The Gaderská valley follows the most beautiful stream, a magical blue color that must be due to some mineral in the water (combined with the white rocks it runs over and the absolute clarity of the water). I didn't get to enjoy the stream enough the day before on my fantastic hike, so I decided to rent a bike the second day and bike the paved bike path to Čertova Brána (The Devil's Gate), a narrow rock "gate" on a side valley.
The Devil's Gate:
The pictures don't really capture the blue, but this one tries:
The bike rental shop was closed and I had to text them to open it just for me, then the bike they gave me had a pedal that kept coming loose, despite me tightening it three times, so I exchanged it basically on the honor system (the guy just left a couple of bikes out for me to choose). In exchange for the trouble, he gave me the bike for the whole day.
I wondered for a while if there was something wrong with it too, because it felt harder to pedal than it should, but once I turned around and started coming back, I realized why. The gradient had been steeper than it looked. I coasted entire sections of the return trip, sometimes too fast for my comfort. Most of the rest only require a bit of gentle pedaling periodically. Another fantastic day. Since I had time, I also explored a bit of the (unpaved) Blatnická Dolina, where a bit of blue sky peeked out for a few minutes, and then walked around the pretty town of Blatnica.
I highly recommend this area if ever you're in the Vel'ká Fatra.
Bike trip total: 20.9 km, 226 meters elevation gain (13 miles, 741 feet)
No comments:
Post a Comment