vacation house, it took us about two hours to get there. We started the hike from 7:40 in the morning with mild temperatures under 15 degree. I did not provide myself with any hiking gear… Just hiked with normal running shoes, a short, and sports top. I didn’t even have any jacket with me — very bad preparation.
We made some short-stops in the meantime and took some pictures of course! Foggy, light rain and sometimes change with sunshine was our companion during the hike. We barely see other hikers till we reached the Tenner Chrüz, where there is a criss-cross to be found. From there it’s now only halfway to get to the peak with an hour approximate time to get through. Be ready because from here the trek is way harder and more exhausting. At least it was for me!
In the midday, after two hours of hiking, we finally reached Schluechtli! All of the struggles are now paid off. They view I had was incredibly beautiful — ah I can not find any word to describe how beautiful it was. Sorry for being tacky, but you know this was my first hike ever in my life and it meant very special for me.
Oh yea about the sunburn, I told you all that I had no good preparation for the hike — no hike shoes, no suitable hike clothes, no suncream. So when I and my colleague got back right after hiking, my colleague noticed the different of my skin tone. I was then wondering, is it what people called sunburn? Ah, it makes no difference with getting darker skin tone! My thought at first. I didn’t feel any pain at all. The days after I felt a very slight burn on the skin and my skin was also peeling off just like a snake changing its skin! What a horrible experience. Since then I learned that suncream is very important and that being an Asian with no pale colour does not guarantee that you can not get a sunburn! Never underestimate the sunlight and always get your suncream with you in summer, especially in the mountains on higher attitudes! Either way, you’ll regret it just like me.
I put one picture down here just for you to see how extreme the sunburn was. Actually, I got the sunburn almost on my whole body where it did not cover with clothes since I just had a short and sports bra on at that time.
