Today, I'm taking you along on a journey through Saxony Switzerland while I master the new camera. Over the course of three days, we hiked up and down many steps and steep paths. I needed a week off after to recover from challenging my body this much. But it was worth it.

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One of you donated a camera, an old Canon M5 with some lenses. So, instead of with my phone, I filmed the hiking trip with the new/old camera I was given. A few years back, we'd sold the huge professional equipment. I don't regret that choice. This camera is much smaller. I haven't mastered it yet. But I am enjoying the process.

This year, Pepper could come with us. I don't envy him having to climb all those stairs at his size. He did well.

Saxony Switzerland, part of the Elbe Sandstone Highlands, is a hiking region in East Germany. The table hills are stunning. You can see one of them behind the pretty rock formations in the background. It looks like someone chopped off a hill.

Pepper hiked it all. He slept a lot in the evenings but barely needed any help. He only needed to be carried on really rough terrain like bridges with metal grids or across tall boulders.

Most of the area is very dog-friendly and easy barefoot terrain. The sandstone breaks down into, you guessed it, sand, making the paths smooth and easy to navigate.

The views overlooking the valley of the river Elbe were stunning and worth every step up the hills.

On our first day, we checked off the most touristy destination: the Bastei bridge. Luckily, gray clouds meant we could actually see the bridge. On good days, this area is crowded. It was still the least exciting part for me.

Everyone pointed their cameras toward the bridge. I pointed mine in all other directions. The nature around it was stunning.

The viewing platforms were way too crowded for my taste. Pepper had to be carried to not get trampled. He, too, seemed to enjoy the vast views. I don't blame him. This was his view at that point. Pretty, isn't it?

But our group was here for the Bastei bridge, so we left the overcrowded platform to join the crowds. At some point, we have to return without family to explore the actual nature of this area. Even on a gray day, the bridge was too crowded for me to even enjoy. I fell back to film some more nature.

I caught up with the group, rushed past the bridge, skipped some viewing platforms, and hid in calmer corners. Everything was more interesting to me than the touristy spots.

I'm glad the wind kept most people away that day. It was relatively empty there, and I was already overwhelmed. Luckily, we'd planned the touristy thing for day one.

We did more tourist things the next morning, then went for a calm quiet hike that afternoon. Hiking the woods instead of fancy landmarks, we barely saw any other people. I still kept falling back to film, to find some peace and quiet. Eight people are a lot for me.

Pepper was still hiking happily. I was exhausted from the steps and stairs. Pepper is much smaller than me. He snuck in little viewing breaks but then kept on jumping, even if it didn't always work perfectly.

I really enjoyed this path, because it wasn't as perfect. Nature shaped most of the path. Between the rocks were small caves and caverns. I would have liked to spend a lot more time here.

Pepper sometimes needed help finding the right path. But he seems to be part mountain goat.

We'd set out rather late, and had to rush to be back in time for a dinner reservation. We'll have to come back.

Last year, after the first family hiking trip, I told you we never go on vacation. All the moves in the past decade had made vacations something we just don't do. Now that we're more settled, the hiking trip are welcome. I hope we can add some small trips with just the three of us, though. We'll still join next years family trip.

We'd lost the group when we found this cave. I would have preferred to stay and explore, but we had to find them again. So, I handed my partner the camera and climbed back out of the cave. We rushed up the last of the pretty root staircases.

The group had gone ahead to the large cavern tourists come here for. I never saw that one. I'm okay with that. The smaller caves were fun. Time and again, I've noticed that the destinations hyped for tourism are rarely worth the crowds. Very often, there are more interesting areas nearby that might be a bit harder to reach, a bit less maintained. No one has set stairs to these places. There are no signs. But they are often well worth finding.

Speaking of stairs. I don't even want to know how many of those I climbed over these three days.

I could have sat here and enjoyed the view for a long time but we had a dinner reservation... So, quick steps, views while walking, and little filming. There are downsides to hiking with eight people. I couldn't help stopping for this clip, though. A bumblebee on a foxglove. Too pretty to rush past.

The sun sets late here in summer but we were still late enough to see it vanish behind the trees and hills.

The next day, we decided on a short boat tour to a hiking trail. We were rowed through a stunning canyon. The guide put on a great performance of mock boredom while pointing out the shapes of the rock formations. The smooth rowing meant all I had to do was hold the camera toward pretty things. The boat did the rest. I didn't even look at the screen, just enjoyed the view.

These yellow spots are a species of lichen that includes a yellow fungus as part of the symbiosis.

I stared down at the water, watched the birds zoom around to feed their nestlings. And the group moved on. I'd be running up yet another hill with many stairs to catch up. But it would be well worth it. I'd learned about these birds, the grey wagtails, a few weeks earlier when I saw one in a very different setting. I didn't even recognize the species until I saw the footage of them up close. I know, I know, it's not in focus.

And then, I got to have a lot of fun. A very narrow, very steep staircase led through a crack in the rocks. My partner carried our dog up. Two people helped the much larger dog in our group, and I got to go last. I'd had to stop to move the backpack to my front to even fit through. Others had to pull in their bellies and squeeze.

But before we knew it, we were walking back to the cars to finish our final day. I took off the entire week after to recharge. So long, and thanks for being here.