This is something I’ll try to post possibly monthly, a look back at some of the mountains I visited and are, in some way, memorable to me. At this point, I have a list of almost 80 candidates but I am not sure how many will pass. These posts would be a mix of personal stories with photos and some ‘hard facts’. Maybe some interesting things, should I know about them.
I’ll begin this with ‘Lysá hora’, the highest peak of Czech ‘Moravskoslezské beskydy’ mountain range.
If there’s something that hiking helps me much with, it’s my health. The amount of hiking I did was growing progressively. In my late teens, I was at 10 hikes per year and total around 200km. These days, I am (depending on several factors) somewhere between 30-40 hikes per year and 700-1000km walked during those. And over the last 10 years, my health gradually improved. I’ll try to have a look back and share how much.
I think I’ll never be a planner when it comes to writing. When I was writing my May update, I was going through the first draft of #1 on a quick edit pass mostly aimed at some typos and obvious issues, as well as to just get the story back into my head and make notes about possible continuity issues between #1 and #2 so I could have a look at them when preparing the beta draft of #1.
Two weeks passed and so I am back with another hiking post. This time, I was going towards a place that is known more by the ski resort near the main peak but aside from that, it’s really calm place with quite a low amount of people there. As it tends to be, that’s mostly because it’s hard to reach.
After two long years, another World of Warcraft book. Considering that I am an active player (okay, not now exactly, I am on a break for May and June) and interested in the game universe and story for the past almost 20 years (a lot of time…), it’s tough to make a review of this one.
It’s even tougher for the current situation and with the hints for where the story is going.
Even though I am still some time and work away from finishing my story, apart from writing, I am trying to make progress elsewhere.
Since I am active Goodreads user (though so far as a reader) I was slowly trying to see if fellow readers and writers alike could help my efforts even without any specificity. Plus, it’s where I’ll most likely start my search for beta readers later next month.
So, I’ve been increasing my activity there. I joined a large and quite active group focused on SF and Fantasy some time ago (half a year maybe) and since then I am doing my best to participate in discussions when I have something to say on the topic.
For my latest read, I chose something that a member of Goodreads group was mentioning being on sale. The idea seemed interesting and so I went for it, even though it was not something in the center of my attention when it comes to (sub)genres. The book is a mixture of post-apocalyptic, folklore, urban fantasy and maybe more.
I guess everyone has some degree of experience with Murphy’s laws. I am no stranger to it, especially when hiking. There were days when the forecast was almost perfect, I forgot (or intentionally did not take) something for worse weather and it came to bite me in the arse. Or when I prepared for bad weather, only to have it end up well. Several times, I tried to (ab)use Murphy’s laws in my favor, with varying success.
The weather before the last hike was typical for mid-summer, or least that it was a few years ago. 30°C and afternoon quick storms were not something one would expect for late May or early July. Yet, in the light of the recent days, the chances for it happening during my hike were far too high.
There’s a tradition I try to keep going, to go for a hike between exams. It works well to clear my mind. This time, it became a bit extreme. Exam on Monday, okay, went better than expected. The hike was originally planned for Tuesday but the plan changed and I went for a bit different outdoor activity with my sister. So the hike was moved to Wednesday despite the fact that my legs were stiff from 36km of roller-blading in something like 2,5hrs (fastest lap I had was 12min 20sec for 4,5km, by the way).
Anyway, I still set up the alarm at 4:10, thinking that this time I might even regret it (I very rarely regret getting up early for a hike, even in bad weather) and went on with the adjusted plan. Of course, Wednesday + unknown place = being alone.
Tomas - the wandering dreamer 