Thursday 5 July 2012

Moving Sheep

This is the week where the sheep move up into the higher alps for the rest of the summer. Most of the small farms of the area that have sheep move them to Haslital to the Grimsel-pass (2165m above sea level), where they are left to roam free for the rest of the season. The farmers will go up there on a monthly basis to check their sheep and make sure that they are in the best of health.
I went with for the experience and it was awesome. 
On the way up to the top we past the Grimseldam which is a hydroelectric dam (Alpine Power Dam). 

Once we got up the beginning of the Grimselpass I was really glad to have brought my winter jacket and scarf along. When I left the house I thought my winter boots were a bit of an overkill, but was I pleased to have them on just then? - oh yes!!
This is what I saw when I got out of the car - Fog, which got thicker the longer we were there, until it was as thick as soup!

The fog lifted for about half an hour so I could get a couple of better photos of the scenery:
The sheep were amazingly calm, I think the older ewes that have been there last season knew what was happening:
So once all the farmers were gathered together it was time to get the sheep out and head for the hills :-D And that is exactly what they did, they moved so fast I almost didn't have enough time to take a picture!
Kay and I followed them until the lake and then the snow was too slushy to keep up with them. 
It was a wonderful outing and we will be going back in summer to see them, hopefully we will have better weather so that I can take some more photos :-D
Have a great weekend!
x

2 comments:

  1. Great post, what an experience! Wow! Thanks for the story and the photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Elisabeth,

      Thanks for coming past, it was so cool I had to share :-D

      x

      Delete

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