After spending a week in Oberhof and a week in the Krkonoše mountains I headed south to spend a week in the Šumava mountains. The Šumava mountains lie in the SW of the Czech Republic and form the border with Germany. I spent many summers there in my childhood visiting my grandparents. It was great to finally get to visit in the fall and spend a week doing lighter training, sleeping lots, and eating delicious food courtesy of my grandmother. If I wasn’t sleeping or training I was out with my camera trying to capture the beauty of the mountains.
Welcome to Šumava.
I borrowed this bike and powered it through 70km with 1700m of climbing.
A map, food, and a few tools for the journey.
I was able to supplement my diet every day with delicious wild blackberries.
Logging and bark boring beetles are two things that threaten the forests here.
A quick break after a big climb.
A quick stop at a small mountain lake.
The view from the highest point of my trip.
This old military tower used to be used for visual and electronic surveillance during the cold war.
More evidence of bark beetles.
A bog at lower elevation.
Forests at even lower elevation.
A microcosm on a stump.
Dewdrops on a spider web.
Morning mist.
If you leave one tree standing is it not a clear cut?
A local skier was a member of the bronze medal 4x10km relay team in Vancouver – his photo now adorns the local school.
Looking towards Germany.
Fall colours.
Who’s this hiking along?
It’s me!
Late afternoon in the mountain meadows.
I didn’t want to head home at this point.
One last look before heading back down into the valley for dinner.
Jan Thomas Rossiter 
Looks amazing – great photos!
Love the blog, Jan. Want to hear more about your current status. How is the training at Frozen Thunder?
Thanks Cathy!
We got in to Canmore on Tuesday night, and have had two great days at Frozen Thunder. I have a rest tomorrow morning so I should have new blog post then!