Winter Hike – Grun to Bílý Kříž, Czech Republic
January 7th, 2011
After enjoying our winter hike from the Pustevny Mountain to the Radhost Mountain, my wife and I went for another winter hike in the same region of the Beskydy Mountains. This time we hiked from Grun to Bílý Kříž which is on the edge of the border to Slovakia.
The weather was much calmer and less cold than our previous hike, but it was still freezing at -3. The hiking trail was less demanding than our previous hike at Radhost and because of the calmer weather, we could hike at a much slower pace and admire the beauty of the landscape. The trees here were very tall… it reminded me of the trees on the planet Endor in the Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi.
What surprised me the most was how dead quiet it was. And I really mean it was dead quiet. No wind. No sounds of birds or wildlife. No other hikers on the trail. Nothing. I heard astronauts go through some psychological training to combat being in a quiet environment like space. If it is anything like I experienced here for a while I can understand!
It also reminded me of the time when I was on the Great Wall of China, in the Simatai section. This part of the wall was not typically visited by tourists and so when I was there, at times I did not hear any sounds at all.
It was a pleasant hike to Bílý Kříž where there was a white painted folk crucifix, which no one really knows why it was there. There was a hotel nearby, so we finally came across some people after our quiet journey up. I enjoyed both our hiking experiences and would interesting to see how different it will be if we did the same hike but in spring or summer. Maybe I might find out later on this year….
To view more photos of the hike please visit my Flickr set here
To watch more videos of the hike please visit my YouTube channel here
