In November, I went on “only” two hikes. And they were like the day and the night – one was full of colors, the other was full of wind and snow.

Autumn wonderland

At the beginning of November, I decided to visit a place that I have seen mostly in spring. But I had some hints that it could be beautiful in autumn as well and the end of October had me wanting more of that.

The very beginning was a good hint that I’ll have a lot of colors to bask in as I go through the woods. And I was glad to enjoy it, despite the dampness of the soil and air after a foggy early morning. However, I was there to look out for more than just colorful leaves – I decided to look for some smaller rock formations. And those ended up leading to some very beautiful atmosphere.

Trees with leaves in various shades of yellow mixed with mossy stones and some scattered evergreen conifers created the perfect mix.

Many of them had quite strange shapes. Gaps that looked like the eyes or maws of strange beasts.

Many of them were hidden from plain sight – the trails lead quite far from most of them, and to some, only barely visible footpaths lead.

In the few openings, I could still enjoy the colors, though I often had to focus on finding my way and not tripping on roots or stepping into a puddle camouflaged by fallen leaves.

And I also found a cluster of larger rocks.

My next steps led back towards the trails and towards a castle, but that was closed for the off-season and the ever-present trees around didn’t let me take any decent shot of the exterior. Thus, I continued through the colorful woods, to a village with a tree that’s very rare to Europe – a sequoia planted by a local noble in the 1870s.

The original treetop was blasted off by a lightning strike some 50 years ago, after which a new top grew with the help of some treatment. Despite that, the tree still dominates the landscape of the village as it noticeably rises above the other trees.

From this place, I continued towards a larger town where I waited for a train home.

A taste of winter

The middle parts of November had quite damp weather and weren’t too favorable for hiking. Thus, the next decent chance I had was the final weekend of the month, when I was graced by weather that matched early winter. Light snow showers started the day before and continued during the night and most of the day.

The beginning was tricky – the start from the village towards the woods was on an icy road and I was unused to this type of surface, so I had to stay careful. After making it up the first ascension, I had some limited sights around where the woods had suffered the most damage in recent years. Among the bare leaves, there could be hints of color.

I was a bit surprised to see that some people decided to enjoy the coming winter in a bit more naturalist way – camping at the chalet.

Higher in the hills, the weather was quite windy. I also had to mind my step – on the wider paths, used a lot to get lumber from the hills, the fresh snowfall hid water puddles, turning them into unpleasant traps, but I managed to avoid getting my boots (and feet) wet.

At one point, the clouds parted for a short moment, but this pause in the wind and show was only a couple of minutes.

Soon after, the clouds returned, and for the rest of the day, that remained.

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Despite going on just two hikes in November, I enjoyed both of them.