Hikes and trips

Spring Orchids

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I like to photograph flowers – and orchids are obviously quite attractive. Finally, with some hints from Michal Vytlačil, I made a first trip aimed to get some orchid photos. The target was the Baba natural reserve near Brno, Czech Republic. Luckily, it was not that hard to find some decent flowers and the timing was almost perfect. The weather was also quite ok with no wind so shooting from tripod was possible.

Spring forest in bloom
Spring forest with bright green colors and spring flowers


Bird's Nest Orchid
Bird’s-nest orchid (Neottia nidus-avis)

Bird's Nest Orchid
Bird’s-nest orchid (Neottia nidus-avis)

Elder-flowered Orchid
Elder-flowered Orchid (Dactylorhiza sambucina)

Elder-flowered Orchid
Elder-flowered Orchid (Dactylorhiza sambucina)

Spring forest with path
Typical Orchid-bearing forest

Road-trip to Croatia

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The beginning of the summer and couple free days resulted to a short road trip to Croatia and Slovenia. The weather was nice, despite being a little too hot for the hiking trip we made along the coast of southern Istrija peninsula. The rocky coast, sunsets and relics of ancient Rome architecture provided plenty of opportunities for photography.

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Sunset near Medelin


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Another sunset in Medelin

sea-croatia
Rocky shore of the wilderness area south of Pula

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Nice limestone pebble beach in the wilderness area south of Pula

dino-tracks
There were also found decent dinosaur tracks on the triassic limestone cliffs

pula-croatia
The Pula town has smaller amphiteatre then Rome, but much better preserved

Alpine adventure

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The last week of July was dedicated to mineral collecting trip to the Alps. Unlike the last year, we had pretty nice weather all the time in the Mont Blanc massif. Our base camp was significantly higher this time and we managed to make some long trips over the glacier to the peaks around. The irony is that the best crystal pocket was discovered just about 15 minutes from our base camp. However the last day was really nasty weather, lot of rain and cold wind. The weather forecast promised another 3 days of rain, so we had to cancel our planned visit to other alpine localities in Switzerland. Despite the shortened program, the hikes, collecting minerals and photography conditions were simply great.

glacier in the french alps

You have to hike up the loooong glacier to get to some promising spots.

glacier in the mont blanc massif

Awesome views but also hard work to carry all the stuff up to the base camp.

camping on the alpine glacier

Camping on the upper part of the glacier.

alpine peaks and the glacier

Fresh snow covered the peaks during the night thunderstorm.

steep glacier and peaks

Climbing these steep and cracked glaciers is not that easy – you bet there is a reason why alpine minerals are so expensive!

sunset in the alpine camp

Sunset in the cold base camp.

crystals from the alpine pocket

Some quartz crystals mined from the pockets called alpine clefts.

smoky quartz cluster

Sometimes you got lucky and find such nice cluster of smoky quartz just laying on the glacier.