Greetings again world! I’m about to start another (hopefully great) adventure – for the next 2 months I’ll be living in, walking through (and no doubt pushing my luck in from time to time) the stunning mountain national parks of Northern Slovakia, in central Europe. And, as if that’s not fun enough, I’ll be visiting Poland on the way, crossing the border by hiking over the dramatic High Tatra mountains.
So here’s my rough plan, thanks to Google Maps for the basic image….
Those who have read my intro blog on Steemit will have already seen some photos from Slovakia’s High Tatra mountains. I cycled through Northern Slovakia last year…
…as part of a long cycle tour, from the North coast of Norway down to southern Europe, and the place just blew me away!
I spent a couple of weeks hiking in the High Tatras, through their dramatic beauty…
…and even more dramatic weather changes.
There are hiking routes for everyone here, whatever you’re looking for…
…and every trip will be it’s own adventure, I think that’s the only thing about these wild mountains that you can rely on. And if you’re lucky, the mountains will give you unimaginable reward for your efforts.
I visited a couple of the neighbouring national parks too and found more great hiking through beautiful forests…
…and river valleys…
…with fun routes that have you walking in the river bed itself….
…and climbing up tall ladders beside waterfalls.
I knew that I had to return to explore more of this great pocket of the world, and what better way to do so than living in the national parks for around 2 months as I walk through them. I’ll be mostly wild camping on the way; but also sometimes staying in some of the great mountain huts that are on the trails.
Slovakia is well set up for enjoying the countryside, with a strong heritage in doing so. The trails are well marked…
…and well signed…
…and there are good hiking maps available. The huts offer food, drinks and dormitory accommodation (seasonally in many cases) but, more importantly, they offer a great atmosphere of locals enjoying their country’s heritage – of nature, mountaineering, and often local beer or spirits too. You might even be given one for the road, true Slovak hospitality.
If you plan any hiking in Slovakia, you’d be missing out if you don’t stay in a hut or two on the way.
So, that’s the basis of my plan. The finer details I needn’t explain now – I’m hoping to write a few blog updates whilst I’m living the trip so that you can experience the place, and my enjoyment of it, as well as my way of outdoor life, from my perspective in (kind-of) real-time.
I’ll be writing-up these adventures in more detail once I’m back too (along with some epic experiences from last year’s visit) with lots of useful information that you might need for your own adventure here.
But what I hope to capture with the real-time (ish) blog snippets is more about lifestyle than the place itself.
Hopefully I can show why I love to do what I do, as well as how I do it – with my overall goal to encourage others to do the same, whether in Slovakia (which I’d certainly really encourage) or anywhere else.
There’s also a new side-line for me on this trip, on a similar theme. I’ve had a busy few months leading up to the trip - not because of the trip itself in fact, but in the background I’m in the process of creating my own range of outdoor adventure kit.
I’m happy to say that this trip, in the setting of late autumnal/early winter mountain conditions, will be a baptism of fire (or maybe ice) for a couple of prototype pieces of my own outdoor gear range.
Most excitingly, I have a unique, versatile, easy-pitch-anywhere bivvy shelter - so far called The Clamshell
This is to take the edge off the evenings when you’re soaking wet from rain, walking around in circles in a hilly, rainy forest, too tired to decide where you can rope-up a good tarp roof near the trees, but with flat-enough ground beneath them to lie on – with my new shelter anywhere good for lying down is a good pitch, whether it’s on rock, forest floor, snow or a bed of bushes. This photo was from its first rainy forest test in southern England, and it’s all good so far.
I’ve also made a hardwood hiking pole – maybe this one’s just good for me, but we’ll see.
I’m looking forward to showing the merits of my gear in practice in Slovakia’s great setting.
So, out of interest, why am I making my own gear instead of just buying some?
On any trip, I’ll always bring something home-made, often modifying existing kit so that the functionality suits me instead of the best sales market. We all buy kit that’s developed to suit big-wall climbing, or ultra marathons, or to live in the woods for months, foraging self-sufficiently whilst whittling a canoe from a fallen tree. Lots of this kit is exceptionally good whatever you might have planned (outdoor clothing is especially good these days, I don’t think I’ll be attempting that), but I find much of it, especially when it comes to wild camping, misses the point for my use.
Each person has their own ideas to kit packing, and their own requirements from their kit, to ensure outdoor life is a happy life. I’ve got a different and comfortable approach to outdoor living. I need kit that offers a comfortable sustained life outdoors, where you’re at the mercy of the elements every day for the foreseeable future; but my kit also has to be lightweight and mobile, and equally suitable for more severe expeditions that develop spontaneously whilst I’m on a long adventure.
My range of kit will be just as suitable for expeditions as it is durable and comfortable for long adventures and life under the weather – a nice and simple concept I think.
Early 2018 I hope to launch the first items for sale in small batch or bespoke manufacture, entirely hand-made in England with the highest quality materials. As we all have different needs, I’m happy that I’ll be able to make kit to suit individuals, designing bespoke solutions to help more people enjoy a life outdoors all-the-more.
It’s not a business that will make me rich – I’m hopeful for a kind-of mutual gain, where I can help others enjoy our natural world, whilst they help me do the same.
So, I hope you’ve enjoyed this intro, and photos of some of my great moments in Northern Slovakia last year.
Watch out for my future blogs to see more of this great place and my outdoor life. And if you enjoy my stories, I’d be very grateful for an upvote or re-steem.
And please comment and discuss your own way of outdoor living, or my kit choices, or anything else – it’s always interesting to hear different perspectives.
I look forward to making my next post from mountains!
....I just hope that my (often un-smart) phone lets me do it!