Getting Closer to the Mountains

Dent de Jaman and Rochers de Naye

A day out on the most beautiful day of this week

took me closer to the mountains in my area.

I took the funicular up as far as it would go, to a place called Mont Pélerin.

Many years ago, I climbed that thumb-shaped mountain on the left.

Going up was fine, but coming down the steep side was quite a challenge.

Luckily for me, a very kind, experienced mountain climber

gave me some excellent tips and helped me find stable footholds!

The snow on the summits was quite fresh

 and looked so striking against the blue of the sky.

Pulling back to get in a wider scene with the villages below.

The Lake Léman is included in this capture

and the range of mountains in the background is called

Les Dents du Midi which has seven summits.

This range is situated in the Chablais Alps in the Swiss Canton of Valais.

They reach a height of 3257 metres.

Here is a closer view.

Since the sun goes down rather quickly in the afternoons now,

I was able to capture the warm lighting on the same mountains

as I walked down to the next funicular stop to reach the lake.

These two towers are called:

Tour de Mayen and Tour d'Aï.

They are situated in the canton of Vaud where I live.

The atmosphere changes completely as the sun goes down.

I love how the sun catches certain edges of the steep slopes and makes them look so majestic.

I managed to catch the vibrant colours of the sunset

which lit up the lake in tones of gold and orange.

A perfect end to a lovely day!

When I'm in the mountains, at any time of the year, I feel as if I'm in a magical world

away from all the noise, the people, the traffic.

It feels as if I'm communing with Nature

as if I am connected to everything around me

and not just a spectator.