This time I took advantage of prolonged weekend due to
another superb bank holiday in the Czech Republic and went for 3 days to
Czech mountains Orlicke. Kralicky Sneznik was on my mind for quite a long time.
The first time I was really thrilled about it, was when I watched downhill from
1 424 meters high hill on youtube. I thought, I must experience it
first-hand and it happened.
We stayed in a little village called Stribrnice.
Although there’re only two restaurants and one of them was grocery shop at the
same time I found this location beyond reproach. There were more guest houses
than guests itself, but I think locals make a living mainly during winter
season, when ski lifts are open. The people we stayed at were really nice and
friendly, they navigated us and showed the best ways for hiking and biking.
They shared tips we couldn’t have found on the Internet. I was really pleasantly
surprised.
The journey from Brno to Stribrnice took us about 2
hours. We chose the way through Svitavy, I was told this route is a bit
dangerous, but we reached our destination safely. The cities we drove through
were Letovice, Svitavy, Lanskroun, Stity, Cervena Voda, Kraliky and Stare
Mesto. Beware of speeding, you need to limit your speed to 50 km per hour in
the city. The other possibility is to take highway to Olomouc and then go
through Mohelnice, Zabreh, Hanusovice and Stare Mesto, it's 20 kilometers
further, but may be faster.
After arriving to Stribnice we decided to look around
a bit, took off bikes from carrier and got ready for a short drive. From
Stribrnice it was about 2-3 kilometers on a blue path to Stare Mesto, where I
recommend a confectionery in front of the gas station, they serve
delicious snacks and sweets. Because there is not much to do besides gorging
ourselves, we decided to go to Dolni Morava. A place where the longest in the
Czech Republic bobsleigh is situated , attractions for kids are provided and it
seems as if it was some kind of a ski resort comparing to surrounding villages.
There was disk golf, so popular in The Czech Republic, climbing wall and other
attractions for people who seek them. In addition leaflets with maps are
available at cash-desks. Dolni Morava was also a good option as a starting
point, there’re many hiking and cycling paths to nearby summits. Unfortunately
I wasn't overjoyed with service at restaurant U Slona, we waited for over an
hour for food that has never arrived, because they actually run out of burger meat. We
were given the money back and we left with empty stomachs.
When “the” day has arrived, we were prepared. From
Stribrnice it was approximately 8 kilometers to Kralicky Sneznik , which didn’t
seem much, but locals warned us that this is a whole day
trip. And now I believe it completely. It took us more than 4 hours of constant pedaling uphill, if
you add breaks for food, beer and whatever it will definitely end up in the
evening.
How to get there...After sign “Stribrnice” go straight
on, a sign with direction will appear after several hundred meters. You should
follow yellow trail. There’re two possibilities however: the yellow path
turning a bit left is shorter and directs through picturesque forest, it is
steep though. The second option is more suitable for cyclists, it’s longer but
go on pavement. Both will lead you to Navrsi chalet. At the top of the mountain
is restaurant and you can buy something to drink or eat. Then we followed yellow path
again, after few kilometers it changed to a red one at Nad Adelirym prm, which
we followed until the very summit. There’s a part of the path that is forbidden
to cyclists, but none of them seemed to take care of it. They cycled as if they
didn’t notice the sign, jumped over the rocks and disappeared really
fast. The last two kilometres were not accessible on a bike, unless you are a
professional rider. There were few daredevils, who were able to ride on
rocks swiftly and deftly passing by tourist. I was amazed ….
The weather that day wasn’t so bad, but I felt like
the temperature went down every 100 meters we were higher. From short sleeves
at the bottom of the mountain we changed to several layers on top of it. It was
cold and misty, the view… I couldn’t tell because I didn’t see on my own eyes,
but it was astonishing from the pictures I saw on the Internet. We didn’t stay
long on the top of the mountain. Because it was freezing cold, we moved
further. It was recommended to us to go back through Poland, because the way
for cyclists is much better, therefore on a summit we moved left as the sign
"Schronisko Chata" showed, hoping that we'll find further directions
on the Polish side of the mountain. We're not mistaken, from“Chata” we
followed the yellow path directing to Stronie Śląskie. Hiking yellow path links
with bicycle blue path, so you can follow the blue one, but pay attention to
yellow one as well:) unfortunately we discovered it after a while, because it
was not marked there.
Cycle paths in Poland are marked way worse than the
Czech's one, there’re places the roads are not marked at all and places
there’re several different paths and you don’t know which number to follow.
Sometimes it’s better to look around for road signs directing to cities.
You might have also noticed that Poles write the time it
should take to cover the distance, but we actually do not write the number of km. So
you know you’ll hike for an hour and 15 minutes or so but if you don’t have a map
with you, you won’t know how much kilometers it was. Funny, isn’t it? I wonder who was the pioneer who calculated the times :)
But getting back on track...we didn’t go exactly to
Stronie Śląskie as it seemed too far away, but we went all way down to Kletno
then Stara Morawa, Bolesławów and Nowa Morawa. Cycle paths 5257 and 5256. From
that place it was only about 3 kilometers to Czech borders called Kladske
Sedlo, and that’s the last distance uphill.
I was surprised by the fact that there's a restaurant
and place to sleep, we had a short break before getting back home. From Kladske
Sedlo we just moved down the street and cycle path 6114 back to Stribrnice. The
road is new and renowated, so it was easy to get high speed. We finished after
40 kilometers completely exhausted and hungry.
On the 3rd day we planned to go to Paprsek, unfortunately
my boyfriend's bike refused to cooperate. When we woke up on Sunday morning it
turned out he had flat tire. It changed our plans a bit as we forgot to take the pump (Tip: Always take a bike pump specially when you have sport valve like presta ;) ). Since we didn't have
the whole day for hiking, we decided to drive the car as close as possible and
then hike. Paprsek chalet is entirely accessible by car, but we parked at
Medvedi bouda (Bear shack) and walk the red path for 2,5 kilometers. The way to
Paprek chalet goes from Kuncice city. From Stribrnice you need to go in
direction to the Stare Mesto, but turn left to Kuncice, when appropriate sign
appears. There's also a billboard advertising and directing to Paprsek
ski centre. By the way, food in a restaurant on top looked and smelled
delicious. It's a pity we were after breakfast.
When returning home, just to diversify the way we went
to an observation tower Val in Kraliky-Dolni Hedec. It was a bit complicated to
get there due to roadworks,but we managed. You should follow the road no. 43 as
if you were directing Kraliky and Cervena Voda, just behind the big crossroad
in Kraliky there should be signs directing to Dolni Hedec and monastery. I
personally think it was a nice way to say goodbye to mountains, as once again
we could admire the view. Tower is 34,5 meters high, but the balcony is
situated at 22 meters. The entrance was free and it is open all year round.
When stepping the stairs you feel how the construction trembles with the wind.
I didn't feel fully safe there, so my visit ended quickly.
There's also one bigger observation tower, maybe
even more interesting that the one described, in Cervena Voda called Krizova
Hora. Signs directing are visible from the main road number 521. Unfortunately
it was too late for us to go there, during summer it's open only until 5
o'clock. The entrance free is 20kc.
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