Magic Places - Coburger Hütte

Today we take a little tour into the Austrian Alps. Around the town of Ehrwald rise many beautiful peaks including Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze.

A few years ago I visited the Coburger Hütte with a few friends. From Ehrwald we took the Almbahn up into the mountains and then hiked for around two hours to reach this beautiful hut, passing the deep blue Seebensee Lake along the way.

We wanted to stay the night and photograph the view from the Tajatörl towards the Drachensee and also the magnificent view of the Sonnenspitze. This mountain looks like a wizard's hat and makes for such a great photo subject.

The only Problem: we got surprised by some early snow in mid-September. Deep clouds and miserable weather made it impossible to take the photos we had envisioned. But we still had a great time with some good food in the hut.

So I returned without one good photo from this trip. But I knew I'd come back. The area around the hut is such a wonderful place and I just had to try once more to capture its beauty.

Less than one year went by until I visited the hut again. This time I had decided to visit in early summer. It was fabulous.

The lush green mountain meadows, the crystal clear lakes, the steep mountains looked even better than I had imagined. Last time I hadn't even seen the tops of those mountains, this time I could sit down and take it all in while the sun set behind the Drachenkopf mountain.

In the middle of the frame you can make out the Drachensee and above it to the right the tiny Coburger Hütte.

But this wasn't the only view I had come to photograph. After a very short night and little hike the next morning I finally photographed the Sonnenspitze. In the distance you can see the mighty Zugspitze and down in the valley the Seebensee Lake.