Hike Czech

17/09/2023

Very laid back race with two of my favourite girls I have known for 45 years. 🙂 And I have to say: my mom and my friend are in better shape than me! 🙂 29,6 km, 8 summits and lots of fun! Next year, we will be back and would love to take other ladies with us.

11/09/2023

We are back from Jordan to hike the homeland!!! :-)
And we just finished the last part of the Krkonoše ridge, our biggest mountains. We hiked it in 2020 for three days and this past weekend, we fnished in one day the last 17 km (see pictures). All together 54 km of beautiful nature, cozy huts and good food.
Stay with us to see how we cross another Czech mountains. :-)

26/02/2023

100 miles in beautiful environment. The nothern part of Jordan is done. Tomorrow starting from a deep valley uphill to Mount Nebo. And from there into the wild. :-) No villages, so no shops to resupply food and water. Finger crossed! :-) You can follow us on the page bellow to see our progress.

2 WEEKS & 100 MILES COMPLETED!!
We are now 1/4 of the way there!
The boys are amazing!!
If you have not donated to the charity we support with our hike, please consider to do so.
We are tired but happy :-D !!

19/02/2023

Dear hiking friends! We haven´t posted much in a long time. The reason is that we are currently living in Jordan and right now thru hiking the entire country on the Jordan Trail. We will share here our journey. And once we get back home (this summer), we will sure share again hiking adventures from the Czech Republic.

10/02/2023

We, the Christofs, are thru-hiking the entire 675km (420 miles) Jordan Trail, from February 12 to April 9, inshaallah. We want to fulfill a long-time dream as a family, and show all of YOU what cultural activities the Jordan Trail offers, and how beautiful the country of Jordan is. We are also fundraising for local charity called Reclaim Childhood, which is empowering girls in Jordan to thrive by playing sports. If you want to follow along, you can do it on this public page. Keep on hiking :-)
www.facebook.com/waterislife

Feb-April 2023 we thru-hiked 675km JORDAN TRAIL as a family & fundraised $5000 for a local charity

10/09/2021

#52 of 52 hikes: We are DONE! :)
Our last hike today was not in the Czech Republic anymore, as we recently moved to Jordan for a year.
We went to discover our neighborhood, which was not just a walk around, but actually a hike that included climbing steep hills - see last picture to get an idea how steep the so called RIFT just under our house goes.
We met some of our neighbors: a shepperd who lives in a tent with a hord of goats and a donkey, a green chameleon, who did not run away from us, but very slowly walked by and some other people, who live here in the windy outskirts of Amman.
We ovelook the Jordan river valley from our home and we will definitelly explore more of it.
And are we really done hiking? Of course not! We actually kicked off a new family challenge with this hike called: microadventures!
We can not decide yet, if we want to do 52 of them again. But keep following us and you will find out. :)

04/09/2021

#51 of 52 hikes - the second to last hike 🙂 !!
We did this hike over a week ago.. can’t believe we are almost there… only 1 hike left in our mission!!

27/08/2021

#50 of 52 hikes: the hike with cousins while on a camping vacation
There was the renaissance castle, the petting zoo, the playing with water from the forest spring, the observing of the grass insects.. but most importantly, the camaraderie with the cousins :-)

21/08/2021

#49 of 52 hikes: the unexpected hike
Running errands took us south last week, close to the austrian border. And since we arrived late at night, we just took our sleeping bags out of the car and slept under the stars. When we woke up, we found ourselves right on a trail, with a monastery close by. Being already on a trail, we decided to start a hike there and so we had a beautiful and spiritual start this time: listening to organ, smelling frankincense, greating smiling nuns... we stayed a while and then headed over fresh harvested fields to a nearby town.
We had to stop at a lake (a pond to be exact, as we don't really have lakes), because of the heat and added ice cream to cool down. Unexpected little adventures are the best. :)

16/08/2021

#48 of 52 hikes: the anniversary hike
7 years ago, we got married. And at the wedding day, we did a short hike in the woods of a lovely pilgrimage site, where our small celebration took place.
To celebrate a little our anniversary this year, we went back there with our kids to do the same hike again. :-)

11/08/2021

You should spend half an hour every day in nature.
If you are very busy, you should spend at least 1 hour there!
:-)

No phone, no watch, no headphones... 4 miles this morning just me and the forest.
As my favorite adage goes:
You should spend half an hour every day in the nature. If you are very busy, you should spend an hour there.

10/08/2021

#47 of 52 hikes: to the most prominent lookout
When friends come to visit and their kids have never seen Prague, the hiking goal is clear: walking around the city center. And when you do it properly, like we did, you end up hiking 10km.
We did not take many pictures, we know our city too well. But at least a few from the viewpooint at Petřín (the czech Eifeltower :-))

07/08/2021

#46 of 52 hikes: into the (un)known waters!
We know this river well, it flows nearby and we have been hiking there many times. We have seen it in the spring time, during the colorful fall, covered with snow in the winter and sometimes we came for a dip in its water in the Summer.
But we've never hiked IN IT until now!
The boys were excited, felt like big explorers. And to be honest, even for us adults it was quite adventurous.
Changing the perspective makes all the difference...
It also felt a bit like saying good bye to the Summer, since the weather is slowly changing...
And it felt like saying good bye to the river for quite long as we will be abroad for some time...

