You might’ve noticed a lack of hiking-realted posts through the summer, and that had a solid reason, but I managed to get back outdoors by the end of August.

As for the ‘main’ part of summer… first, the weather wasn’t proving cooperative, then I managed to do two short hikes – of which, I described the night one – and then my health wasn’t too cooperative for a change.

And so, with the last weekend of August, I was back after almost two months of little physical activity and right to a difficult hike: 27km long with ~1700m total ascension.

The forecast wasn’t too optimistic, but the weather remained good enough for us. Visibility wasn’t that good, so my photos were often focused on closer subjects.

Fortunately, the low clouds came and went without rain – the final descent was steep and it’d be a dangerous trail during rain.

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The following weekend, I had a double-hike planned on a solo trip. This was close to the places I’ve visited last year and shared my thoughts and photos on them as well, back then. Today, I was visiting a few remaining places from that area I missed in 2019.

Likewise, the weather was mixed the first day – the clouds came and went, though they remained most of the time – a minor issue for my small pocket camera as the lack of light affected the photo quality.

Thus, the photos can’t show the beauty of those rock formations well enough.

The second day, the weather was much better.

In one portion where I had a short overlap with my 2019 hike, I took the trail leading through the lower part instead of the upper part – and this cooled me down a lot. It was around 25°C outside but inside the lower maze, maybe 50+ meters below the surrounding open terrain, the temperature dropped to ~10°C.

Which you could verify in the coldest spot.

After this passage, I ascended above the gorge and through the woods, to a few more nicer places, and eventually an overlook.

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The third weekend led me to another place I’ve visited back in 2012, though I took a different trail for a major part. Instead of taking it around the side peaks, I took a valley and headed towards a single waterfall.

The photo shows most of it. The whole waterfall is ~30m tall but the water flow isn’t too strong outside of late spring, when the snow melts in the hills.

The peak itself is known for its typical shape – the straight ‘cliff’ on one side and the almost-flat other side which make it look like an anvil from certain angles.

After reaching the pass where the hike was supposed to end, I had some time to spare, so I walked up the ski slope above it, cursing myself (ski slopes are really steep if you have to walk up them…) but also enjoying the sights of late-summer flowers.

And that was the end for my 2020 summer, at least hiking-wise. I hope the autumn will be good but that remains to be seen.

See you next time. Feel free to comment or ask questions, I’ll do my best to answer.