Outdoors – Mark Pospesel (Coding and Other Stuff)

After a green Christmas and New Year’s, snow is back! Went for a snowshoe hike up at Raten in -7°C temps on a foggy morning. I was the first hiker of the day, so I had to break trail the whole way. Tomorrow is forecast to be even colder.

A leafless tree covered in snow on a foggy morning.
A snowy field bordered by conifer trees covered in snow on a foggy morning.

The weather was so nice (rare sunny day in winter) that I had to take the standup paddle out for the first time in two months. Gorgeous day.

Lake view on a sunny winter’s day. Hills with some buildings edge the lake. The water looks dark blue and is ever so slightly choppy.

Today I jumped in the Ägerisee (lake Ägeri) as part of an annual Christmas Swim event organized by the local expat community. Water temperature was 5.8°C while air temperature was maybe 9°C and sunny. We went last year but just watched. This was my first year jumping in. I hadn’t been in the lake since the summer.

No view at Bellvue today. This was the destination / viewpoint of today’s snowshoe hike. It’s supposed to be a view over to lake Zürich. I’ve attached a photo from the same spot I took on a clear Fall day back in 2019.

Fogged over
Lanscape view of green farm pastures interspersed with small woods. Lake Zürich, long and skinny, runs left-to-right in the distance. The sky is blue with a few white clouds.

First snowshoe hike 2023/24

First snowshoe hike of the season (possibly first in two years). It was raining heavily down in the valley, so I wasn’t even sure I should go, but up at the Raten pass there was fresh wet snow. We’re going to the mountains in two weeks, and I need to get some practice in.

Snow-covered pasture bordered with evergreen woods. Heavy wet snow is falling and visibility is limited.
A snowy path leads between two evergreen trees. The sky is overcast and it is snowing.
Selfie of middle-aged white guy in glasses, red ski jacket and an olive Florida Trail baseball cap. He's a bit covered in snow.
Point-of-view photo of my two snowshoe-clad feet standing in snow.

I often walk past this unassuming little chapel. It just sits there chilling next to a barn and a farmhouse. One day I realized that it was over 350 years old, so more than 100 years older than the United States. Carry on, little chapel. No doubt you will sit there long after I am gone.

Small white chapel with a steep roof sitting on a snow-covered hillside next to a wooden barn.

I am grateful that today is a rare (partially) sunny day in November, crisp and cold. We got a little more snow overnight. Tomorrow the typical rainy weather returns.

Partially snow-covered valley with a lake and a small town on its shores. The sky is blue with puffy clouds. Most of the valley is in shadow from the clouds.

This morning was not a great time to be outdoors. I didn’t mind the cold and rain so much as the wind (which rendered an umbrella useless). As I ascended out of the valley, the rain turned to sleet and snow (and back into rain again when I descended).

Landscape view of rolling farm fields mostly covered in snow leading down to a gray lake and a fog-shrouded valley.

Unterägeri, Switzerland

The town of Unterägeri in Canton Zug, Switzerland as seen from a hill on its northern side looking south. The valley is lightly covered in snow. The town is tightly clustered in the foreground with farmland in the distance giving way to forested hillsides that shape the valley. The sky is filled with puffy white clouds and a bit of blue.

View from the White Cross, now actually white with snow. It’s been a month since I’ve done this walk (I’ve been trying to do it weekly). The other photo is of a sheep barn halfway up.

View from the Unterägeri White Cross on a day with snow on the ground. View of a lake surrounded by partially forested hills. The sky is filled with puffy clouds.
Dark wooden barn on a snowy slope halfway up to the White Cross. The landscape is a mix of pasture and forest. The barn is part of a sheep farm.