Camping in the Swiss Alps during winter

Svintah5635

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Joined
Dec 20, 2021
Messages
23
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Location
Ljouwert, Fryslân
This weekend I went on a long desired train journey to the Swiss alps.
This ride has taken me 13 hours.
At first I went to Zurich to explore the city for the morning.

E6522982-5695-4C80-B851-41381240F3E6.jpeg


I quickly came to realise that I preferred the actual mountains over the city much much more, so I took a train early to a town about 60 km south of Zurich. Between the mountains and next to a lake I deemed it perfect. And it did not disappoint.
Even only on the ride I saw the breathtaking mountains.

CA646329-423F-4083-9923-813D408DA22C.jpeg


After a little over an hour I got to altdorf and had to buy groceries since the stores would be closed the next day on Sunday. After that, I decided to walk to the river delta where I was planning on camping. The water was so clear and so blue that you could drink it straight from the lake.

CF8CF78F-7F4F-4015-8F45-9C97CCBDD867.jpeg


Now comes obviously the hardest part: sleeping outside in -11 degree (12F) weather.
I put my hammock near the lake in the hopes of getting some warmth from there. I had used two sleeping bags and shoved them over each other to have a double sleeping bag.
I put newspapers over my bag to keep the ice from forming. And then it was time. The lowest temperature would be reached about one hour before sunrise the next day. At about 6 am the temperature would get to -11. At least I was in luck that it was a clear night without snow.

The first couple hours went by quite easily. Sleep came fast since I hadn’t slept that much the night before on the train, however, at around 3 am I started getting colder. The temperature was at that point at about -6 (21F). I got up and walked around a bit to get my blood flowing again.
I woke up again a bit after five and decided to stay in bed until half an hour before sunrise.
When there was enough light, I got up to make a fire, I made myself some hot tea and wanted the bread id bought.

8D96FBF4-17E1-4E3D-B91E-E228B48F5611.jpeg


After breakfast I walked to the lift and took it to eggberge.

1E9C8C6B-EA18-42CD-8CA2-BF860817AB59.jpeg


Grateful for the chance to warm up in the sun and have lunch there.
After that, I went to flüelen to take the train back to Zürich.
Right now I’m in the night jet, towards Düsseldorf. My first of three trains. Going to try to get some sleep, but luckily I don’t have much tomorrow.
After all, I’m proud of myself that I got myself to sleep in such extreme conditions, but it was absolutely worth it.
 

Svintah5635

Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2021
Messages
23
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Location
Ljouwert, Fryslân
So beautiful made me tear up 😢
I also let a tear roll when I was there. The crackling of the fire. The sun reflecting on the mountains, the blue water slowly rippling. It makes me remember what is the goal in life. Not to earn as much money, or to be the most beautiful, but to find your peace. And right there, I found it
 

Jim

Active member
Joined
Jan 9, 2022
Messages
26
Reaction score
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Location
Missouri
This weekend I went on a long desired train journey to the Swiss alps.
This ride has taken me 13 hours.
At first I went to Zurich to explore the city for the morning.

View attachment 67438

I quickly came to realise that I preferred the actual mountains over the city much much more, so I took a train early to a town about 60 km south of Zurich. Between the mountains and next to a lake I deemed it perfect. And it did not disappoint.
Even only on the ride I saw the breathtaking mountains.

View attachment 67439

After a little over an hour I got to altdorf and had to buy groceries since the stores would be closed the next day on Sunday. After that, I decided to walk to the river delta where I was planning on camping. The water was so clear and so blue that you could drink it straight from the lake.

View attachment 67440

Now comes obviously the hardest part: sleeping outside in -11 degree (12F) weather.
I put my hammock near the lake in the hopes of getting some warmth from there. I had used two sleeping bags and shoved them over each other to have a double sleeping bag.
I put newspapers over my bag to keep the ice from forming. And then it was time. The lowest temperature would be reached about one hour before sunrise the next day. At about 6 am the temperature would get to -11. At least I was in luck that it was a clear night without snow.

The first couple hours went by quite easily. Sleep came fast since I hadn’t slept that much the night before on the train, however, at around 3 am I started getting colder. The temperature was at that point at about -6 (21F). I got up and walked around a bit to get my blood flowing again.
I woke up again a bit after five and decided to stay in bed until half an hour before sunrise.
When there was enough light, I got up to make a fire, I made myself some hot tea and wanted the bread id bought.

View attachment 67441

After breakfast I walked to the lift and took it to eggberge.

View attachment 67442

Grateful for the chance to warm up in the sun and have lunch there.
After that, I went to flüelen to take the train back to Zürich.
Right now I’m in the night jet, towards Düsseldorf. My first of three trains. Going to try to get some sleep, but luckily I don’t have much tomorrow.
After all, I’m proud of myself that I got myself to sleep in such extreme conditions, but it was absolutely worth it.
Holy shit it's the Alps guy. You're a fucking legend, man. Every vagabond should aspire to "camping in the Swiss Alps in winter" levels of vagabonding
 

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