July tends to be a warm month with a lot of daylight – a perfect time for hiking and, especially, for ranging far from home.
I tend to utilize that fact a fair amount. July this year wasn’t an exception considering that three of four hikes had led me away for around four hours of travel time.
The exception was the first hike – for that day, the forecast was the most favorable in my “home” region. Even that was a fair amount of luck as the days leading to that hike were full of rain showers and quick summer thunderstorms, more so in the hills. This was more obvious at the valley reservoir full of muddy water.
The hike itself was relatively easy with the main goal being a pair of rock formations. One of them was in quite a tough spot to reach and overgrown from three sides, providing only a limited view that made taking photos quite difficult and I’m not satisfied with the few attempts I made enough to share them. The second one was partially exposed at one end (the photo above was taken from there) but other parts were shrouded by the forest.
Despite that, it was en enjoyable walk, though the heat was becoming quite intense mid-day.
The crowning moment was planned for the next weekend. It was a hike I was planning for almost a year and, instead of going solo or with my sister, it was a small group – the final number was 17 people. Given the varied skill levels and the frequent rain showers, I was becoming quite nervous about the result as the train we planned to take was quite difficult. The mountains greeted us with quite a nice scenery and favorable weather.
And while the initial portion through the valley was merely an easy warm-up for me, it showed right away that it wasn’t the same for others. At that point, I was quite surprised that my sister and her friend were just a bit behind me.
After the first hour, we reached the chalet in the valley. From there, the trail started to take us higher on a zigzagging path – and it was there we ended up splitting into groups of two to three, each keeping their preferred pace. Frequent stops to admire the landscape and take photos provided some rest and relief during a harrowing ascension with the sun in our backs already providing a lot of warmth.
By the time the first group (including me) reached the first peak, it was getting close to noon and the heat matched that. Clouds started to appear at some parts of the hills but they avoided our location – a good sign as we were nearing the hardest part of the trail.
Said section features a narrow trail with a sharp cut-off to one or both sides (as seen in the front of the photo above) and several sections where the way forward is climbing up or down steep sections (with chains fixed to the rock for help).
Despite not being good or experienced when it comes to such a trail (mostly because they’re few in reach), I thoroughly enjoyed this part.
Of course, the scenery helped, especially in breaks between these climbing passages that are always easier up than down, at least for me.
The “crowning” part for me was probably a section where the trail waves around one of the peaks, first taking a narrow ledge (in the photo below where the other person is) and then takes a diagonal section down that feels steeper than it looks on the photo (from upper right corner to lower left on the photo below – if you zoom the photo, the chain might be visible).
At this point, the lakes below the peaks might be visible here and there (as the trail uses the opposite side of the mountain) – lakes I have yet to visit simply because I always take the higher trails and those haven’t left me with enough time to make the detour.
This section of the trail, despite being only 2,5km long, takes around two hours, though we made it in 1,5 hours – the day before had brought some rain which seemed to have people reconsider hiking – I took this trail back in 2017 and it was way more crowded. Before we left the main trail and turned back towards the valley, we enjoyed the view of another nearby peak that, if the weather allows, I might be able to visit later this summer – and which also has some steep passages (in the photo below, middle peak).
In the end, the people enjoyed the hike and many already asked me if I’d organize something similar next year in the time the hiking club has its summer break – something for me to consider.
The third hike of the month was a return to a place I last visited not that long ago on a farewell hike to my old backpack. I took a trail from a different side that, despite a lengthy start, is probably among the nicest as it takes a good part of the ascension around a bubbling brook.
Before I reached that point, I had a chance to enjoy the sight of some fungi.
The narrow part of the trail was pretty much empty – I was completely alone and could clear my mind as well as enjoy the scenery.
The warm day, lush greenery, and a mountain stream weaving between the boulders make the trail worth every step.
Compared to the previous hike, it wasn’t nearly as steep, but on a hot day, still enough to cause some noticeable sweating.
While I took many photos on that section, I took very few during the rest of the hike – once I reached the upper portion, the trail then goes through forests and clearings towards the main peak – where I found more people but still not as many as I expected. It was also quite windy up there, so I didn’t stay long and headed downhill soon.
I hoped to take some photos showing the surrounding area but many of the mountains I could see were partially clouded, so the views weren’t really photo-worthy, more so knowing I had better photos from that place from some of my previous visits.
The final hike of the month was something I had planned with my mother – pretty much in a lowland, at the western outskirts of Prague.
We started the hike on a train station near the Karlลกtejn castle (photos above and below), using a trail that loops around the castle before it descends back to a valley.
Given the landscaping, photos from the village below are from quite a low angle and the best view would definitely be from the air. Despite starting around 10:00, the area wasn’t too crowded yet.
The geology of the area features limestone of various ages and types and was frequently mined. Our next destination was good proof of that fact – a series of deep quarries, most of them closed and partially flooded by now.
The depth was somewhere between 50 and 80 meters and many of the walls had openings in them, likely the placement of former mine shafts. The first quarry, pictured above, had few chances to observe as the area is overgrown by vegetation to the very edge with only a few lookouts. It’s also the most remote from any nearby settlement, so it was the least crowded.
The middle quarry is a bit deeper and, for me, was quite interesting by the presence of vegetation growing from the water at the bottom, thus hinting that the lake there is relatively shallow.
The third quarry, the largest and deepest of the set, is a much more popular area. The quarry was closed for further mining after a landslide and has, since then, been used in different ways, such as open air concerts or movie set. Unfortunately, the trail around the mine shows that it’s too close to a major town, given how messy it is.
From there, it was a while of calm walk to another village with a small section of exposed limestone arrayed in arcs, the upper part being almost completely sideways.
Which was the last interesting place on the menu for the day and, from there, it was just a walk to the nearby train station.
So, that’s the rundown of my July hikes. I’m already trying to find some interesting places to visit this month, and hope that the weather will be as favorable as it was in July.
Tomas - the wandering dreamer 