04/08/2021

#45 of 52 hikes: hiking to a closed sweet shop
Well, I sent my men off to a lovely village, through a beautiful forrest, promising a sweet break. After two hours, they found themselves in front of a closed sweet shop. Luckily, David knows those things happen (to me - not checking opening hours) and had some extra chocolate with him. After four hours, they came back. Not unhappy, not camplainy - the forrest made them forget all of it. :) Lucky me!

02/08/2021

#44 of 52 hikes: up and (really) down hike
After sleeping in our car, we hiked up the hill to admire a huge abyss and ended 90m underground "caving" in the biggest cave of the Czech Republic. Finally we got to see some moravian nature (Moravia is the eastern part of our country).
P.S. Shall I mention, that Maty hiked barefoot again? - Because he hates shoes (he said). :)

28/07/2021

#43 of 52 hikes: it's not always about the distance...
This time, we had sort of a hike. Why?
- We started late, because we had to keep the kids busy until 9pm (we went to a night safari afterwards - yes, in the Czech Republic, not Africa :))
- we did not know where we were going, just pointed in the map, saw a dam and thougt, this would be fun to walk around it
- it rained, but we were going anyway, because we had to do a hike for our challenge and we were not going to hide and give the kids the message that rain is something you have to hide from
- we hiked not so far, but we are going to count it as a hike, because we believe, that hiking is not just about the distance. It is also about exploring and having fun, which we had: swimming in the rain under a rainbow? Who would be albe to pass this opportunity just to make another mile? :-)

21/07/2021

#42 of 52 hikes: the one with grandparents in tow
Hiking with family members is a great way how to spend more quality time together. We have hiked so far with grandparents from both sides, with cousins, an aunt and we still hope to do one with the boy's uncle.
Btw. 10 more hikes and we are done! :)

27/06/2021

#41 of 52 hikes: speed hiking!
Let´s admit it: hiking with kids is slow! We hike 2km per hour with them, take breaks to play, to admire or to "what so ever kids need to do you will never understand".
So, sometimes (always?) you need to move faster, you need to feel the joy of actual movement rahter than "come on let ´s go you have seen the same bug just a minute ago-crawl"...
So, what do you do? You put your kids on bikes! Or one of them, when the other is in kindergarden, just like the other day.
And so we MOVED! Fast! 6km per hour a nice speed fo hiking.
And since we had only limited time to do our hike this week, speed hiking came handy.
And to mention one more benefit of this hike: we got a change to explore a bike path along our beautiful Labe river we are planing to do a bike tour on very soon! :-)

23/06/2021

NO, we did not give up our family challenge! I'm just super behind with posting our hikes. So, here it goes: #40 of 52 hikes.
We went north for this one, to send off David on his ultra hike. And while being on the border line, the boys and I hiked to the point where the Czech Republic meets Poland and Germany.
Not our favourite hike I must say. It was a super hot day, we hiked on a paved bike path, met many german retirees on electric bikes, moms on roller blades pushing strollers, and in between all this was us - the misfits 🙂 ..barefoot, no equipment... when we took a shortcut to avoid the pavement, we ended in a "bush" and got ticks all over. But well, not every hike has to be great, just another interesting experience while being active and exploring.
The highlights of our stay there: there was a lake with clear water and we got to sleep in our car once again. :)

22/06/2021

David was keeping it healthy on his ultra cross hike of the Czech Republic

Zero energy drinks & zero pain killers on my ultra hike across CZ!!
I am proud of myself for this.
Although I was in pain with big blisters for 3 days, and I was really sleep deprived, I stayed away from them! I wanted only good stuff into my body.

19/06/2021

Some numbers from David’s ultra hike :-)

MY HIKE ACROSS the CZECH R. IN NUMBERS:
-kilometers/miles hiked: 380km/236m
-total days: 7
-nights slept under the stars: 4
-nights slept indoors: 3
-most days in a row hiking in the same clothes: 5
-meat consumed: 0
-alcohol consumed: 1 small beer
-days I really did not enjoy it: 1
-longest I went without coffee: 1,5 days
-days with very painful blisters: 3
-phones I had along: 2 (one for pictures and social media, one for navigation and podcasts)
-rechargeable power banks: 2
-pairs of shoes: 1
-socks: 3 pairs (exchanged once for clean pairs)
-heavy rains I had to wait out: 1
-people who’s faces lit up when I told them what I was doing: many!
-years I will use this hike as my inner inspiration and motivation: more than 1
-times I was in awe of the natural beauty around me: countless

