January was a varied month when it comes to weather in the mountains. As with the past years, the weather has been changing a lot, which led to quite some variety.

Unlike some past years, when the weather was outright horrible, I managed to go hiking on the 1st. However things got tricky before I even started – the train was delayed by almost forty minutes because some drunk decided to take a shortcut where he wasn’t supposed to and before the police and ambulance sorted things out, the delay jumped up a fair amount.

The day itself wasn’t too cold but turned out quite windy, so I was glad that my New Year walk was something I decided to do in the lower hills. The snow in this area was lacking, though. I made a loop around the historical town (see above) and the nearby hills. Most of the trail I chose – aside from crossing the towns – was in forested hills, which somehow shielded me from the wind but also from major lookouts.

The weather changed soon after, bringing fresh snow even to the towns, though it was merely a sprinkle. It was enough to guarantee a winter-like scenery for the next hike, though.

The day was mostly sunny around the lower hills, though many of the higher hills ended up wrapped in clouds. This included the peak I’ve ascended, leading to a very different vibe than during the ascension itself:

And something that affected the view of the mountains on the other side compared to the first photo.

I skipped a hike the next week – the forecast wasn’t exactly favorable with strong wind warning for the hills. The next weekend was similar to the above, though it was much warmer – while the lowlands were cloudy and gloomy, the hills were sunny and warm.

The view was especially charming at the point where I was just at the edge of the low clouds.

And when I finally got above. I’ve walked this trail a few months ago during the autumn, when the clouds were similar, though it was without snow back then.

As the time progressed, the sunlight and light breeze became too much. The ice making the scenery started to fall from the trees, often showering me in bursts. It started to feel quite warm – for January standards at least.

By the time it was closer to noon, most of the picturesque ice was gone from the trees. The snow on the trail was melting where it was exposed to the sun, which wasn’t exactly pleasant to walk in.

Nearing the main peak of this trail, I crossed a place that was a bit more shaded before the final ascension, where the dampness from the melting snow created a localized fog.

When I reached the peak, it was quite crowded – the nice day lured people outside en masse. Thus, I decided to not stay there, and started my descent, which was really tricky – the initial part was steep and shaded in the woods, so I had to be careful and watch out for patches of ice or smooth snow that bore a high risk of slipping, but I managed it just fine.

The final weekend of the month, I went for a walk in the suburbs rather than a full-scale hike. This limited some more charming view, but the paper-thin sheet of ice in the reservoir lake did lead to an interesting view with the mountains in the distance reflecting on the surface.

The first month of 2025 was an easy start hiking-wise, but as I said earlier, I’m trying to not push it as hard as the last year for my own good.

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So, that’s it for January. I’m curious to see what February brings – with the weather this unpredictable, it might be tricky to plan the hikes, but I’ll definitely try to get at least some done.