home and back
An idea we had—and executed before. No car to visit mom, just bikes and the bare essentials for a weekend. On Friday we cycled there, on Saturday we hiked, and on Sunday we rode back with a short-ish detour.
We brought only what we needed: shoes, shorts, and a t-shirt for the hike, spare underwear, hats, socks, a cycling jacket in case it rained, and a camera to document it all.
On the way there, Barča joined us for half the ride. The rest we rode alone. I had planned a different route than usual, and I was excited about it—especially the second half. It was beautiful.
The stretch after Moravský Beroun and Slezská Harta is really nice. It always feels secluded—bare rolling hills with the occasional tree, no houses in sight. Like you were a thousand kilometers away from any civilization.
As we gained altitude, the weather changed—from blue skies to dark clouds. Right before Bruntál, the rain started. Light, nothing major, but enough to pull out the jackets. We finished in a gentle drizzle, with a rainbow above our heads.
No car, no problem. It’s funny how much you rely on a car when you have one. You can go almost anywhere. But when things are too easy, the adventure often disappears. I honestly can't remember the last time I checked a bus timetable, walked to the station, waited, and took a bus to get somewhere.
We took a bus to Karlova Studánka, wandered around, had coffee and cake, saw an exhibition of wild birds, and then hiked back home.
It took us almost the whole day, but we chose paths, roads, and trails none of us had ever walked before. We talked, tried to identify flowers and beetles—it was genuinely fun to spend a day like that.
We started early the next morning, as we had chosen a longer way home. The plan was to visit friends in Kouty nad Desnou. The shortest route from Světlá Hora leads through Ovčárna and Švýcárna, which means a 16-kilometre climb right from the doorstep.
But we slept well, had a delicious breakfast, and nothing could stop us. Soon we were enjoying views of the surrounding peaks near Praděd. The descent to Kouty was fast and beautiful—those gravel roads are just so good.
We took a break in Kouty for about two hours, chatting with friends and soaking up the sun.
It would’ve been nice to stay longer, but we still had a long way to go. From Kouty to Šumperk, it’s mostly downhill, and we were there in no time.
Once you leave Šumperk, you’re kind of leaving the Jeseníky Mountains behind. You enter rolling hills crisscrossed with all kinds of gravel roads—and we left our mark on one of them.
Then came Haná: a flat region full of fields and villages. The sun was high and strong. We couldn’t wait to reach the shady forests of Litovelské Pomoraví. They were our saviour—otherwise, we might’ve melted and evaporated into the atmosphere.
We celebrated the weekend with a beer.
