If you travel a little without a plan, you will sometimes find the most beautiful places. This was the case for me in September 2025 in Austria's Ötztal. I had set the place Sölden as base for taking some infrared photos of the surrounding alpine glaciers. In addition, however, there was enough time to hike here and there and let myself drift in the mountain landscape.

My room rental woman in Sölden gave me the tip to drive up to Windach valley. This is a side valley of the Ötztal, which is located directly above Sölden. You can only get up on foot or by bus. There is no public road. That promised a lot. At least little hustle and bustle, and loneliness, for example. And what can I say? At an altitude of about 2,000 meters, one of the most beautiful Alpine valleys I have seen so far was revealed.

The locals call it Little Canada because of its stunning mountain views. You can walk along the river for hours in the valley, just lie down on the meadow and look into the mountain peaks, or hike even higher towards 3,000 meters. There are some huts as destinations and the fantastically beautiful Wannenkarsee lake.

I captured impressions from the valley with my infrared camera and an IR 690 filter.