New Snow!

From last Sunday near Velké Karlovice, Czech Republic.  It was a winter wonderland, and I felt so blessed to be able to be out in it.

Note my footprints--the only ones there.  :)  

Vel'ká Fatra, Slovakia--Tlstá and Ostrá loop

In mid-November, I spent a long weekend in the Vel'ká Fatra, a national park in western Slovakia.  It was a fantastic trip, in some gorgeous mountains I'd never been to before.  Even the weather cooperated:  cloudy but not rainy and warm for the season.  The clouds often lent the landscape a beautiful, mysterious feel.

The first day, I took a fantastic hike that included one castle whose ruins I could explore on my own, two caves which were also free to explore, and two gorgeous and very different mountain peaks, with a lot of fun trail between.  All that in one day.  I felt very blessed.  

Me at the trailhead, the beautiful Gaderská Dolina, near Blatnica:

Blatnica Castle:

Views from the castle:

From inside the first cave:

Inside the second cave (Mažarná):

Just some little views from the trail:

Approaching the top of Tlstá Peak ("fat peak"):

Views from Tlstá (1373 meters above sea level):

Views of the trail ahead, near Ostrá:

The last scramble to the top of Ostrá, complete with chains to help you climb the rocks:

And this hole you have to climb through:

Fantastic trip.  So much variety and natural beauty.  I didn't quite get back before dark, but almost.  And once I was back in Gaderská Dolina, I found the energy to run half the rest of the way to the bus stop and got there about two minutes before the bus came.  Total success of a day.

Mileage estimate:  18.4 km, 1067 meters elevation gain (11.4 miles, 3500 feet).

Autumn Leaves in mid October-Czech Republic

These are from my hike in the Beskydy Mountains in western Czech Republic on October 19.  I don't think I really need to say any more.  I'll let the pictures speak.

  

Waterfalls in the Jeseniky Mountains, Czech Republic

 In August, I stayed a few nights in Kouty nad Desnou, in the Jeseniky Mountains.  It was a little ski resort area, but in summer it's a hiking and biking paradise.  My first afternoon there, I thought I'd just take a little hike to a waterfall I found on the map--not even one of the two recommended on the tourist brochures and signs.  And this is what I found:

Then, the next day I hiked to Borový vodopad on the way to Praděd, Moravia's  highest mountain.  

The pictures really don't do these cascades justice, but here's an attempt:

A few more pics from the hike, including some of the local traditional woodcarving:

Cool bit of trail:

Very fun day.  It turned into about a 16-mile hike (25.7 km) with about 3400 feet total gain (1041 m).  Of course, that includes a long-cut when I got a little lost.  However, I took a longer route to Praděd than you have to (Kouty nad Desnou to Borový Vodopad, then up Divoký Důl, then the red and green trails back down to Kouty).  I think, overall, if your goal is Praděd, I would recommend my route from last time years ago:  take a bus to Červenohorské sedlo and then walk the red trail to Praděd (9.3 km / 5.8 miles).  It has some beautiful ridge sections with great views (and not as much elevation gain as my route).  When you're done, you can retrace your route or walk 3.6 km (2.2 miles) down to Ovčárna and catch a bus back to wherever you're staying (though plan ahead--depending on the time and where you're going, that might take almost as long as hiking back)

Misty Hike in the Czech Republic

Above the clouds:

Then, descending INTO those clouds:

It all felt so mystical and adventurous.  And so very, very beautiful.

I love Czech nature.  

Stranded, by Melinda Braun

 

I enjoyed this.  I'm a sucker for man vs nature and working-together-to-survive books, and this delivered.

I did find a lot of things hard to believe.  [MINOR SPOILER ALERT]  One of the major ones was the issue with directions.  It's like day 8 or something.  They're intelligent, with some outdoorsmanship between them, and they've had several days with at least partial sun, and they're all like "I wish we had a compass to figure out which direction is which."  And I'm thinking, um…look at the sun!  No, it won't give you an exact direction, and a lot depends on the season, latitude, etc., but if all you want is—for example—to head eastward to eventually run into a road or something, the sun will give you a pretty good clue.  But none of them even think about that?  And the solution they eventually come up isn't hugely more accurate, so why on Earth does one character keep asking the makeshift compass holder if they are still going east, when I get the distinct impression the compass holder is actually leading them south?  Can't the others tell, more or less, if they're going generally in the right direction or not?  This was a major plot point, so it really bothered me.  [END SPOILERS]

A lot of other things stretched believability (the cliff thing, the wolves, etc), and the characterization could have been a little deeper, but it was a fun read, a good adventure, with the situation getting worse and worse. The writing was smooth.

[SEMI SPOILER ALERT]  And I liked the way it didn't go all fantasy but stayed grounded.  [END SPOILERS]

Recommended for people who don't mind a bit of unbelievability in their survival stories. 

Oh...and I like the author's name.  :)  

Four Stars

My tribute to the North Rim

I am devastated by the loss of the Grand Canyon Lodge and all the other buildings destroyed at the North Rim by the Dragon Bravo fire.  We don't yet know how the forest itself has fared, but I don't think it looks good.    

I am so, so thankful I was able to backpack Rim to Rim this May for the first time.  See my earlier posts for the first three days:  

Here are a few pictures of the North Rim as it was.

The lodge:  

The hiker campground:

Sunrise and sunset views:

This squirrel:

These fossils:

These caterpillars:

This happy version of me cold, and way too early: