Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

Latvia - bike trip to Pilskalnes Siguldiņa

2010-07-25

вылазки природа байк туризм фото

I've already been there a couple of times, but today I decided to hike the entire big trail, which we successfully did. We rode there along not exactly easy dirt and forest roads, and took the regular highway from Svente back. In total, the GPS shows 76 km, but out of those, we walked 12 km, drove 6 by car, and only the remaining 58 were on the bike.


View Pilskalnes Siguldina July 24 in a larger map

We have to ford the railway tracks, good thing it's not a fire ditch like last time.

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A young man wearing glasses, a green cap, and a blue sleeveless shirt looks at the camera against the background of a summer rural landscape with green fields, a village, and a blue sky. 

The punk is still full of energy at the start of the trip.

In a vast grassy field sits a log house with a green roof and a red chimney. Behind it stretches a dense forest with power lines under a clear blue sky. 

Some people around here live well: a bathhouse, a pond, the whole nine yards.

A man in a blue tank top, a cap, and glasses stands under a huge horizontal trunk of a fallen tree, smiling and looking up. A sunny forest is all around, a path is visible on the right.

Here we are already on site, stomping along, taking in the beauty.

A wooden footbridge with curved railings leads across a green clearing surrounded by lush vegetation. Bright sun shines through the foliage and casts sharp shadows on the bridge. 

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Just like that: the little hill is under state protection. Our state protects us so well that it even guards the hills.

Two tall wooden sculptures stand in a green clearing: a totem pole topped with a seated human figure, and a stylized figure. A young man in a blue tank top and a cap is touching the arm of the stylized figure. 

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A winding forest trail descends down a hillside among tall trees, fenced by a low wattle of branches. Sunlight breaks through the dense crowns of the deciduous forest, creating an interplay of light and shadow on the ground. 

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The signs, in my opinion, are placed somewhat chaotically. What I mean is it's hard to understand why sometimes there's an arrow with one icon on a pole, and sometimes several arrows, with the icons being random rather than the same ones.

A broken dry tree trunk hangs diagonally, wedged between thin trunks in a dense summer forest. In the background, a quiet forest stream shines through the green branches. 

A wooden arrow-shaped sign with the inscription 'mācību taka' and a pedestrian icon, installed in a dense green forest.

This one is perfectly clear.

The root system of a fallen tree lies in a dense forest with massive roots sticking up, surrounded by abundant greenery and illuminated by sunlight. 

A man in a blue tank top and dark pants walks along a log footbridge with wooden railings laid through a dense green forest. 

A man in a blue tank top stands on a wooden boardwalk trail in the middle of a dense green forest with tall trees. 

We hadn't walked here before, and that was a mistake. It's beautiful, boardwalks through the woods. Probably sometimes it gets wet and swampy here, but right now, with +32 outside, everything is dry.

A young man in a khaki cap, glasses, and a blue tank top looks at the camera, extending his right arm. Behind him, a wooden boardwalk stretches into the distance through a swampy pine forest. 

A wooden signpost with two arrows against the background of dense green bushes and trees. The top arrow contains a carved symbol, and the bottom one points in the other direction. 

These icons make sense: the first one is for hiking enthusiasts, the second is a holiday house, aka a campsite. It's unclear why later these arrows appear separately.

A wooden bench, stumps for sitting, and a large mushroom-shaped canopy are located in a green clearing against a forest background under a blue sky with clouds. 

 

A person in a blue tank top climbs up a green grassy slope against a background of vast fields and dense forest under a clear blue sky. 

The trail in its final section looks peaceful at first.

Narrow wooden boardwalks lead into a dense green forest, flanked by tall thickets of grass and shrubs. 

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But then it eventually turns into a stream, or rather, a spilled-over lake nearby. Lake Puru, by the way, and if you follow the trail, you can find a spot where you can take a swim.

A small muddy stream meanders through dense thickets of grass and trees in a sunny forest. Light breaking through the foliage creates bright glare on the water and greenery. 

A swampy forest stream surrounded by trees and dense green vegetation, partially illuminated by sunlight. A discarded glass bottle lies in the water near the right edge. 

We have to ford it.

A young man in a blue tank top and cap, leaning over, holds onto a tree trunk with his hands, making his way through dense thickets over a reflective surface resembling water or a swamp.

 

A man in a cap and a blue tank top, leaning against a tree, bent over the shallow water overgrown with grass, carefully looking at the reflections of foliage on the water. 

 

A wide field covered with dry grass and blooming purple and yellow flowers, in the middle of which stands a dry tree with bare branches. In the background, a dense green forest is visible under a clear blue sky.

A bunker left over from the Second World War.

A stone archway, overgrown with thick greenery and trees, leading into a bright forest. The path to the arch is a forest trail covered with fallen leaves. 

This is a small observation tower, almost at the end of the trail. There's not much to look at, but thanks anyway.

A bottom-up view of a wooden observation tower with a massive platform and railings, resting on rough, textured pillars and reaching into a bright blue sky with light clouds. 

A view of a dense green forest stretching to the horizon, behind which a body of water is visible. Above the forest is a blue sky with white and grey clouds. 

A top-down view of a man in glasses and a black t-shirt climbing up an old wooden staircase surrounded by worn railings with lichen and greenery. 

The field is blooming and smells wonderful.

A spacious summer meadow dotted with colourful wildflowers and tall grass, transitioning into a dense forest on the horizon. In the centre of the meadow stands a person in a blue tank top with their arms spread wide. 

Picturesque.

Summer landscape: in the foreground, a field with tall grass and wildflowers, further back — gentle, forested hills under a light blue sky with sparse clouds. 

Boardwalks across the swamp again, love it.

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Especially when they cross a stream.

A narrow stream, densely overgrown with water lilies and surrounded by tall green grass and sedge. In the distance, young trees and shrubs of a swampy forest are visible. 

A tranquil forest lake surrounded by dense woods reflecting in the water. A muddy trail with a stump by the water on the right leads to its grass-covered shore. 

A person in a blue tank top and dark pants walks along a long wooden boardwalk laid through tall green grass and dense thickets of trees. 

At the end of the trail, we reached a campsite, found out there was no other trail back, and decided to walk back along the road. It's long and boring, don't repeat our mistake. I recommend hiking up to the big lake (Puru), taking a swim, and heading back.

A medium-sized dog with a mottled brown and black coat and a raised fluffy tail stands on a dirt path against a background of green grass and a wooden fence.

Windows XP again

A green hilly meadow with wooden power line poles, beyond which a ploughed field and a dense forest on the horizon are visible under a sparsely clouded blue sky. 

The dreary dirt road that we got tired of trudging along on the way back, so we hitched a ride.

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Here we dropped by Yura's farmstead, a kitten climbed onto the bike rack and couldn't get off, we watched it for 5 minutes. Then it just went ahead and jumped down.

A fluffy dark kitten with white paws balances on the metal rack of a bicycle parked in a garden. Green bushes and a mesh fence are visible in the background.

At Yura's, we picked up the freshly bought Ortlieb Sport Packer Plus panniers for the punk.

They are very nice (although a bit on the small side), and right now they're on sale at Gandrs for 49 Ls. The price is good, because they actually usually cost more, even outside our country.  The bags are awesome, waterproof, very durable, convenient, and reliable, with a 5-year warranty. If you don't know what kind of company Ortlieb is, you've just read its full description. All serious European bicycle tourists use exactly Ortlieb, well, or a few competitors.

https://www.gandrs.lv/velosomas-aizmugurejas/sport-packer-plus/

Just saying this as part of socially responsible non-advertising.

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