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Published: February 28th 2006
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Today the sun shone brightly in a blue sky with wispy clouds floating past. It was chilly, the temperature hovered around freezing and there was a slight breeze, but it was a day for a walk. So far we have taken only one walk up the Sarka Valley and that was a very slippery walk. The trail was covered with ice. Since we have had days above freezing recently we thought today is the day.
When we arrived at the trail .... well we were very surprised. The entire trail was covered with a thin layer of snow from yesterday and under the snow was about an inch or two of pure glare ice.
"I thought our problem would be mud," I said as we gingerly took a few steps onto the icy trail.
"So did I," Nancy replied. "I don't believe we can walk the trail today. It is worse than the day we walked in January."
I thought for a second or two, "We can go the other direction. It looks clearer that way. And I want to go up on the hill here to take a picture of the seminary. No ticks this time
Looking Down the Sarka Valley
In good weather we like to hike to the small church that sits on top the ridge in the distance ... the white dot in the far distance. of year you know."
Last winter, 2005, the snow was frequent and deep enough that we were able to walk the trail and also the side trails up the mountain. By the time the snow stopped the weather warmed and it was not long before we were walking a muddy trail rather than a deathly slick one.
We turned around and made our way back to safer ground. This part of the trail was pretty clear. There were a few places that was pretty icy, but it was not bad. We turned off the trail and after climbing the hill, and negotiating ice there, I took several pictures of the Sarka Valley and of the seminary. This hill is almost solid rock and has a very thin soil, especially on the top. The view up and down the valley is quite good and though it appears we stood in the middle of a rural area we really are still within the city limits of Prague. The area is not as isolated as it appears, though there is no city noise here.
We then made our way back
Looking Up the Sarka Valley
The trail runs on the left side, the shady side of the Valley for several miles. There are numerous other trails leading up and out of the Valley. to the trail and walked to where it meets the road that we travel by bus whenever we go to downtown Prague. Here stands the monument to the Russian tank division that saved Prague from being destroyed in 1945. I have tried to imagine what the sight must have been, a division of Russian tanks rumbling along this little trail, using the hills as a screen and surprising the Nazis two days before they, the Nazis, were scheduled to destroy all of downtown Prague. There we walked a trail up the little mountain to a cluster of homes, really a small village, before making our way back to IBTS.
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