Of course it can best be described with pictures, and we took a lot of them!
View of our destination, taken from the town of Terchova.
Terchova is a town about 30 kms (18 miles) from Zilina where we are staying. It's popular in both summer and winter because it's a big snowboarding and skiing area. And the scenery is gorgeous. In fact, after having done this hike, we think we're going to Terchova and staying for the next four or five days!
Michal had to go near Terchova to visit clients, so he dropped us off at the trailhead.
There are many obstacles on this trail. The first one was the root and mud section!
Ruth, entering "the gorge".
Hiking through the gorge.
There are some ladders and stairs that you have to use.
As well as some ramps that have steep drop offs. But this is nothing!
The ravine comes out into a beautiful meadow.
And then it gets really interesting! There are some very steep sections that you need chains and railings to help you out!
Kevin, heading higher.
Hang on, because there is a steep drop off the right hand side!
Looking down at where we just came from!
Too much fun. But it gets better!
Only about an hour from the top now!
A 20 second video near the top!
People following behind us. There is a sheer drop off the left hand side.
Tough going, but the scenery was fantastic!
View from the top! Notice Kevin standing near the bottom right.
Now, the problem becomes going down.
The trail goes straight down in this crevice.
And I mean straight down. It's not even so much as a trail, it's just a gully, and there's very little to grip your feet on. There were some chains to hang on to, but in other areas you had to try and grip branches or other rocks and it was not easy. No pictures of this area because I was too busy using both hands and helping Ruth. She has a tougher time with heights than I do, and even I was a little nervous. This is definitely the toughest we have ever done, and I don't think we'll ever do anything worse. I think the only thing worse might have been trying to come up this route in reverse, which some people were doing. We met one lady who gave up and was waiting for her group to come back down.
Where we had been.
What an exhilarating day! It was 5:00pm when we caught the bus back to Zilina, and then we had to take the local bus back to Michal and Ivona's flat. Slept like a rock last night!
Today, we've decided to head back to the town of Terchova, but we'll be staying for 4 nights. We've booked a room at a guest house and we're going to do some more hiking in this beautiful region.
Fantastic, glad you are really getting to see the country.
ReplyDeleteYep, we sure are!
DeleteWhoa. Awesome scenery.
ReplyDeleteI mean this in the nicest way possible, but this episode may very well be an indication that you guys are, in fact, "nuts".
Did Ruth not know that was in the marriage vows?
I know in ours there must be some small print in there somewhere that states, "And thou shalt do the driving whenever the two of us are in a vehicle", but I've gotten used to it.
The "hanging onto a chain for dear life while climbing" clause? Good on ya for slipping that one in there.
Yes, we are nuts! No, this was not in the marriage vows, I agreed to this as much as he did. We loved the hike an I only had about 10 minutes of anxiety going down right after the summit, after that I was fine. I have no problem with going up, it's the coming down that sometimes causes me worry.
DeleteAnd amazing hike but certainly not for me. I do not do well with heights all all.
ReplyDeleteWOW, WOW,WOW how amazingly beautiful! Great photos!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic hike.
ReplyDeleteWow...what an amazing hike. I especially loved the one of Kevin on the rock. That needs to be a header picture!!!
ReplyDeleteYep, that was definitely a good one for sure.
DeleteI can't believe people are actually subjecting themselves to this. It's beautiful, but nuts. Glad you guys made it without any broken bones.
ReplyDeleteIt really looks worse than it was. Sometimes I think we are nuts but the view was worth it for sure.
DeleteThat hike looked like it was right out of a Lord of the Rings movie!
ReplyDeletegood job on the hike!..not too sure if it would be something that we wouuld try!..but the views must have been worth it!!
ReplyDeleteNo wonder you two stay so slim - fab views - all I can say is I'm just happy to read about it!
ReplyDeleteOh to be very young again, with no thoughts of getting hurt. You're so adventuresome and we are living through you two. Great photos, thanks for taking us along.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to be young to do this, just fairly fit. There were a number of older people doing the hike as well. As long as you take care there was no worry of getting hurt. The view was definitely worth the work.
DeleteVery nice hike! The views are great and so was the video.
ReplyDeleteQuite gorgeous. gotta say, I love to hike, but I am glad you did this one so I don't have to.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fabulous hike!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful views and what an"interesting" hike. Not sure if I would attempt it or not - I'm usually okay going up but coming down is a problem. We've done a few hikes that were very interesting something like yours but I don't think they were as long. That's quite a distance when it's all challenging like that. We climbed to the top of the highest hill in the Cook Islands, was steep like that, had a few chains to hang on to, some drop offs and root and mud sections - at the end we were covered in mud but the views fantastic. Good for you guys for going the distance! Great photo's!
ReplyDeleteThey were beautiful views for sure. The hike actually looks worse than it was. There were only a couple of "interesting" sections. I am the same way, I normally don't have a problem going up, may take a while but not usually a problem, going down is a different story. On this hike only about 5-10 minutes going down were very bad and they were at the very beginning of the decent after that I was able to manage as long as I went slowly.
DeleteRuth