After the second half of September, which had me go on a few hikes full of mushroom-based photos, the first part of October was back to the usual: enjoying the autumn’s colors even though the mid-day temperature was closer to summer than autumn.

The hike I took on 12th was very close to the one I took back in April 2015 – both the start and the end point were close to the 2015 ones, though turned around. And as I knew the place is pretty flat (compared to some I visited in early summer or in September), I knew I’d have the chance to push the distance a lot that day.

After all, with September ending at 870km, I’ve accepted the challenge to get to 1000km in a year – or at least beat my previous yearly best at 948km back in 2016.

We started in a village above which a lookout tower was built recently – though the October mornings were shrouded in mist which meant we’ve seen barely any further than maybe the end of the valley. Yet it was visible the mist and clouds woudln’t stay for the whole day.

I split from the main group and walked through a shallow valley to a small rock formation hidden in the woods – but it was still a bit dark to take a photo of, so I went on to the second lookout tower and then took the main trail towards the other smaller rock formations.

And took a few pictures of the colorful forests.

I met some people from our group near the next rock formation and pointed them in the right direction – the fact I tend to appear out of somewhere and walk seemingly in the opposite direction in strange loops to raise the distance walked sometimes confuses people.

Anyway, the trail led me to – and across – a pasture which gave me a chance for another autumn-style photo.

And eventually to the last two rock formations.

From there, I finally took a turn towards the meet-up point. At the end, I crossed a field and took a final photo of the day, of a bit different kind than usual in this time of year:

During the following week, I added a bit more to the ‘counter’ by placing markings for an event organized by my hometown – and took the chance to take a few pictures of autumn in the suburbs.

The next photo is a reminder of the town’s history: taken behind the last coal mine within the town, closed back in 1995. In this region, the last three active mines are to be closed in the next few (10-ish) years not so much due to lack of coal but because it’s located too deep (950+ meters below ground) for the mining to be profitable.

A few buildings from the former mine still stand – one (in the picture) serves as a transmitter for cell phone signal, the administrative building repurposed for a company that built an assembly hall in the former mine area.

And on that note, I’m anding this post. There will be one more for October as I went for an extended weekend in the hills by the month’s end.