So a couple of week-ends ago we took an adventure to the Czech “Arches” national park. It was our first anniversary, and we got married in the US Arches N.P., so it seemed appropriate.
It actually is the largest natural arch in Europe, about 90 minutes north of Prague, in a national park in an area called Czech Switzerland (no lie.) Strangely it is a similar sandstone, but not quite as dry.

Anyway, I hear its pretty!
I wouldn’t know. It rained as hard as it could, while we were there, with fog and cold to boot.
We had a nice long hike in the rain because we (read, my wife) are stubborn, and were going to see something pretty, damn it. In the end the fog lifted enough for us to see the arch. Plus being an old country, there has been a sizable lodge built at the base of the arch for about 250 years. And being in the Czech Republic, it houses a fairly nice cafe-pub in the backcountry. The only way up is a solid 90 min hike up an old rocky road. You could probably make it on a nice all wheel drive 4 wheeler, but it would be some pretty sketchy scrambling along the cliff side. I’m sure horse was the preferred means of travel until the last 20 or so years. There is also a sketchy freight cable car to haul goods up, (read, kegs of beer) that an occasional lazy beermaid may have snuck up in.

So we stopped for a beer, some hot tea and chocolate and some almost warm fruit dumplings. It was nice to warm up and dry off before setting back into the rain for another couple hours hiking in the rain. Plus the moisture and sand did my boots (already nearing the end of their life) in, and I got to render a trailside repair on them with some pallet staples that I pillaged from the lodge.

good times!
-c&v