The original plan was to go for a hike with 8 people again, but 2 where not sure from the beginning, and 2 cancelled the day before departure.
So here we are, with the remaining 4 participants, for a nice relaxed 3 day hike.
We started out on Friday afternoon, arriving with the bus around 16.30 in the village where we would start the hike.
I had my new summer hiking boots on, bought from a member from the Dutch Bushcraft Forum. Sadly enough, these where 1 size too big for me, and i noticed it quickly.
After the first km, i put on 2 extra pairs of socks, it helped a bit with the rest of the trip, but didn’t prevent me getting several blisters on both feet.
After about 10 km, we made camp at a nice place in the forest with a fresh water source nearby. I tried my bow drill fire skill, about 6 times, and successfully failed all 6 times.
I expect that dampness was the issue, cause we had some unexpected slight rainfall during the hike to this camp spot.
Long live matches, and quickly the meat begged to be put on a stick above the fire.
Who are we to refuse this ? 🙂
I had a big piece of pork tenderloin, which turned out perfect. The others had very juice pork as well, I don’t remember exactly which part, but we shared all and it was a great dinner.
Also tried the popcorn in a beer can, it worked, but no ideal.
We quickly switched to using a normal pan on the coals for that.
After dinner, the popcorn came up as a snack, and it was time for a nice cigar.
Also the wine was opened and passed around, and the home made beer by Tomasi was a very good success. Very good stuff he made.
The night was interesting, on of the girls got sick and and didn’t sleep much, including us due to taking care of her. Next morning, she was all good again though.
Here is the view from my hammock. None of us used a tarp overhead, as it was suppose to be a dry night.
In the morning we refilled our bottles with the mineral water, which contained a lot of iron.
That explains why the ground was so red. The taste was interesting.
And we continued walking.
The village called Krusovice is the home of the Czech beer brewery “Krusovice”.
So we took a small break to enjoy the local beverages from the village.
We tried to get a sightseeing tour in the brewery, but they where closed.
Here is a pic of the brewery when we walked by.
Back into nature.
The nature in this area is great, nice sloping hills, well marked paths, beautiful views.
The walking stick on which I mounted my bow drill kit, was nice, but I found a stick from the same tree, with a nice curve, so I took it with me to replace my current stick with the new one. In the evening I did some carving on it to make it fit to my hand and bow drill, but next morning I decided not to take it with me and it became firewood..
In the next village we refilled our water bottles. The taste was weird, but the others said it was ok, nothing special. Maybe I should have brushed my teeth better that morning….
While passing through the village, we came across a sign saying something like “yard sale”.
I was curious about it, maybe they would have have some nice old axe, so we had a looksy inside.. No axes, but they did have 2 small bear skins, each for 4 euro’s.
So Tomasi and me took each one, they are in the plastic bag in front of our backpacks on the below picture.
And back into nature again.
Some farmers where fixing the almost 1 meter deep holes in the dirt road we walked on, that the cause of the big dust cloud 🙂
Taking a small break to check the map.
After a 14 hm hike with some nice cold beers in the villages, we set up camp at the ruin of Dzban. There was already a fire place made with some logs to sit close by, so we had it all setup quite quickly.
This time for dinner was a big piece of pork steak. Other has pork as well and sausages.
As usual, we take way too much food with us, and as commented by Tomasi, it is always more luxurious then what we would cook at home 🙂 Very true.
As desert banana with white and brown chocolate, with a bit of red wine.
And of course bacon.
Next morning a quick cleanup, as Kacka needed to leave early that morning to catch the train back home. We would continue for another few km’s and then take a train & bus home.
Tomasi found a cherry tree with a big branch freshly broken off, so he took from this branch a smaller branch which he has in his hand below. A nice re-freshment.
And we passed a “chmel” / hops area, which is delivered to the Krusovice beer brewery once it is done.
Another ruin, much bigger in size, but not much left over as well.
It seems that one of the original wooden support beams was still in place.
Also in other parts we found wooden pieces sticking in the wall still.
And some nice blueberry’s as a snack.
Our end destination is behind this grain field.
And the village where we could take the train and then bus home.
This last day we did another 10 km.
My feet where pretty blistered all around, but i think the shoe’s have been “broken in” properly now, not sure though if I will keep them since they are a full size too big for me.
All in all, a very nice trip.
