Tag Archives: jennerbahn

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Nature

Alps, Berechtesgaden National Park

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Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park
A trail passes through the Bavarian Alps of Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park. Berchtesgaden, Germany. July 18, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail passes through the Bavarian Alps of Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

This was a special day on our three-week 2013 trip to England, Germany and a bit of Austria. Most of the trip, not surprisingly, was a rather urban experience. (I like those, too!) Particularly in London, the least urbanized part of the experience were brief visits to urban parks. Heidelberg perhaps had a less intensely urban feeling, though it still is very definitely a town/city environment for the most part. When we got off the train in Salzburg we were most certainly in another urbanized place, and even the beautiful area where we stayed in a Bavarian farmhouse was quite civilized — a town was a short distance away and we could walk to bakeries and even a restaurant. From the yard of the farmhouse we could look up to the alpine heights of the Watzmann, a truly alpine peak and the second highest in Germany, but it was something to look towards rather than a place to be.

This day started in a similar civilized manner: a drive to a large parking lot, purchasing tickets, and then getting on the Jennerbahn tram. The tram ride was, of course, spectacular as it took us up to a mountaintop lodge. But when we stepped out of that lodge and onto a system of trails that took us across a high ridge with views of spectacular alpine terrain and then dropped us into the top of a long high valley, this Sierra Nevada guy felt the familiar pull of mountains.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Nature

Alpine Valley, Bavaria

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Alpine Valley, Bavaria
Alpine Valley, Bavaria

Alpine Valley, Bavaria. Near Königssee, Germany. July 18, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sun dappled alpine scenery in the Bavarian Alps above Königssee, Germany

We have been traveling. After a week in London, we spent two weeks in Germany, one of which was in the Königssee area of Bavaria, Germany, where we stayed in an old farm-house. I’ll have more to say about this trip as I post more photographs over the coming days and weeks, both landscape and distinctly urban photographs. But for now, something from the Bavarian Alps.

As some of you know, I’m a long-time “Sierra Nevada guy,” who is very accustomed to hiking long distances in somewhat undeveloped areas in order to do photography. The landscape here is no less spectacular, but the experience is in many ways quite different. Take this day’s hike for example… It began with a ride on the Jennerbahn (ski lift) up to a point high up in the mountains, with scenery that reminded me in some ways of parts of “my” Sierra, but even more of some places I have visited in the Pacific Northwest. From there we hiked downhill for a kilometers, first across the top of a high ridge and then dropping down into a beautiful alpine Valley – complete with the Mahlerian sound of a chorus of cowbells. Halfway down we stopped for (fellow Sierrans, eat your heart out!) a lunch of bier und käsebrot before continuing on down to where we began at the base of the lift. The light in this part of Bavaria, at least during our visit, was very different from the clarity that I often seen in the Sierra – here the atmosphere was often thick with moisture, creating a soft quality. On this day, this was enhanced to a gradual build-up of thunderclouds that led to a spectacular evening lightning show, which we enjoyed outdoors at a picnic table back at our lodgings.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.