Staller Sattel, Austria/South Tyrol, Nov. 2021

I have been to Staller Sattel (2052 m a.s.l.) quite a few times, but never before from the Austrian side through the Defereggental. The road up to the pass is cleared but not open to public traffic anymore. From the last parking lot its an well worth half an hours walk up to the pass. Up there, I have been greeted with a fantastic winterly scenery and a young Austrian fellow, who was just filming with his drone (see his footage here, cool stuff: https://www.instagram.com/p/CWGkgYzoNyr/ . It`s been cold up there already, but as the sun set down, the temperature dropped and the cold wind added a bit of a chill. But nothing can describe the serenity being out there on your own up on a pass, in calf-deep snow and watching the twilight colors transiting from orange to blue. Later on stars and planets became visible, and again, I had found me a sanctum for sure. Enjoy!

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Facing down towards Defereggental/Austria…

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On the border to Italy…

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My viewpoint for the next couple of hours…

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Blueish hues…

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Jupiter showing up and more and more stars becoming visible…

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Jupiter (center) and Saturn (right) in full glory…

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Milky Way partly washed out to the right by light pollution…

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The dreaded light pollution to an otherwise perfect night sky…

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Orion the Hunter, around 05:30 am…

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Again, blueish hues in the morning…

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Winter`s magic…

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Antholzer Tal, South Tyrol…

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Obersee, Defereggental…

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On the way back to the parking lot after an intense night…

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View from the parking lot towards the pass, along with another great sunset, with incoming high cirrus clouds…

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As the clouds moved in later at night, this got to be the last photo from a great 2-day trip to Staller Sattel…

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Postscript:

after a couple of weeks, I finally got to process the so-called North America Nebula, which I took on the first night of my stay, 17 x 240 sec….

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Silvretta High Alpine Road, Austria, Oct. 2021

Impressions from a trip to a place last week I have not been before. Two days and two nights full of exploring, hiking, photographing and stargazing, all on my own, living life to its fullest. On the third day I started heading back home via a different route – might be worth another story sometime. As for now…Enjoy!

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Facing the southern side of the Zugspitze, Germany ` s highest mountain, from Fernpass/A, the gateway to the western parts of Austria…

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Top of the Silvretta High Alpine Road…

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Powdered mountains and fall colors…

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Illuminated tunnel as part of the hiking trail around the Silvretta reservoir…

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Milky-greenish looking water, fall colors and snow-tipped mountains, on a sunny Saturday afternoon…

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Last light on the mountains…

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Rise of the waning Moon, one can clearly spot the so-called “Handle of the Moon”, single shot, 400mm..

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Moon, Jupiter and Saturn along the ecliptic, the Milky Way to the right…

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The Milky Way later on, towering straight ahead over the Silvretta Range, while the Moon is illuminating the whole scenery…

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Some very strong Zodiac Light to the left, the Milky Way to the right and some greenish airglow – what a night…

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Sirius is still visible and the constellation of Orion to the right is fading away in the next morning during nautical twilight…

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This is what I call a turn…

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View down the valley towards Galtür…

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Late Sunday afternoon I was heading up to Wiesbadener Hütte, 2443m, enjoyed the ever changing twilight colors and went back down as the Moon rose…

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The first light of the Moon hits the snow-capped mountains, Wiesbadener Hütte (center left), Jupiter and Saturn (center) and Piz Buin, 3312 m, and Little Piz Buin, 3256 m (both center right)…

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On the way back through the Moon-illuminated Ochsental-Valley, an area which reminds me a lot of the Himalayan region of Ladakh, Big Dipper to the right…

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Celebrities of the northern winter night sky from left to right: Sirius, constellation of Orion, the Hyades and the Pleiades; what a night to finish of the Silvretta Tour…

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Timmelsjoch/Austria and Penserjoch/South Tyrol, Aug. 2021

Sometimes, all the good things come together. A waxing crescent Moon, the annually Perseids meteor shower, the Summer Milky Way in its full glory and some predicted, cloudless nights in mid-August. That only happens once a year that all comes together; photographically speaking a jackpot. Reloading my van from work gear towards camping gear and here we go. Again, no problems crossing the border to Austria and South Tyrol due to the Covid-19 restrictions, no controls, no nothing. Enjoy!

