Forecast said it will be the last day with plus temperatures and without snow, so I didn’t hesitate and take half-day off from work and went for a run. Took a bus to Králiky. First plan was a easy run where there is more descent than ascent, copyring contour line sideways the big hills.
But because I am me, I decided to choose a little bit “funnier” trail. So I went uphill… through the snow… At the beginning it was quite good, slippery, but there was a path in the snow. Then I came to the turn to Pršany and the fun has started. No one went there before me (except for some bears), snow just under the knees. Luckily after one kilometer the snow started to be hard enough to keep me on top of it without breaking and after a few more kilometers disappeared completely.
KrálikyThe better partBear’s footprintsAlone in the woods18,2km, 2:07active time, 801m ascend
Weather forecast wasn’t ideal. But I was determined to go for a run nonetheless. So it was a nice surprise to get up to a sunny day. The air was chilly and in some places there was a snow on the ground. The sun was shinning through my whole run, so my joy of it cannot by ruined even by the muddy terrain.
Somewhere in that clouds there is Skalka.Mud covered by snow – “ideal” terrain to run onIn the middle of Slovakian mountains you can find…..EMU! 13,5km 1:33 active, 594m ascend
Nová Baňa… Someone may think, that when I spent practically my entire childhood here I would know every corner.. But I only know a small part of it (mostly around my grandma’s house). I really started to discover neighborhood after I started running.
This time I chase hill Priesil. My original destination was castle situated on hill Hrádok above village Tekovká Breznica (of course didn’t find it). There are only ruins left from Breznica castle, which was built in 13th century. It was several times burned-out by Turks and at the end of 18th century it lost importance, deteriorated more and more. Rains and frosts destroyed walls. And then in more peaceful times people took it apart to built their houses. It is not known when the castle disappear completely. Big blocks from towers were used to build a church. The last standing memories are around 1 meter high, disintegrating remains of one tower.
Ascend to Hrádok
When I got going (around 8 o’clock in the morning), the waether wasn’t quite enjoyable – drizzle and gloomily looking clouds. This can be the reason why I run into a herd of 20 does and one deer (they ran away that moment I tried to take photo).
The ascend on Hrádok is quite demanding, I need to walk few times. The path is barely visible, but the signs are new and nicely visible. There is a viewpoint (only 200m from path)
view on Tekovská Breznicaview on oposite site
As I climbed to Priesil, there snow was deeper and deeper. Terrain was quite technical, lot of boulders and smaller rocks a the path was barely used. I entertain myself for a while with distinguishing animal tracks (fox, deer, stag, badger and of course wild boar). The snow was deep, climb difficult and I started to think about changing my plan (first plan was lap, with around 8 km in this snow ahead). I decided to go back from Priesil on the same path.
Closely to Priesil the snow was knee deep and as I stand under last climb, I almost gave up. But thanks to my stubbornness, I climb up (need to use my hands, pulse 200, sweaty…)
Our Slovak autumn is really beautiful with colorful trees, there is relatively warm outside and ground is covered with swooshing leaves. So the weekend is ideal time for longer trail run. And when you can make a stop for a coffee, what can be better?
I left around 8 o’clock to catch morning fogs, but at the time I arrived at the top of the hill, the fog was already disappearing. But the sun sun was promising a nice day.
26 km, around 1000 m ascend, 4 hours including coffee break and some photo breaks.Well-earned reward, craft beer Tokaj-IPA.. Yeah I’m a big craft beer lover
Indian summer is almost over so I decided to take advantage of one from the last few nice days to run. I took a halfday holiday from work a chose a route from Badín (small village near Banská Bystrica) through Tri kríže to Horné Pršany.
It is quite nice hiking trail, but its good times are over. This trail obviously isn’t used frequently, because the hike marks on trees was almost invisible. I even needed to went back twice and searched for path (and I think I have pretty good sense of direction). A lot of fallen leaves made it even harder to follow the path.
13 kilometers of continuous ascend is guite enough, so I was pretty happy when I came to tri Kríže, which means I am on the heighest point 🙂
Drinking water, fresh and cold20 km, 1113 m ascend, 2:30 active time, around 3 hours total timeAn edible muschroom almost on the path is a proof that this trail isn’t used very often.Beautiful autumn day in the middle of Slovak forest (nobody out there, just you and trees)A tourist shelter with big holes in roof, trees groving in the middle of the path
