"Backpacking" Rusava to Svatý Hostýn, Czech Republic

From day two of my little overnight rural backpacking trip:

Sunrise at the campground:

More sunrise beauty, right before I saw the three deer I don't have pictures of:

Just a nice trail view, from near where I sat to dry my tent after the morning rain (red sky in morning and all that):

Not sure what flower:

Memorial to those who died in the mountains they loved (near Skalka):

More gorgeous views (with fleeting rain):

And more, from the viewpoint just down from Svatý Hostýn:

Elderflowers that some nice strangers told me how to pick and make into syrup (which I later did--delicious!):

At the pilgrimage site of Svatý Hostýn:

Beautiful stations of the cross:

Great day:  Rusava to  Svatý Hostýn and then down to the bus at Chvalčov.  11.1 km, 514 m gain.  

"Backpacking" Slušovice to Rusava, Czech Republic

 I went on a sort of rural overnight backpacking trip last weekend.  This is day one.  

The idyllic view from near Slušovice:

There was even a sheepdog carefully patrolling his flock and warning me not to get too close.

Green meadowed hills with clouds that seemed to pose just for me:

Wildlife:

Forest art gallery:

Castle (Ahh...Europe):  

Scary bottomless hole in the road:

Okay, so it had a bottom, but it was pretty creepy.  Thank goodness people marked it well.

A classic Czech spring (though this one's a more overgrown than usual).  I love how you'll often find cups hanging at these places so that anyone can take a civilized drink:

More wildlife in the spring.  Probably teenaged tadpoles.  But maybe fire salamander babies.

Feast of wild strawberries.  Okay...maybe FEAST isn't the right word for something so tiny.  But yummy.

What a great day.  Slušovice to Rusava via Lukov castle.  19.4 km, 571 m gain.  With a moderately heavy pack.    

Just a flower in the rain

 Seasons!!  Rain!!  Green things with flowers!!  What a lovely place the Czech Republic is.  

Vsetín, Czech Republic: park in spring

 

Book Review, When We Go Missing, by April Henry

This was a fast, exciting, enjoyable read with admirable but flawed characters, good plotting, and good characterization.  

A librarian friend once recommended April Henry for reluctant young adult readers, and I have to agree.  I've read a couple of her other books and they've all been good.  

   

Book Review, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman

This was a strange book.  

The writing was engaging, but I didn’t love spending time with the main character at first, and her personality seemed a little hard to pin down.  That, however, turned out to be the brilliance of the book.  Stick with it.  The reward is well worth it.  

4.5 stars

I would definitely read more by Gail Honeyman.  

The progression of spring

Since I posted last, here's a photo log of important spring developments:

April 17: Tulips and other flowers planted by the city on the side of the road

April 19:  The local arboretum

Where this:

Becomes this:

April 22:  

April 25: Canola fields that one week drew no attention at all and by the next week were startlingly yellow. 

And general gorgeousness, including many cotton-puff trees.

May 2:  Most of the cotton-puff trees have lost their blossoms, but now, on the hill in the back, you can see the striking contrast between the electric-green new growth of deciduous trees and the dark green of the evergreens.  One of my favorite things about spring here.

May 6:  But even the spruce gets in the new-grow-green action:

May 7:  In the castle park in Valmez

I love spring!

Spring Sunset

 From a couple of weeks ago:

Spring is Here

 Spring happiness:

Last snow (probably)--March 27, 2026

We had a really warm three weeks or so and then the forecast called for snow.   It tried a little in town, but I suspected the snow might be having more success in the mountains, so I looked at webcams.  Yes!  On March 27, my work scheduled suddenly got shortened, so I ran home, packed, and caught the bus to the highest place I could get to quickly:  Tesák.  I expected a dusting in the slightly higher and more sheltered villages we passed.  Nothing.  I really expected to see a bit of snow as we began climbing toward Troják.  Nothing until right before the ski area, where the coating was light and patchy.  But by the time we got to Tesák (only about 100 meters / 300 feet higher), I saw this:

And it just got better.

On the wind-blown ridges, the snow was far deeper than I expected.  Since the only footprints before me had given up and gone back, there was nothing to follow and I got seriously off the trail a couple of times, where I sometimes broke through drifts up to mid thigh.  I really wished I'd packed slowly enough to remember my gaiters.   

 Luckily, there were extremely useful trail signs like this:

Some views from ridges:

Snow goblins:

Pretty bark:

The stairs of the viewtower:

I really wished, at that moment, that I'd packed slowly enough to pack my snow gloves.  But I hadn't anticipated this much snow so they weren't pressing on my mind.  It was super windy, and the stairs were snowy and possibly icy, and I knew I would have to hold the railing to feel safe.  But...the railing was snowy. 

If I held it with my cloth gloves, they'd get wet and I'd be miserable the long rest of the hike.  So I took off my gloves and did it barehanded.  I only got about two-thirds of the way up before I knew I needed to head down before they got too numb to function.  I still got good views:

I spent a few minutes in the outhouse (the only place protected from the wind), drying and warming my hands before I put my little gloves back on.

The rest of the hike was beautiful, with the snow in the foreground and the green valley below.  And then the perfect end to a spring hike: