A little late on this writeup; video and photos are piling up due to an active summer season, a good problem to have. My daughter and I enjoyed a week of hiking out of Sils, Switzerland. We flew into Zurich, then took the train to St. Moritz, a spectacular journey. A 20 minute very expensive taxi ride deposited us in Sils, where we rented an apartment for the week. Of note, we took the bus back to St. Moritz; a bus pass was included in our rental and we availed ourselves a few times during our stay.

Day 1: July 1, the day of our arrival, we walked to the Maria Gondola and rode that up to our hike. This was a lovely loop hike "Wasserweg" which had us marveling at the sheer volume of flowers in the alpine as we passed by a number of tarns and lakes.

*Flowers abound on the Lakes Loop “Wasserweg”*

Day 2: July 2, we did a loop hike through a valley to its end, where there was an eatery, enjoying wine, coffee and strudel in the middle of our hike. From there we crossed over to the other side of the valley, climbing to a peak named Muott' Ota. The views were never ending and simply astounding. When you're used to orbiting a volcano the views are sometimes directive, but standing on the top of this ridge we could rotate 360 and witnessed an ever changing landscape which was simply eye popping. And yes, flower overload on the entire hike. 12 miles/2600'

Day 3: July 3, Lake Sils Loop We decided to take it easy this day by circling the lake, also considering the weather forecast had some rain in it. Once again we got to stop and have tea/coffee/beer and dessert: twice along the way, the last stop under cover during rain, so good timing. A nice, relaxing day of 10 miles and 1,200'

Day 4: July 4, Lej da la Tscheppa. Today involved a late start because of morning rain, with a steep ascent and descent for accessing the alpine. Views were insane and the flora was non stop. We were both commenting how these 3 days were the best day hikes we've done. Lakes and flowers galore. 7 miles, 2,800'

*Flowers on the Lej da la Tscheppa hike*

Day 5: July 5, Corvatsch Gondola We had to take this ride up to almost 11,000' if only to have lunch at the restaurant whilst gazing at the surrounding peaks and glaciers. But hey, we did walk there past a different lake, so there's that.

*View from the top of the Corvatsch Gondola*

Day 6: July 6, Val Fedoz. This was a more remote valley that we saw from Muott' Ota, also available by foot from our apartment. In a nutshell, an insane amount of flowers, like every square meter. A gorgeous day, seeing only a handful of people and many more cows. 8.5 miles, 1,300'

*Lotsa cows during our hikes to the valleys*

Reluctant to leave this non touristy enclave (no crowds, few people on the trails), we trained back to Zurich and spent a few days there before the journey home. Hearing English again was almost a shock, the city was alive and the food was most excellent. This was yet another great trip for my daughter and myself. Last year I was solo on the continent what with my cycle across the Pyrenees and hiking Section 1 of the GR10, so it was nice to have some family time with my best hiking partner.