--- title: "100 kilometers with kids across the Ore Mountains" description: "Mountain crossings can be done with kids too. Dominika Hořáková, who set off on the 100 km crossing of the Ore Mountains with two children, is proof of that." canonical_url: "https://gramino.com/blog/100-km-with-kids-across-the-ore-mountains" last_updated: "2020-09-08" --- # 100 kilometers with kids across the Ore Mountains Authors: David Czempka Date: 2020-09-08 Mountain crossings can be done with kids too. Dominika Hořáková, who set off on the 100 km crossing of the Ore Mountains with two children, is proof of that. I'll start with the thing everyone asks me: how did I even come up with this? I admit that the idea of crossing the entire Ore Mountains alone with two small children is crazy, but as my friend – who, by a funny coincidence, is also named Dominika – put it, I'm just that kind of crazy :-). The idea first came to me a year ago. The original plan was the Šumava ridge trail, but Šumava is 200 kilometers from us. The Ore Mountains, on the other hand, are just ten minutes away by car, and I already know them a bit, so why not get to know them from a different angle. By that other angle, I mean on foot, sleeping outdoors, skipping the tourist spots – just nature. ## Planning That part wasn't too hard. The important thing was choosing a starting point. In my case, it came down to either the village of Petrovice or Tisá. Then came long nights of tracing my finger across the map. I changed the route so many times, but it never bothered me, because by then I knew the map inside out. Next, I needed to get equipped for the trip. I wrote up a long list of everything we'd need for the crossing. ## **Day 1: Petrovice – Komáří vížka** At 6:15 we set off from home to the train station in Perštejn, where our train leaves at 6:56. The sun is just waking up, and we're already covering the first kilometers along a forest path. In Perštejn we board a local train to Chomutov, where we transfer to a fast train to Ústí. There we have an hour before our bus to Petrovice leaves. In the meantime, I realize I left my shorts on the drying rack at home, and I start wondering whether I can manage the whole trip in just leggings. At nine o'clock we're at the station in Ústí nad Labem, and on the way to the bus stop I spot a sportswear shop, so without hesitating I dash in to buy those shorts after all. We walk past a church where a Mass happens to be underway. The kids are intrigued, so we go take a peek inside. Everyone is kneeling and listening. We do the same so as not to offend anyone, but the kids are terribly curious and keep asking questions, so we have to step outside, where I explain everything to them. Just then, an elderly man we'd already met on our way into the church comes up to us and blesses our journey with good luck, without having any idea we're actually setting off on one. He says a few prayers, we thank him, and head off to find our bus stop. It's by the theater, but we still have plenty of time, so we use it to cool our feet in a nearby fountain. The sun is already gaining strength. I don't even know how it happens, but within minutes Tomík is soaked from head to toe. Just before eleven, we get off at the stop in Petrovice. We scramble uphill heading west out of the village. That's a fine start, but the kids keep marching along without a word of complaint. At the last house we top up our water, then head across a field toward Mordovna, where we join the red trail. It also doubles as a nature trail called the Forgotten Borderland. We pass a couple of cyclists. Before the underpass by the D8 highway, we have a snack in a trail shelter and keep going. The kids try out the echo in the underpass, but we can't linger – there's still a good stretch of trail ahead of us. Since we set off fairly late (at 11 o'clock) and have no idea what to expect on the way to Komáří vížka, there's no time to stop. Beyond Krásný Les, we're climbing again. I have to take breaks because the trail is rocky and the stroller is tough to push uphill. The kids have their hands full too, but since I stop often to catch my breath, they always catch up with me. An older gentleman on an e-bike overtakes us, handling the hill without any trouble at all. I call out asking him to tow us along behind him, but he answers in German that he doesn't understand. We stop at another shelter for a water break. I lie down on a wooden bench for a moment. We continue along the forest path, and when it suspiciously veers off in another direction, I check the map and realize we've gone the wrong way. We've strayed a little, but it's nothing serious. We join the road a bit earlier than planned, near the hamlet of Větrov close to Adolfov. I pull out my reflective vest and put both kids in the stroller. We're climbing again, and now it's an absolute killer. Before long, though, we reach a small village called Adolfov. Dáška has fallen asleep in the stroller, and Tomík and I go into a restaurant for a Kofola. I also need to refill our fast-disappearing water here, and charge my phone just to be safe. From Adolfov we walk a bit farther along the road. Dáška is still asleep and Tomík is calm. I enjoy the quiet and take in the view of the colorful meadows. In Habartice we turn onto a forest path, and from a distance we can already see the