My travells in 2011

The year 2011 was extraordinar, when speaking  of total amount of time spent out there in the Nature.  I spent over 100 days at outdoors  in total. In other word I ventured out on nearly every weekend of the year plus on short vacations throuhout the year. The total time spent there would be less  valid if I haven’t learned new things during those outings.  Simply said the time alone doesn’t matter. Though events I went through do matter. My companions on those trips were usually my friends,  only sometimes I set off alone, carrying only my camera (Pentax K-7 ) along with me. In this list I mention only full-day or longer events. Shorter-time trips don’t make it to be entered here.

The first trip of the year 2011 seamlessly merges with the last trip of the 2010.

1.1-2.1.2011 The Leaota trip, Romania. The event which changed the next 12 month of the year, because I met there with wonderfull people and we are still in touch, even after a year long time period.

A story on the adventure is here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1101

6-8.1.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

14-15.1.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

18-20.2.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

A story on tracking a lynx is here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1102

25-27.2.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

4-6.3.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

11.13.3.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

18-20.3.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

10.4.2011 MTB ride to the Soutok area. It’s  a place of the confluence of the two rivers, where three nations meet: the Czech Rep., Slovakia and Austria.

17.4.2011 MTB ride to the Soutok area again. This time I went all around the area, visiting territories of three neighbouring countries: starting in the Czech rep, going through a part of Austria and Slovakia; and returning back home.

A story on the trip is here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1104

23-25.4.2011 Easters, traditionally I made a bacpacking trip to the slovakian part of the Carpathian Mountains. This time we visited a northernmost part of Slovakia, called Orava.

A story on the trip is here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1105/jaro-na-diablaku

30.4.2011 I spent a day on my bellowed Pouzdřany steppe to see the spring bloom of flowers there.

7-22.5.2011 I visited Romania on two-week long bacpacking trip.  With a friend of mine we visited the Semenic Mountains, Aninei Mountains, Locvei Mountains and Almaj Mountains, in area called Banat. In the Nera River Gorge I met with my romanian friends. It was succesfull spring trip, with many events which turned to be very important to me. For those people who are not accustomed to spent prolonged time under heavy weight of the bacpack it could be described as very exhausting trip. But I enjoyed it very much. My reward are memories of those beautiful places and gigabites of photographs. 

A story on the trip is here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1105/pribeh-s-otevrenym-koncem-volne-pokracovani 

And here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1106/v-roklinach-aninejskych-hor-1

and here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1106/v-roklinach-aninejskych-hor-2

Last parts of the adventure are here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1107/1-v-ceskych-vesnicich-banatu-na-hranici-dvou-svetu

and here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1107/2-v-ceskych-vesnicich-banatu-na-hranici-dvou-svetu

3-5.6.2011 Visit of our border with Poland on a high mountain ridge, walking along the border in between the two nations, on a trail I had never walked in it’s entirety. I was alone, only my camera was my companion on the trip through the wild of the Kralický Sněžník Mountains (Schneeberg). Link to my story on PWA: https://picasaweb.google.com/116310307716509816767/KralickySneznikSchneeberg?authkey=Gv1sRgCLGNr57i7Ie50AE

11-12.6.2011 The White Carpathian Mountains. Visit to one of the folklore festivals held in the Carpathian Mountains area, just west of the Slovak border.

17.19.6.2011 MTB ride through the part of the White Carpathian Mountains on muddy trails. It was where I said that the best moments are when the wheel stops rotating; when it was blocked by mud (MTB wheel). For two nights we slept in a tent. On the second night it was raining for 10 hours without stopping. Great and beautiful experience, to be inside a tent, set up on a lush mountain meadow under a tree,  listening to the sound of falling raindrops.

26.6.2011 MTB ride to the Soutok. This time I sett of from my home, just after 9.30 am to reach my destination at about 4 pm. I tried to get there in the same way last year, but I failed to get to the end, because of the heat (32°C). This time it was an easy ride in rather cooler weather. Minimun temperature was 15°C; highest temperature was at about 24°C.

2-6.7.2011 A trip to east Slovakia, more exactly to the place where Slovakia, Hungary and Ucraine meet, and also to the Slanské Vrchy mountains and the Vihorlat Mountains. The weather was horrible, it rained on day after day. The temperatures barely stroke the 15°C mark at their highest.

15-17.7.2011 The Beskydy Mountains, this time an easy bacpack on the slovak side of the border with a young girl as a partner.

