Tuesday, 26 May 2009

• Hiking weekend in Cesky Raj

  After talking about doing a weekend hike for about 2 months, I finally found a free weekend in my calendar and managed to gather 3 of my friends who were crazy enough to go on a 50+ km hike in Cesky Raj with me.

  

  Left:  the skull of an animal left by the locals; right: climbing up to a cave in a sandstone formation

  

  Top: a lake in Podtrosecka udoli; bottom: Kost castle

  So on Saturday, we drove to Sobotka, where we started our 4 km hike to Kost castle.  We were following the yellow trail, which according to L, doesn't always 'behave'. And true enough halfway on the yellow trail, we lost the trail markings and had to ask a kind local for directions.  We eventually found our way through the fields and arrived at Kost.  We tried to buy a ticket just to climb the wall of the castle, but was refused at the ticket booth. The ticket lady insisted on selling us tickets for a tour of the insides of the castle which none of us was interested in, which also cost more than twice the price of the tour to climb the wall. So we settled for looking at the castle from the outside for a bit, and continued with our hike.

  We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived in Podtrosecka udoli, a very pretty area with three lakes right by sandstone formations. The water was brown in colour as a result of the rain from Friday, which didn't look very appetising to swim in.  So we decided not to swim here, and to save our energy for Sunday.

  

  Top: an unusual doorbell in Rovensky pod Troskami; bottom: a rowdy bunch of dogs kept by a household we passed by

  Next stop, Rovensko pod Troskami, where we spent the night in a cottage.  Along the way, we passed by an ingeniously built pool filled with water pumped from a nearby lake, and a doorbell made out of a tree bark and sheltered by a mushroom with the widest rim I've ever seen.  I thought it was interesting how we see more of these small queer things when we walk instead of bike or drive.

  

   Left: Prachovske skaly; right: eagle in Trosky castle

  Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early, began our 5 km hike to Trosky castle.  It was a gruelling uphill climb up to Trosky, but the rewards were worth it. We spent about an hour touring the innards of Trosky, manouvering around school kids and their parents to climb up steps for a bird's eye view of the surroundings. It was possible to see the snowcapped tips of the Krkonose mountains from Trosky.

  After having a beer and a break, we continued our hike, this time to a lake where we could swim. The temperature on Sunday rose to a searing 25 degrees Celsius and by early afternoon, we were hallucinating over every lake displayed on the hiking map. We ended up at Parez, a peaceful lake in the middle of the forest, surrounded by teenagers who were more interested in playing beach volleyball than swim (read: perfect).  3 of us braved the cold and swam in the lake until our bodies couldn't take the cold anymore. After hiking in the heat for most part of the day, this was a welcome break indeed.

  Parez is at the beginning of Prachovske skaly, an area with beautiful towering sandstone formations.  It was loads of fun trying to squeeze past a very tight trail between two sandstone formations. L caught the action, among others, in his video of the hike.

  Our final stop was Jicin, where we took the bus back to Sobotka to pick up the car for the drive back to Prague. I was so beat upon reaching Jicin, that I fell asleep almost immediately after I got on the bus to Sobotka.  Not since Nepal have I hiked so much in 2 days.  But it was an immensely rewarding hike, as we saw terrain that we'd not be able to reach on a one-day hike.

  I've now acquired a serious taste for full weekend hikes.  I just need to find another destination. The Austrian alps perhaps....

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