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Timmelsjoch, 2509 m, marks the Austrian/Italian border…

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Timmelsjoch high alpine road…

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Setting crescent Moon…

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After the Moon has set, the Summer Milky Way shows its full glory…

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Later that night…

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Green velvet…

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While one camera was pointed towards the Perseids meteor shower,

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the other one captured the Milky Way on the opposite side, feat. Saturn and lots of light pollution from the city of Meran…

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A bycatch on the way from Timmelsjoch to Penserjoch, the so-called “Gscheibte Turm”, Bozen, South Tyrol…

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Penserjoch, 2211m, South Tyrol; haven’t been there before, great place, but you are not allowed to stay overnight at the parking lot (private property)

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Setting crescent Moon on the forth day after New Moon, Penserjoch, South Tyrol…

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Moon and Venus, 08/12/2021…

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Stars (Castor and Pollux) becoming visible at the end of nautical twilight…

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Good example of what light pollution can do to an otherwise great night sky…

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Around the Penserjoch towards…

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…towards the Penserjoch Lake, some sort of natural infinity pool, great for a swim…

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The best for the last: the Summer Milky Way in its full glory; a composite from the same night, same location, same settings; for the nerds: stars: 25 x 4 min. tracked, foreground: 1 x 4 min. untracked, shot with a modified Canon 1100d, 20mm lens, Polarie, processed with Lightroom, PixInsight, Gimp…

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The so-called North America Nebula, stack of 19 x 4 min.

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Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road, 2509 m

On Sept. 19th 2019, I went on a short-trip to Timmelsjoch, a high alpine road in the Alps, connecting the Ötztal in Austria with the Passeiertal in South Tyrol/Italy. Spent the night up there, met some nice people, took some photos and got back home the next day with a refueled soul. Enjoy!

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Towards the Timmelsjoch, from the Austrian side…

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Timmelsjoch, 2509 m…

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Nautical twilight, facing the north-west…

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Low stratus coming in, adding some drama to the night sky…

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Dense fog creating some mystical moods…

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The next morning, facing South Tyrol…

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Like a spaceship, the so-called ´Passmuseum`…

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Border sign ´Austria`…

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Timmelsjoch sign…

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The so-called ´Fernrohr`…

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Solitude…

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New Moon Nights

Some impressions from last weeks drive to the Großglockner High Alpine Road, Austria. Two nights in a row during New Moon with almost clear skies. What better? Enjoy!

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Around 12:00 pm, the sky cleared up, giving way to the Milky Way, and lots of light pollution along the horizon, Jupiter (center) and Saturn (to the left)…

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Brennkogel, 3018 m, feat. the Milky Way…

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Stargazing @ 2517 m a.s.l….

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A bit hazy on the second night…

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Star tracking…

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NGC 7000, the North America Nebula, 35 x 120 sec…

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Beauty of the night sky, 44 x 20 sec…

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Road Trip To Italy and Switzerland

Some impressions from my latest road trip to Italy and Switzerland, late February 2019. Lots of snow around, but uncommonly warm at this time of the year…Enjoy!

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Setting Moon over the Lechtaler Alpen, Tyrol, Austria…

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Anti-tank obstacles from WW2, covered in 1.5 m of snow, Plamort, South Tyrol, Italy…

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Eerie looking halo covering the half Moon, early morning @ Ofen Pass, Switzerland…

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Lenticular clouds at sunset over Bernina Pass, Switzerland…

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Pre-dawn with the rising crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter, Bernina Pass, Switzerland…

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Magical light @ Bernina Pass, Switzerland…

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Railroad through the city of Tirano, Italy…

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Paintings at a public well, Tirano, Italy…

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Somewhere around Lago di Como, Italy…

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Simplon Adler (Monument), Simplon Pass, Switzerland…

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Stargazing @ Simplon Pass, Switzerland…notice the bright light to the right…

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…the so-called Zodiac Light, pointing towards the Pleiades and engulfing Mars and Uranus…

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Lots of high-alpine roads in Switzerland are closed during winter times…

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Along the Simplon Pass route…

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Ganter bridge and Bortelhorn (center), 3193 m, Switzerland…

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Second night @ Simplon Pass, with Orion straight ahead…

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Pre-dawn @ Simplon Pass, Switzerland…

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Winter´s magic @ Simplon Pass, Switzerland

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Verbania @ Lago Maggiore, Italy, with the snow-capped suisse Alps in the distance, where I just got down from…

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Lago Maggiore, seen from Villa Giulia, Verbania, Italy…

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Re: The Milky Way – By Canon 1100 D(a) & Vixen Polarie

In 2012 I did a post about imaging the Milky Way combining it with a photogenic foreground (https://wp.me/p1aVSr-A8). The images were taken more than five years ago now, using a Vixen Polarie  and a modified Canon 1100 D – which makes it a 1100 D (a). Back then I took a set of images of the same subject, with exposure times up to 5 minutes, hoping that there might be some software out there for stacking star images and combining them with a static foreground image, preferably (but not always) taken with the same camera settings prior to the others. The only difference: turning off the tracker device while shooting the foreground. The shown images in this post are all composites, with a “tracked” background and a “non-tracked” foreground, using PixInsight (stacking), Gimp (merging), Viveza (local adjustments) and Lightroom (general adjustments). Next step will be putting together a mosaic of a set of stacked images of our Milky Way, taken in August 2013, East coast Australia. Enjoy!

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South Tyrol, Italy, left: 5 images stacked with Pixinsight, right: final image with a total of 423 sec. for the stars and 179 sec. for the foreground…

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The Dolomites, Italy, left: 6 images stacked with Pixinsight, right: final image with a total of 1024 sec. for the stars and 25 sec. for the foreground…

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Großglockner Ridge, Austria, left: 14 images stacked with Pixinsight, right: final image with a total of 1318 sec. for the stars and 357 sec. for the foreground…

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The Großglockner, the highest mountain in Austria, left: 23 images stacked with Pixinsight, right: final image with a total of 1191 sec. for the stars and 169 sec. for the foreground…

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Brennkogel and Hochtor, Großglockner High Alpine Road, Austria, left: 10 images stacked with Pixinsight, right: final image with a total of 1625 sec. for the stars and 25 sec. for the foreground…

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My Favorite Images Of 2017

My favorite images of 2017…and kudos to Jim Goldstein for pulling up this project every year: http://www.jmg-galleries.com/blog/2017/12/21/blog-project-photos-2017/

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While fog is blocking the lights from the cities below, the Zodiac Light shines along the ecliptic and our neighbour galaxy is watching from afar @ Berchtesgaden, Upper Bavaria, Germany

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Enjoying the silence and solitude with the “celebrities” of the winter night sky @ Zillertal, Austria

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Roe deer and the setting Full Moon early in the morning, seen from my front porch @ Lower Bavaria, Germany

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Double rainbow over my home turf, the place I grew up @ Lower Bavaria, Germany

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The setting crescent Moon over the hopfields of the Hallertau @ Lower Bavaria, Germany

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Rising of the partial eclipsed Moon, single shot with a 8″ telescope @ Lower Bavaria, Germany

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The setting crescent Moon @ Befreiungshalle Kelheim, Lower Bavaria Germany

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The Milky Way towering above the Grmec Spomenik (monument) @ Korcanica, Bosnia

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Home to many Winnetou/Karl May filmings @ Tulove Grede, Croatia

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The reason I did a detour to Bosnia while traveling Croatia – the Tjentiste Spomenik (monument) @ Tjentiste, Sutjeska NP, Bosnia

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Pre-dawn light on the Hohe Göll Ridge @ Berchtesgaden, Upper Bavaria/Austria

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Sea eagle looking for prey @ Chiemsee (the Bavarian sea), Upper Bavaria, Germany

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Intuitive Guidance (To The Night Sky)