hotel on Komáří hůrka. Komáří vížka is our destination for today. We arrive while it's still light out, and in the trail shelter by the Chapel of St. Wolfgang, we heat up food on the stove. Meanwhile, the kids empty an old mining cart of every last stone while I think about where we'll pitch the tent. I'm starting to get a little nervous, because it's getting dark and I clearly need to find a spot right away. Just then I spot a bus stop by the main road. Good choice – there's room for all three of us plus the stroller, and as a bonus, there's a giant puddle right next to it. The kids immediately take on the mission of rescuing every insect that's fallen into the puddle while I set up our sleeping arrangements. A guy walking his dog near the stop can't resist stopping to chat with us. He's a German from a nearby snack bar here on Komáří vížka. We strike up a conversation. I dust off my German, surprising even myself. He seems impressed and asks if I'd like some coffee in the morning. I thank him warmly but decline, explaining that I don't drink coffee. He wishes us a good night and says goodbye. It's time to sleep. - **Distance: 20 km** - **Total ascent: 502 m** - **Total descent: 234 m** ## **Day 2: Komáří vížka – Moldava** Our first night alone outdoors with the kids was rather forgettable. I woke up a lot, because the big parking lot next to the stop seems to serve as a meeting spot for people to chat, apparently at any hour of the night. We wake up to a cold morning, have muesli for breakfast, then pack up our blue circus and set off along the red trail toward Cínovec. This time we don't meet a soul along the way. After five kilometers we stop at a half-collapsed shelter, planning to cook lunch there, but there are no benches inside. So I change the plan, and we end up cooking lunch two kilometers farther on, by a pond. We also need to refill our water – on my old map I'd found a spring called Dead Child, but unfortunately there's now a little building with a protective fence standing where it used to be. Something trickles through the ditch beside it, but it looks so off that drinking it would probably leave you living up to the spring's name. At Dlouhý rybník we all go for a swim. It's our first proper wash since setting out across the Ore Mountains. We cook up some soup here and change into lighter clothes. The sun is picking up strength again. My friend Kuba had also told me that if we ever needed anything, we could stop by his friends who live in Cínovec. Naturally, we take him up on it, since I need to charge my phone and two power banks, and top up our water too. We spend about an hour and a half at Soňa's place, where we even get fed – by coincidence, our favorite spaghetti bolognese – and she gives us a few tips for shortening the route before we head off again. We could get used to this kind of loafing around. We walk a bit farther along the road and then duck into the forest onto the red trail. Both kids fall asleep in the stroller, and ahead of me is a steep hill going down. I pull out the straps I use to tie myself to the stroller handle. I do this for safety. If my feet slipped out from under me on the way down, there's no way I'd hold onto the stroller – it would get away from me. I'd guess the stroller weighs around 55 kilos. Going downhill in a zigzag helps a lot, since it keeps the stroller's weight from picking up uncontrolled speed. My caution turns out to be justified – my foot slips on the rocky path. Luckily, the straps held. I reach a junction, and the unmarked path I'd found on the map, meant to save us a kilometer, is blocked with fallen trees. So much for that. We continue on the red trail and then join the green one, which is also a nature trail, and follow it all the way to Moldava. Here we finally start meeting a few people. Tomík decides to go on strike, and nothing can budge him. He stops and stands there like a statue. There's no reasoning with him. We walk past a pond, and the kids watch dragonflies and throw pebbles into the water – if we hadn't eventually left, they'd probably still be throwing pebbles in there now. Progress is really slow, and my plan is starting to shrink as a result, though I won't realize just how much until the next day. We follow the Glassmakers' Nature Trail into Moldava. We pass the historic train station, and through its open doors comes that classic old-station smell. We sit down on the terrace of a local restaurant, order some lemonade, and charge up our gear. Rain is forecast for the evening, so once again we pick a bus stop by the road for the night. It's bigger than the one at Komáří vížka. We could practically move in. I set up our beds for the night while the kids find toys by the trash cans. Flower wreaths. We're not far from some Vietnamese shops, so I'd bet the unwanted wreaths came from there. No matter. We don't have any toys with us, so I won't take away their fun. One thing that makes me a little nervous, though, is a man in a car who keeps driving past and peering inside. Good night, then. - **Distance: 17.6 km** - **Total ascent: 251 m** - **Total descent: 234 m** ## **Day 3: Moldava – Klíny** It rains all night, and we wake up to the cold. For breakfast we have baked muesli again. I pack up our blue circus, and we head off along the Glassmakers' Nature Trail toward the Holzhau