E3: Czech Republic Part 2

View from 1350 m Serak

Shortcutting another long detour for a border crossing I entered Czech Republic again. This mountain range is called Hrubý Jeseník or Altvatergebirge in German. First summit to climb is 1350 metres high Serak - and to my big surprise my German guidebook does not even mention how to hike up there. Instead it just describes taking the ski lift ...  I am a firm believer in connecting footsteps and walked of course - although I confess taking the lift up and walking downhill instead of the other way round ....

Niederes Gesenk

Praded is almost 1500 metres high and the highest - and most popular - summit of this mountain range. There are even shuttle buses from a nearby parking lot going up there! Everybody and their mother was out there hiking - or taking a ride on a scooter! These vehicles could be rented on top from where you can descend on a smooth paved road!
The E3 then descends into the lowlands of Nízký Jeseník or "Niederes Gesenke" where I was now traversing fields and pastures and following the very idyllic little river Moravice.

World War II memorial

But a very important date was coming closer: My 50th birthday on 9th of July. I had been deliberating what to do on that big day and had even thought of briefly returning to Berlin in order to celebrate with my friends. But once I am in hiking mode I don't want to be stopped and therefore decided to celebrate on the trail - and on my own. I wanted to be in a nice place and chose a hotel in Hradec nad Moravici. A very good choice because the hotel owner was a very good source of information for the Austrian-German history of this area.

I spent the big day sightseeing in Opava and Hradbyne where an impressive World War II Memorial is situated. Opava itself turned out to be a very pleasant little town with an interesting modern museum. And in the evening I treated myself with a posh dinner followed by dessert and a cocktail in a nice bar. Sitting at the outdoor terrace of the Restaurant and enjoying the view over historical Opava I felt very good - and did not regret spending my birthday alone.

So far I had not encountered any other long-distance hiker - but I knew there were others! Jana, another German was hiking Eisenach -Budapest coming towards me and through Facebook Messages we timed a meeting at the mountain hut at Radhost (Jana was not Camping but always staying in paid accommodation). It felt so good to meet a fellow hiker after almost one month alone on the trail! Although the rooms in this very old hut were sort of very old, too the food in the restaurant was excellent and we spent the entire evening and next morning talking. And this was not our last get-together. After our tours we have already met twice in Germany.

E3: Jizera and Giant Mountains

When I briefly entered Germany again near Oybin bad weather struck for the first time during that hike. Luckily I was in village when a torrential downpour came down and I sought shelter together with a German guy on a big motor bike. After one hour the rain stopped and we both continued. Further West in Germany this turned out to be the most destructive thunderstorm of the year but even here at the border of Germany, Czech Republic and Poland the rain continued later in the evening. This was when I discovered that my brand new tent that I had bought seamsealed was not entirely waterproof ...

But I knew that I would soon reach Liberec and my first resupply stop where I would hopefully be able to fix the problem. Liberec turned out to be a wonderful trail town. Although the city was almost completely booked I ended up in a brand new hotel in the outskirts of town with an excellent restaurant nearby. I seamsealed the tent in my hotel room and never had a problem again with it on this trip. Liberec did not only have a nice historical town centre, but also two interesting museums. The art gallery had once been a swim hall dedicated to the Austrian emporer Franz Joseph and showed some surprisingly good art work

Now came one small mountain range after another and I keep forgetting their names. Most were crossed in one day! First were the Jizera Mountains were cyclists rule. This meant that almost half of the otherwise scenic trail was on pavement or concrete slabs and you see more cyclists than hikers. I even ran into a mountain bike race for kids where one father was accompanying his son on foot ... I don't think they broke any speed records but everyone seemed to have fun.

The Giant Mountains were not really that giant and full of tourists. I was having a hard time finding a discreet camping spot! Early in the morning I ran into two older German gentleman who asked me to take their picture and told me a sad story in return. They were on a memorial hike for an old friend who had recently died of cancer. For decades the three of them had been hiking in the Giant Mountains and their friend had always brought a special cake for them. Now they came back every year with this cake and ate it in his memory. Even I was offered a piece! Sniezka (1600 metres), the highest mountain of the Sudetes, was teeming with tourists as was the source of the river Elbe, a river that I still want to paddle one day.