14/06/2021

David did it!
He has now officially hiked across the entire Czech Republic, from North to South :-)

I DID IT 🙂 !!
I’VE HIKED ACROSS THE CZECH REPUBLIC , from North to South.
Some 380km (236 miles) in a week.
A LOT OF PAIN, BUT MUCH MORE BEAUTY!!
Thank you, everyone, for all your support throughout this journey!
❤

13/06/2021

Well spent $5 we say 🙂
David’s accommodations last night... just like at the summer camp 30 years ago :-)

Good Morning Sunshines!
Well spent $5 last night. I found a campground and got to sleep on a proper mattress in this cabin.. included was a free 90s remix Czech music hits blasting from a nearby bar 🙂

12/06/2021

David now only has 100km left :-)

100km (62 miles) left 🙂 !!
Following you all’s advice, I will be finishing in 2 days, not tomorrow.
Just don’t tell my wife 😉
Btw, ever since we watched the Free solo film, we don’t think of what I do as that extreme anymore.

12/06/2021

David’s 4th day - a tough one!

I’m glad that day is over - a rough one!
4th day of my hike - Friday (yesterday)
———
It started fine in the morning by the Karlštejn castle (this photo), after 4,5 hours of sleep. I was still excited from having reached the halfway point. Didn’t have any real food left, but wasn’t hungry as I started hiking at 5:30am. Zadní Treban town didn’t have anything open since it was too early. I continued over the Brdy mountains/hills already feeling a bit down. After 20km or so I reached the town of Dobris, where I went to Highschool and finally had some real food. Even though it was exciting to be there, it was also a bit sad since it’s just old memories.. As I left, the blisters were really hurting and the heat and humidity was quite intense. I started to feel a bit out of it.. then I realized I new this feeling from ultra running races... except there I would always have an aid station coming up soon, and the race would be ending in a few hours. Here I still had a few more days!! The last drop came when I realized that in 3 hours, I was still only 3km from Dobris!! I read the map in my phone wrong and took 2 wrong turns. So I said enough, and took like a half hour nap in a shade in front of a church. Then I came to the conclusion that I had to change my strategy. Sleep, blisters, and the heat - that’s what I need to change. I booked a cheap hotel in the town of Milin, some 15km down the road. Sleep, check. I will figure out the other 2 when I get there. Made it to the hotel at 7:30pm and already started executing my plan. Warm and cold shower, solid plant-based dinner, then got a pin from the reception. Punctured the 2 blisters. Checked the remaining routes for the hike and, I admit it, got a little overwhelmed. Some 150km (93miles) remaining in 2 days.. wowsa, no way in my current state. Oh well, changing the hike from 6 days to 6,5 days. Done. This will also help with the heat - I can take it easier midday. I felt already a little better, having a plan. In the morning today I woke up rested at 5 am after full 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep 🙂 !! My right blister got bigger overnight, so I poked that sucker again, got big coffee at the gas station, and off I went. Yesterday I was defeated, today I AM defeating!! Feeling much better, continuing south, toward the Austria/Germany/Czech tripoint!

11/06/2021

David is halfway done 🙂.and what a night

It was terrible!
The ground was hard w/ my paper-thin pad, I was cold, my feet were hurting, but it was worth it 🙂 !!
I slept at my favorite view spot of the KARLŠTEJN Castle!!
Yesterday I hiked 67km.. passing through Prague slowed me down, waiting out the downpour, lunch with mom.. somehow in late afternoon I got a renewed burst of motivation and decided that I would press on. At 7pm at the Zbraslav square I committed a major Czech sin when I politely declined beer from a local character 🙂
I was on a mission.. I hiked the last 1.5 hour in the dark with a headlamp, and arrived at Karlštejn at 11:15pm, making it to the HALFPOINT of my entire hike 🙂 !!
I got up at 4:15am and here I am on day 4.
Be well my friends! Have a grandiose Friday!!

10/06/2021

David made it from Czech northern border to the center of Prague:-)

Well, my attempt of a fb live mini-tour of Prague failed.. buildings under renovation, construction noise, Starbucks trying to override my network.. so at least here is a photo for you - I made it to downtown Prague.. on foot 🙂 !!

10/06/2021

David finished his 2nd day of hiking across the Czech R.
He is now 1/3 done :-)

YES, the 2nd day of my hike is finished!!
62km (39 miles) and I felt so much better than yesterday!!
Believe in yourself, don’t focus on how badly you are feeling and keep reminding yourself that things will get better... and THEY WILL!
I am so relieved. Thank you, higher forces!!

09/06/2021

#39 of 52 hikes - going separated paths
Well, it took me only about two weeks to post this hike. But here it is: While I was hiking for three days with my girlfriends, David took the boys to Prague and hiked there on a river island and explored some other green parts of the city. Not so many spectacular pictures - David was more focusing on family talks and I did not even bother to take my camera with me. I disconected for the three hiking days.