On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
This series was created by Alain Chamot (1971-2020).
way2blue
A few photos for our fall color series. I stayed in the village of Walchsee, Austria, in the Tyrolean Alps for a couple weeks in late 2009. As I mentioned in a previous Walchsee series, the surrounding mountains host numerous, well marked hiking trails, with Alms and Hütte rewarding hikers (and mountain bikers) with beers and stunning views. These photos are from shorter hikes in the flatlands rather than the mountains.
Trees starting to display their autumn colors, at the start of a favorite hike around the Schwemm Moorlands (Moorlandschaft Schwemm, a protected remnant bog that hosts a diversity of unique habitats). The lower mountain slopes have been cleared for pasture. Behind the barn, you can see a trail headed up the mountainside.
View at the north end of the Schwemm. The fields have been freshly sprayed (with liquified, organic dairy cow manure).
View from the south side of the Schwemm, with a bit of ice on the ponded water. A great, all-day hike heads up the mountain pass on the opposite side of the moor, to Wandberghütte, a stone’s throw from the German border.
Close-up of the village’s golf course, juxtaposed against the freshly fertilized fields.
View to the southwest, with an evening ground fog forming above the moor. Fascinating to watch it forming as the sun set.
Another favorite hike, this one around the lake, Walchsee, that the village is named after. View across the lake to the southeast with trees starting to show their autumn color. The cluster of what look to be tiny houses is actually a campground of trailers. The white ‘speck’ at the base of the cleared area on the right side is Lippenalm. Another fun destination.
View, from the opposite side of the lake, showing the same mountains as the first photo in the series.
Close-up of trees in various states of disrobing for winter.
JanieM
They’re all lovely, but I especially like the contrast in the first one between the light blue sky and the deep green beneath, with the colorful mountains in between. The way those pastures are cut out of the mountainside is quite interesting.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
Good thing this is the After Dark version of OTR, otherwise we’d be the subject of a blogger ethics panel.
stinger
What a beautiful area. I can see and almost smell it!
West of the Rockies
Lovely pictures! Thanks for sharing.
Dan B
These are interesting to see since my image of Austrian mountains is from having on the train through Innsbruck with its extremely steep peaks. These look impressive but gentle.
Dan B
From an internet search it appears there are some very jagged peaks in the area but not in these photos. Fun area to hike.
Amir Khalid
The southern Tyrol! I am reminded of a song.
way2blue
@Dan B: Yes. Wilder Kaiser and Zahmer Kaiser mountains rise above the lake. Lots of trails, with Alms & Hütte along the way. We often drive around to the backside of Wilder Kaiser and walk up the valley; sometimes we see para-gliders who launched from the ski lift in Kössen venture over the ridge tops.