Jelenia hora (source: One2We)
October. The tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. In Munich, Oktoberfest is over, the last drops of beer drain from glasses, wine festivals celebrate the harvest of the grapes and the wine god Dionysos, brown bears search for a quiet place for a winter sleep, meadows are coloured violet with meadow saffron, eagles fly away to Eastern Africa.
And red deer wait in a crowd. The sun is setting, its light colours the trees, the wind pulls down the leaves, the creeping darkness covers the forest and the meadow. And at this moment, when the dark touches the ground, the forest glade changes into a ring. And red deer stags like Ancient gladiators have been preparing for the most important contest of their lives – access to a harem of fertile females. The fight starts vocally, and if this is not enough to ward off a competitor, rivals parallel-walk before locking antlers.
Red deer meet annually at a favorite place. Under the Jelenia hora Mountain (red deer is “jeleň” in Slovak). In the Little Carpathians. Only a bit from Bratislava.
Put on your hiking boots, have a seat on your mountain bike and let the journey in the labyrinthine paradise of the Small Carpathians begin!
Passing by castles and caves
The yellow marked hiking path leads you to the end of Plavecký Mikuláš village. Then the hiking path becomes green and an uphill journey will lead you to the ridge. From one side, there is a pine tree forest. From the other, white limestone cliffs. A rabbit might jump out in front of you. One, maybe two. A falcon might stretch its wings in the air above you. A moufflon might hide behind a tree. And if you turn back, you will see a silhouette of the Plavecký Hrad castle hovering over the horizon. And in your head may resonate a story, a Slovak remake of the Trojan war, involving the kidnapping of a beautiful woman and the epic struggle to free her.
Until you find yourself in front of the former hunting castle Mon Repos. And what’s going on here? The duke Nicolaus Pálffy is giving a party after a successful hunt to celebrate his trophy and forget his tragic love.
But you will set out until the Deravá diera cave stops you. And what’s going on here? The next party! Stone Age people are celebrating killing a mammoth and dancing around the fire.
The Kršlenica mountain, a limestone jewel of the Small Carpathians greets you from afar. You can’t withstand its calling, and after a while you find yourself hanging on a climbing rope and admiring the view of the Mokrá dolina valley. With every breath of fresh air, you smell the forest and feel freedom and inspiration.
After three hours you are in the Plavecký Mikuláš village again. You take your hiking shoes off. They are muddy. But you laugh, are moved to tears, and shake the dust from your soul. And you are prepared to start again. Because the journey is the destination.
One2We is an incoming company concentrating on active, adventure, bike and sport tours in Slovakia, in the unique, authentic and safe country, far away from mass tourism; offer undiscovered and amazing places, tailored-made solutions and very professional individual guiding. For more information please visit: www.one2we.eu.
