Tentsile Content Creator Max Stimmel is a passionate traveller and talented photographer. In this blog he tells his story as he embarks on an epic hiking trip around Europe. Follow Max's adventures on Instagram.
When we planned our upcoming hiking trip in Europe, the choice where to go was quickly made. Switzerland was on our bucket list for a long time. The country, famous for its breath-taking alp peaks, turquoise mountain lakes and of course its cheese, is a paradise for campers and backpackers, due to its pretty loose regulations on where and when you are allowed to pitch your tent. So, the perfect destination for us and our two Lunas to spend some nights high above the noisy and busy cities. However, hiking trips like these usually include a lot of gear for us: Photography gear, tents, sleeping pads and sleeping bags (even if the trip was planned for late August/early September, it still gets quite cold up in the Swiss Mountains!). Getting all this in our backpacks and up the mountain was most of the time the hardest quest.
The first destination on our list was the Gastlosen Region, famous for its impressive rock formations due to which its nickname is the Swiss Dolomites. We postponed our hike one day to avoid the thunderstorms which payed of since e enjoyed the nicest sunshine the next day on our way up. The days weather forecast resulted to be pretty accurate, and the mountains gifted us, after a beautiful sunset and a night above the low hanging clouds, an even more beautiful sunrise! Our camp spot had the perfect view on the mountain ridge, making it possible to tumble out of the tent in the morning and immediately start taking photos. I feel like, camping in the mountains allows you to really make the most of your time up there; if you get lucky you are able to witness twice the golden light illuminating the rough stone of the alps painting them red and later a stunning night sky in all its glory without having to hike in the dark. Instead you can return to your tent, cook yourself a warm dinner, and lay down in your cozy sleeping bag and Between: the Tentsile Sky-Pad also makes a great sleeping pad for a ground tent, thanks to its high R-Value and low weight. And after a breakfast coffee and a cereal bar you are ready to leave your peaceful home for the night and head down again.
6:30 AM: A sunrise to remember after a cold night in the clouds.
Of course I now described the perfect one-night hike. To stay realistic, the weather is not always on your side, and this is part of the game when heading outdoors, especially in the moody mountain weather. We had to face this the next day on our second hike in Switzerland. While walking up to the Limmerensee, we got soaked by the pouring rain and only barely managed to put up the Luna in a little rain break (lucky us that this tent is quickly put together since the rain break only lasted a couple of minutes). We immediately hopped into the shelter of our tent, while the dark clouds were rising above us. When the clouds had passed, I managed to fly my drone for a few minutes and capture this photo of our camp spot at 2.600 meter above sea level! After dinner we decided to explore our surroundings and I was still hoping for a clear night, since this was the perfect weekend for photographing the Milky Way – but I was waiting with no luck. However, the sky cleared up in the morning, gifting us once again a stunning sunrise after a cold and windy night.
A totally different scenery after a stormy night. Now we had the perfect view over the lake and the surrounding mountains, even some glaciers just a few kilometers away.
I have to admit, that for the third hike the blogs caption might be a little misleading, since it takes place in France, just a few kilometers from the Swiss border. Stories about the marvelous reflection of the Mont Blanc Massif in the Lac Blanc brought us to the little touristy town Chamonix in France.
The hike is pretty well known and easily accessible, it is even possible to take a cable car up to skip the first 1.000 meters and have an easy hike to your destination.
On such a popular hike it is no surprise that you share your camp spot with a few other people – as long as everyone is responsible and collects their own trash (and any other trash that you find) and treats the environment respectfully we can enjoy hikes and camp spots like these for many more years to come. However, meeting other people who are passionate about the outdoors is always a great pleasure. Reconnecting with nature, sitting around your gas stove giggling about each other’s adventures and fails in the past – somehow a different kind of magic, that I would not like to miss out on.
All in all, we had a great time in Switzerland, climbing a lot of mountains, driving beautiful streets, and making great memories! So, we are already keen on our next adventures. You’ll hear from me soon!
