Yeah, go us! We woke up fresh and not sore on day 2 of our little trip – despite the exhausting hike yesterday. The sunlight was streaming through the windows and it promised to be a clear day. Perfect hiking conditions, I’d say! So, after sneaking some sandwiches off the breakfast buffet of our hotel, we tied our boots and set off.
The first few kilometres were horrid. Just asphalt und super steep. But as soon as we had gained some height, the path became more natural and the sunny conditions made up for the sweaty effort. Other hikers we met greeted us with a jolly “AHOJ!”. The first time I heard it, I was quipping like “Oh cute, mountain sailors. Where the heck is the Czech sea, I have never heard of it…”. Turns out, it just means “Hello” in Czech. So, while bellowing jolly “Ahojs” in all directions, we eventually reached the same hut (Labská Bouda) we had stumbled past in the blizzard on the day before. There, we enjoyed our well-earned lunch in the sun.
A quick note on those huts at this point: The Czech people call them BOUDA and there are loooaaads of them in the Sudetes. You might as well plan a hut-to-hut trekking tour instead of checking into a hotel like we did. Most of those Boudas are pretty and cheap enough to be serious competitors for the ones in the Alps! Lesson learnt for next time.
Our route then took us to the Sněžné jámy, a popular, steep slope which was created by glaciers decades ago and which now forms the Czech-Polish border. There, you can walk right along the edge and over a beautiful, snow-covered plain with nice views into both countries. We met many skiers up there (by then, we had truely perfectionated (!) our jolly “Ahoj!”) and were tempted to rent some gear ourselves. But in the end, we were content enough with the snow-hiking, it was so much fun! In fact, it’s carcinogenic fun: This hike left us both with lobster-red faces… Especially Sebastian exhibited a real Panda-look because he had worn his sunglasses all day.
Bottom line: A real beautiful trek that we definitely recommend! But please take sunscreen! By the way, we now use the official DAV app for our tracking and really recommend it, too.
Sunburnt and happy as we were, we decided to spend the evening drinking Czech beer in a local pub that had a pool table as well. Due to my job at the Bata Bar I have become a worthy opponent for Sebastian by now. Chakka! It’s nice that playing pool seems to become one of our traditions when travelling.
At the Avalanche Bar in Spindleruv Mlyn. The evening ended 4:3 for Sebastian grrrrrph.
Feeding Fernweh 