22-31.7.2011 The Ucraine trip. A bacpacking expedition into the wildest part of the ucrainian part of the Carpathian Mountains-the Gorgany Mts. A trip was not easy due to rainy conditions there. But it was a succes, we did what we wanted to do. A link to the story: http://ottohauck.blogspot.com/2011/12/ucraine-trip.html

6-16.8. 2011 The romania trip. This time there were two trips included in one package. The first trip was with my romanian friends to the Buila-Vânturariţa massif, wher we enjoyed leisure time with girls. The second part was a more serious bacpack to the  Vrance mountains, traversing the ridge from east to west. On this trip I saw a brown bear and a wolf for the first time in the wilds. The trip was a reward to me. On the last day we made a fast jaut to the Sapte Scari Canion in Piatra Mare massiv. What a big day!

Story on Buila trip is here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1109/buila-vanturarita-trip-part-1 
and here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1109/buila-vanturarita-trip-part-2
Story on Vrancea trip is here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1109/the-vrancea-trip-1 here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1109/the-vrancea-trip-1-last-paragraphs and here: http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1109/the-vrancea-trip-2 and here:   http://ottohauck.blog.cz/1109/the-vrancea-trip-3

20.8.2011 Another MTB ride to the Soutok. I went directly from my home, covering  a distance of almost 100 km. This time I was more tired in the end because of the heat.

21.8.2011 I could not resist the urge to see something „carpathian“ on that day. I jumped on my MTB, took only a camera, water botle and rode to the Pouzdřany steppe, where I took some pictures of the sheep feeding on the grass. The scene was remininscent to those scenes in the Carpathian Mouintains farther to the east.  On this trip I spent no money, I had 1,5 L of water and ate plums and wall nuts I found growing on the steppe. I got home tired but happy when the dark set on. The distance covered: 80 km.

26-28.8. 2011 The Eustaces cabin in the Jeseníky Mountains. Visiting my friends, we had a leisure time there picking up blueberries and mushrooms. I was relaxing trip.

3-5.9.2011 Slovakia, the Velká Fatra Mountains. Crossing the Range from Lubochňa to the Vyšná Revúca village. A hard trip, covering a lot of terrain, taking lots of photographs. I was alone, enjoing myself in the wilderness.

9-11.9.2011 The Eustaces cabin in the company of two nice young girls. On the first day we enjoyed foggy mountains, with a fairy-tale atmosphere and on the second day we revelled in sunshine. Great experience for the girls, they were introduces to such wild parts of our country for the first time.

17-18.9.2011 South Moravia trip. Helping at a wine harvest. Growing wine is a tradition in south region of our country. At the night listening to tawny owls. Great experience. On the second day an MTB trip to the Soutok in very hot weather.

24-25.9.2011. The Beskydy Mountains, helping friends with some works at their property. As a reward we were given a free ride on the Carpathian Horse.

30.9.-9.10.2010 Romania, the Cerna and Mehedinti Mountains trip. I befriended a romanian photographers and we made a joint photography trip at the height of autumn colors. Great experience, a lot things to be learned from it. A story is here: http://ottohauck.blogspot.com/2011/10/muntii-mehedinti-trip.html

22-23.10.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

28-30.10 2011 The Velká Fatra Mountains, not so much difficult trip over the maine ridge, starting at Bela-Dulica  village and ending at Ružomberok.

5-6.11.2011 Malá Fatra trip. I tried to cover  the ridge in its entirety in just two days. I failed due to the bad weather condition. In strong winds walking was difficult. I experienced the state of exhaustion, that at the end I was not able to walk uphill. I gave up, descended to the warm  valley and slept under the stars. Until the morning I recovered completely from my tiredness, returned to to ridge, climbed a peak and desc ended on the other side. It was a great trip! A short story is here: http://ottohauck.blogspot.com/2011/11/autumn-in-mala-fatra.html

12.11. 2011 A lazy trip to the caves of the Moravian Carst, nothing special, but worth of mention here.

17-20.11.2011 The most chalenging trip of the year. I decided to test whether it is feasible to go to Romania just for four-day time window. This trip proved that it is possible. I visited the Godeanu Mouintains in the company of two romanian friends. And I befriended a romanian girl on the trip. A short story is here: http://ottohauck.blogspot.com/2011/11/gogeanu-weekend-trip.html and here: http://ottohauck.blogspot.com/2011/11/icing-in-godeanu.html

25-27.11.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

10-11.12.2012 The Králický Sněžník Mountains (Schneeberg). Regular event which repeats itself on each December. With a group of friends we make a reunion for a single night, camping in the snow. It is a test of equipment for winter stay in the mountains. I join the event regularly since 1994.

17-18.12.2011 The Beskydy Mountains trip, monitoring of our large carnivores.

26.12.2011-1.1.2012 Romania, the Vrancea trip. This time we traversed the range from west to east. Great adventure, four nights and five days in the wilderness of the Vrancea Mountains. After descending to the mountains I visited my friends in Bucharest. I reached the completion. In the beginnig of the year I started in Romania and at the end of the year I finished in Romania. I got a Christmas present there, which makes me feel as if I am there even though I am here! Thank you my dear friends!

Some pictures from the trip are here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/