border crossing. Along the way we fill up on water from a spring and chat with a guy from one of the cabins about our trip. After five kilometers we take a short break at a shelter right on the border, and nearby we spot a roe deer. She hops twice, and two fawns emerge from the tall grass and immediately start nursing. A beautiful sight. Now I understand why everyone says Moldava is a completely different world. They're right. It's different here – something magical. We cross the border and keep following the red trail. One thing you have to give our German neighbors. There seems to be a bench every kilometer on their hiking trails. Their shelters are top-notch too, though their trail markings are pretty sparse. So I have to keep checking we're going the right way. We stop at a stream that also has a bench. The kids dip their feet in the stream while I get lunch ready. We wolf down an excellent goulash in no time. We stop at a restaurant in Deutschgeorgenthal and charge up our gear again. I check the map – we'll have to walk a stretch along a busy road. We need to reach the Rauschenbach reservoir, and from there it's a short stretch on a local road before we're back on a forest path. But in Neuwernsdorf, a storm catches us. We walk through the rain for a bit, but then it starts absolutely pouring, so we have to find shelter right away. We find an open garage where Dášenka and I sit down on some pallets and wait it out. Luckily, Tomík is asleep, so we're spared his shrieking at every thunderclap. The forecast doesn't look good – rain isn't expected to stop until around seven, and we need to get moving to reach our sleeping spot while it's still light. We're stuck in the garage for more than an hour and a half. By then Tom has woken up too, and not in the best mood. Fortunately, the clouds start breaking up, and we can carry on. There are two trail huts on this route where you can spend the night, and we'd planned to stay in one of them. But since morning I've been feeling that something's off – I keep needing to pee, even right after I just went. I know what's coming for me, and I blame the cold night in Moldava. We reach the first hut. It's genuinely luxurious, and after a quick look around, it seems like we shouldn't be cold in there. It stands on concrete pillars and has a wooden floor. We move on. We're dragging ourselves up a never-ending hill again when a stunning view over the landscape suddenly opens up. I'm trying to decide whether to sleep in the hut tonight or head to a guesthouse instead. I mull it over the whole way to the second hut, and eventually decide it'll be better to spend tonight somewhere warm. By the second hut, I'm already looking around for nearby accommodation. A guy walking his dog there with his son recommends the Stará škola guesthouse in Klíny. I'm right on the Czech-German border and probably won't find anything better right now, so I take the risk and head 5 kilometers down to Klíny. We'll just have to hike back up tomorrow. But this moment throws my plan so far off course that, over the following days, the checkpoints we're supposed to reach won't line up anymore. We're warmly welcomed at the Stará škola guesthouse. We get a room called Sborovna (the Staff Room), and I head straight for a hot shower. I hope this is just a warning sign and that I'll feel better tomorrow. Worst case, I'll have to get someone to bring me antibiotics. This is the second time we've slept at a Czech guesthouse. The staff are friendly and don't mind two wild kids straight out of the forest at all. Quite the opposite – they go out of their way to help us with everything, which I really appreciate. I take advantage of the power outlet and charge all our gear before bed. It's raining again outside, and I'm glad we're sleeping somewhere warm tonight. A little later, a thunderstorm joins the rain. It's directly overhead when the thunder strikes. It practically launches me out of bed. Thankfully the kids are asleep – Tomík would definitely have burst into tears. I drift off. - **Distance: 27.8 km** - **Total ascent: 533 m** - **Total descent: 605 m** ## **Day 4: Klíny – Brandov** In the morning I wake up at seven to my alarm, while the kids sleep in until nine. The warm night did me good. A royal breakfast awaits us in the restaurant, and after that all that's left is to pack up a few things and head out again. I ask the waiter if he heard that thunderclap last night. He tells me he happened to be smoking outside when it struck right next to the guesthouse. He says he nearly, to put it politely, wet himself. I don't blame him one bit. We're running a bit behind schedule, and leaving the guesthouse is held up by stacked goods blocking the door I need to wheel the stroller through. The kids don't mind – they swing on a swing in the meantime – but I'm starting to get nervous about whether we'll make it to today's destination. We finally get away from the Stará škola guesthouse, and after such a rainy night, instead of the blue trail we take road number 271. Let's be honest – pushing a stroller along a road is easier than pushing it along a muddy path. After a few kilometers we turn off the road onto the red trail toward Mníšek, where I refill our water at a gas station, and continue along cycle route 23 to Nová Ves. In Nová Ves we take a break at a bus