In order to challenge my still-wimpy foot, I set off with N to walk 10 km from Frenštát pod Radhoštĕm to Hukvaldy in the Czech Republic. The weather was dreary and dull with a high of 13 C, overcast skies, and occasional drops of rain. We each wore 2 pairs of lightweight pants, several layers of shirts, rain jackets on top.

I had a 1:50,000 hiking map of the Moravskoslezské Beskydy, which translates to “Moravian-Silesian Beskyd Mountain Range.” It’s not easy to determine the best walking routes from the map but one can’t get TOO lost in this countryside, and N was responsible for asking directions in Czech.

We consulted with Google Maps on the wifi at the Frenstat town square but the results didn’t include the yellow hiking route we had in mind. The sign post showed just about everywhere except our destination.

We decided to trust the map.

As always,  getting out of town was the hard part and we got it wrong. For about 2 km we ended up walking on a narrow path between the ditch and the asphalt, with only a half-metre shoulder between us and the cars whizzing by.

Next time we’ll find the more scenic and safer route.

In the village of Tichy I captured another photo for my series of  Interesting-Building-Colours-With-Almost-Coordinated-Vehicles-and/or-People.

Moving on, we were uncertain about which direction to take across some open spaces, but eventually found more markers. 

There was a nice variety of terrain and paths. The walk around a game preserve was quite pleasant but we took a little detour before deciding that we were supposed to go through the gate and shoo a herd of deer out of the way. (Of course there was no need for shooing, as they moved well away, but we couldn’t be sure of that in advance.) The sheep were safely behind a fence.

In Hukvaldy we followed the arrows up and over a big style to an excellent restaurant that wasn’t doing much business on this chilly Wednesday, and filled up on calories for the climb up to the castle ruins. I had my favourite sauerkraut soup and N had pork skin and lard for appetizers, followed by fried chicken and gulash respectively.

The walk to the top was steep, with switchbacks and old trees. The ruins included dungeons, a restored chapel  and a lookout from the roof.

Still feeling quite spry, we decided to walk all the way back. By the end of the day (probably close to 25 km in total) my legs were decidedly tired and my left foot was somewhat sorer than the right. I had just enough energy to detour to the store to buy ice cream as a reward.

(This is my first post using the Photo Grid app for the photo collages. What do you think?)