About three years ago, I went to a place in Austria called ´Fernpass`, to watch the rise of the Crescent Moon two days before New Moon. This year, the same event has been scheduled on the morning of the 20th of November. Unfortunately, we have had some nasty weather the days before, with clouds, fog and rain. I was checking the weather forecast, again and again, and the radar said it would clear around the foothills of the alps. So I got my stuff packed, but hesitated again. Driving 3 h/250 km one way, just to photograph the rise of the Crescent Moon, is one thing, but having to show up at work the same morning is another. And how many times have I been to locations and the forecast had been not so satisfying? So I called my boss (which by the way is a good friend of mine), just to make sure it would be ok if I would show up for work at 10 am the next morning. After I got that ok, I sat back and waited, until I got that final signal: “Go”. It rained along most of the drive, and by arriving there around 8pm, I couldn´t even see for more than 20 meters. Shit. What about the forecast? my intuition? what am I doing here? I prepared something to eat and thought about going to bed (in my van) and to give it a try the next morning. But, I don´t know how or why, I packed my stuff and hiked up the gravel road to the lookout, I had known from the years before. Haven´t seen that much yellowish glowing eyes of roe deers through the fog since I´m out at nights. Arriving at my spot, I took some images to document the ´disaster`, not seeing a halfway clear sky. Though, I still had my vision of a clear sky in mind, but I took my camera of the tripod, folded the tripod, put my down cloth back into the bag and arranged everything heading back to the car. As I lifted my backpack and turned around, I could not believe my sight…

Time difference of those two images: 7 minutes!! Same settings, just 7 minutes apart!! Fog is gone, just some clouds left down at the valley floor and some vehicles driving along the summit road. All images taken at Fernpass, Austria. Winter glory is showing up, feat. the rise of Orion, Hyades and Pleiades. I have been so overwhelmed at this sight/to come up here and to wait, that I almost forgot to set up my camera again and to take pictures. LOL. Its been clear all night and the next morning. After the Crescent Moon rose in its glory, the sky got overcast again, so I could leave this place before sunrise and headed back another 250 km to work. Testing my intuition has been successful. A night to remember! Enjoy!

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Orion rising above Mieminger Kette, Fernpass, Austria…

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6-verts-pano, Fernpass, Austria…

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Rise of the Crescent Moon, 4-verts-pano…

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Crescent Moon, two days before New Moon…

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Crescent Moon @ predawn, Fernpass, Austria…

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“The only real valuable thing is intuition.” (Albert Einstein)

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Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/intuition.html#ub7h1l1se4Rm6UBW.99

Traveling Austria Is Always Rewarding

Here are some impressions from my last weeks spontaneously sojourn to Austria. Starting on Sunday evening, I stop by almost every time while traveling south at one of my favorite places/trees along the Autobahn. As I had reached my first “High-Alpine-Road” destination late at night at the Rossfeld-Panorama-Road at 1570 m, the clouds took over and the rising Moon got swallowed away. Heading further south the next day, I came across a summit road called Sölkpass (1790 m), which traverses through the same Nature Park. Reaching a parking lot just under the summit at 1750m, I stayed there the whole afternoon and were waiting for what to come. A very serene place, and in retrospect my favorite one from that tour. Heading south-west, I reached a High-Alpine-Road called Nockalm-Höhenstraße, but the weather started to be not that cooperative anymore. While there is no such thing as bad weather, the good thing is that there won’t be to many tourists around as well. The clouds rolled in and out that night, but I had the whole summit at 2040 m that night and the next morning to myself. Next stop at the Malta Hochalmstraße and reaching its endpoint at Kölnbrein Talsperre at some 1900 m, the weather started to get colder and colder. From 22°C down at the valley floor, to 6°C on top in the late afternoon. No chance of getting any nightscapes because of the starting rain, I spent most of the time in my trusty Sprinter. The last and final destination of my travels had not been a High-Alpine-Road like the other days before, but a man-made building on top of a mountain called Pyramidenkogel, south of world-famous Wörthersee. It´s the world tallest wooden tower (100 m) and the 360°-views from above are just breathtaking. Six days of traveling and camping five nights at different places mostly up in the mountains, I got back sound and safe and just have to say thank you Austria for being that friendly and hospitable (as always) and bringing back so many memories. Enjoy!

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Big Dipper & Lonesome Tree, Upper Bavaria…

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Headlight-tracks & Stars @ Sölkpass, Austria…

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Yours truly, Olight SR 95 & Sprinter enjoying the Milkyway @ Nockalmhöhenstraße, Austria…

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Kölnbrein dam & Air-walk, Malta Hochalmstraße, Austria…

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Wooden tower @ Pyramidenkogel, Austria…

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“Life is not happening to you – Life is responding to you.”

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