stop, and a kind man from across the street opens up his grocery shop just for us. From there we set off on the yellow trail toward Hora Svaté Kateřiny. At the start of my trip, I'd gotten in touch with a woman named Mila, who's cycled every inch of the Ore Mountains. So on day four I take her advice and skip the route to Kalek via the green trail and then the blue trail through Rudolice, since apparently there's a hill so brutal even cyclists struggle with it. So instead I take the road to Brandov. In Brandov we have to stop at a pub to charge my phone, since I'm not sure it'll last until tomorrow afternoon. All that map-checking really drains the battery. It's around four o'clock, and I work out that Kalek is 12.5 kilometers away, and according to the map, we'll get there in 4.5 hours. But the map doesn't know I have two small children, so for us it's really six hours. I don't know what to do now – we won't make it before dark, and I don't feel like pitching a tent halfway there, in a dark forest. The pub owner offers to let me set up the tent behind his place and says I made the right call by not going through Rudolice. Still, I start to wonder whether it might actually have been better for me. So far I'd hiked with the thought that nothing worse could happen to me, but nobody else knows that. I might have made it to Kalek before eight o'clock otherwise. Mila and I were supposed to meet in Kalek today to go over my route. I'm about to text her that we're sleeping in Brandov tonight instead, when she calls to say she's already on her way, bringing us food. We're so grateful. I pitch the tent behind the pub. We need to turn in early – I'd wanted to be in Měděnec by day five. But now I know that's not going to happen. - **Distance: 20.9 km** - **Total ascent: 224 m** - **Total descent: 485 m** ## **Day 5: Brandov – Hora Svatého Šebestiána** We wake up to another cold morning. Dášenka is shivering with cold. Her sleeping bag just isn't up to the job. I'd gladly swap mine with hers, but hers is a kids' size. I take her close to me and warm her up with my own body heat. I pack up the blue circus, and we head out of Brandov along the blue trail past the Načetínský stream toward Kalek. Not a soul in sight. It doesn't look like much, but we're climbing uphill the whole way to Kalek. Nothing terrible, but I'd rather be walking it in the opposite direction. In Kalek we stop at U Sovy restaurant to refill our water. Meanwhile, the kids spot a playground and make a beeline for it. I buy some lemonade. I don't fill up the water bottle at the pub, though, because that spring called Dead Child immediately comes to mind. That's the last thing we need – catching diarrhea along the way. I sit down next to two backpackers and strike up a conversation. They've been on the trail for three days and are ending their trip right here. Time to keep moving. The plan is to take the yellow trail and then the red one to Hora Svatého Šebestiána, where we'll settle in for the night at a trail shelter by the Krušnohorské oko. But that's still 15 kilometers away. The road through Načetín is a kilometer shorter. I don't know which is better or worse. Whether it's the trail or the road, at this point both are getting on my nerves. I'm losing motivation. The kids are over it too. My morale takes a real beating. I call Mila, because I've run out of ideas. She finds us a great shelter just past the border on the blue trail toward Hirtstein, where we can spend the night. So we're back on the road, heading toward Pohraniční. We take a break at Červený rybník. The kids are still sulking. In my head, I fantasize about making a run for it. Along the way we come across three run-over moles. Tomík's favorite storybook character has just been flattened – three times over, no less. Whenever I'm not looking, he pokes at it. We're at the border by a duty-free shop. I have some spare change in euros, so we go buy some drinks and a little something to eat. We take a break outside, and I keep thinking about what to do next. Head to the Krušnohorské oko, or the shelter on the other side of the border? Meanwhile, I see two moms approaching with three teenagers and a three-year-old boy. They're on a trek through the Ore Mountains, headed for Marienberg. They stop for a break, and we spend some time in their company. Today we dawdled around more than usual, and I've decided to end our trip. That's just how I feel, even though I could rattle off ten reasons why – though really, they're all just minor details. The biggest factor is my mental state. The other reason is the cold mornings and our inadequate gear. I'd wanted to make it all the way to Luby near Cheb, but we're stopping roughly halfway, with more than 100 kilometers behind us. Our blue circus comes to an end at Hora Svatého Šebestiána. - **Distance: 23.2 km** - **Total ascent: 531 m** - **Total descent: 237 m** And would I set off again? Yes, in a heartbeat! It's not about the legs, it's about the head. You just need to pack a bit smarter. Next year we'll finish the rest. From Hora Svatého Šebestiána all the way to Luby near Cheb. Keep your fingers crossed for us :-) Thanks to **Dominika Hořáková** for this article. This post is also available as [HTML](/blog/100-km-with-kids-across-the-ore-mountains). ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.