The Swiss Grand Canyon?

Steve's one wish for his 30th birthday weekend was to go on a hike. I probably could have guessed that one and planned it myself, but seeing how he is the hiking guru and makes all the plans I thought it was most appropriate to let him pick out the hike he wanted to do. He decided on one in the region of Graubünden that was a couple hours away by train and was touted as the "Swiss Grand Canyon." The photos looked great so I was also anxious to see this so called Grand Canyon.

A small glimpse of the Grand Canyon from between the trees on the trail

View from straight above the main section of the gorge

We had beautiful weather to enjoy the fairly easy trail. Unfortunately the trail itself was rather wooded and somewhat "boring" as there were very few views of the river below. When we finally made our way to the main lookout point we found that it was indeed quite beautiful but not nearly as impressive as the photos we saw online appeared. And to say it is a "Grand Canyon," well that might be a bit of a stretch, but still the way the river wove along the rocks and the rock formations were intriguing, especially to think about how it looked before a landslide formed much of it.

Family photo from the lookout tower

Talking to the cows during our lunch stop

So after taking a little time at the lookout point and a picnic lunch nearby we made our way to the trail for the trip back. Yet, to our surprise perhaps the better spot on the hike still awaited us as we made our way near a small lake called the Caumasee. We did not expect it to be anything special, so we were taken aback when we came around the corner and saw this lake nestled in the trees that simply glowed with hues of blues and greens that I've never seen in a lake.

The Caumasee through the trees

Amazing colors!

Beautiful clear water!

As we anxiously made our way closer to the lake we saw people swimming and were immediately disappointed we didn't bring our swimsuits. We had to instead just settle for sitting and relaxing for a few minutes to take in the views.

A little hiker taking a snack break at the Caumasee

Unfortunately it was already quite late in the afternoon and we could not stay long, so it is definitely on my list of places to go back to someday. The Caumasee without a doubt is one of Switzerland's hidden gems. Places like this make me not want to leave this country and are a phenomenal example of the wonders of God's creation. We feel so lucky to be able to see and enjoy it!

Birthday hugs for dad

What an amazing country!