Digital Wanderer

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Snowdrop's Hike - Spring Promenade #1 Svente

2011-03-31

вылазки походы подснежник друзья фото gps зима латгале латвия

Finally, I went on a hiking trip with the "Snowdrop" tourist club. I couldn't make it work for a while; I'd been waiting for this for about two months, probably.

There are good photos taken by Oleg and Sabina (you need an account on https://web.archive.org/web/20170409181412/https://www.мордакнига.рф/), and I'll post a mix of mine (terrible, as usual) and theirs.

Lo-fi to the masses! To start off, here are the tracks of where we walked and how much ground we covered. In total, 24 km in about 9 hours. We got up at 7, left the bus station at 8, and got back at half past six. In some places we fell through the snow a bit or slipped on the ice, but overall it wasn't hard. Everything was awesome, I just need to get better footwear, and then I can keep going further. Snowdrop, by the way, invites everyone who wants to join, but asks you to remember that "Snowdrop is no Mother Teresa." (c) Oleg

Snowdrop in Svente

 


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This is Sabina and Oleg.

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My sharp eye (or rather, brain) immediately screamed "Hipster detected" upon seeing Sabina. All in all, it probably wasn't far from the truth.

In the foreground, a smiling man in a blue jacket and glasses stands on a dirt road flanked by snow. Behind him, a person in a plaid jacket walks away into the distance along this road; their long shadows fall on the snow under the bright sun.

I bought these jeans in the US a year ago and could barely squeeze into them. Now, on the contrary, they're very comfortable. But all the rest of my clothes hang on me like a sack; I need to replace them, but I don't feel like spending money on that.

Two men in outerwear are resting at a wooden outdoor table, surrounded by snow. The man on the left is smiling, while the one on the right is holding a napkin; next to them are backpacks and hiking poles.

This is Oleg and I on Eglu Kalns; there's a tower nearby and a ski slope that's well-known in our area.

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A winding dirt road with clear ruts runs through a snowy landscape. Melting snowdrifts lie along its sides, and a winter forest can be seen on the horizon under a clear blue sky.

It's quite nice here in winter, too.

A tall wooden log observation tower with a zigzag staircase leading to a viewing platform at the top, set against a cloudless blue sky. Trees grow around the tower, and snow lies on the ground.

That very tower.

A young woman in a plaid winter jacket with a fur hood, brown pants, and red rubber boots is walking up a snowy slope.

Sabina marches on stubbornly, even though she didn't get enough sleep and was acting a bit like a zombie at times.

A dirt road stretches across hills with melting snow and dry grass under a clear blue sky. Trees are visible in the background, and wooden power line poles run alongside the road.

Beautiful.

 A young man with a backpack and a professional camera in his hands is standing on the snowy shoulder of a dirt road. In the background, power lines, poles, and a tall TV tower on a hill can be seen against a bright blue sky.

Walking on a dry road is easy and pleasant.

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Our native muck.

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A man in glasses and a blue knit hat looks toward the camera against the backdrop of a snowy forest on a sunny winter day.

Two hikers with backpacks in a snowy forest are looking at something on the ground; one is standing, bending over, while the other is squatting and pointing at the snow.

"Usually, we catch fish this big. With a boot. You stick your foot with the boot into the stream and wait, and it bites."

Two men in winter clothes with backpacks are walking through a snowy forest. In the background are bare trees and a bright blue sky.

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This is the view from Eglu Kalns; on the left is a large ski slope

A smiling young woman in a brown hat and plaid jacket is walking through a snowy forest. She is also wearing a red scarf and red boots.

Walking in a sunny forest — there's nothing better in the world!

Two men in winter clothes are sitting on the snow among bare trees, taking a break. One is eating a banana, the other is drinking from a Coca-Cola bottle; backpacks and a thermos are lying nearby.

Bananas are my sustenance. And Oleg drinks half tea, half liquid black evil. By the way, you missed the elephant in the room — look at what a beastly machete is stuck in the ground on the right.

A winter forest where bare trees and bushes are densely covered with dry, intertwined branches against a clear blue sky.

Viet Cong, bro

A snowy field with numerous footprints leads to the edge of a forest of deciduous and coniferous trees under a bright blue sky. In the foreground, a wooden structure is visible on the left, and a green container on the right.

A man squatted on the snow, getting ready for a snack. Next to him are a hiking backpack, a bottle of coke, a thermos, and a container with sandwiches.

Sausage and brandy replenish the strength of the snowdrops. Not all of them, mind you, just the most deranged  determined ones in the person of Oleg.

Close-up of the face of a man in a black hat and gray collar, with furrowed brows, squinting eyes, and slightly parted mouth, expressing puzzlement against the background of a blurred winter landscape.

This doesn't stop him from leading and directing, as well as looking wisely at the rank-and-file participants

In a snowy forest clearing lies a tree felled by beavers, with clear marks of their teeth on the trunk and stump.

Beavers are kind

Two people with backpacks are making their way through the thick branches of trees in a snowy forest. The man in the foreground is leaning over, overcoming an obstacle of trunks and branches.

But nature isn't

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We go this way

A person in a knit hat and winter jacket is taking pictures with a DSLR camera and a telephoto lens of a snowy field against a winter forest on a sunny day.

Lovers of holding DSLRs in their hands haven't died out yet on Latvian soil

A spring forest with melting snow covering the ground, and a stream of reddish-brown water flowing among bare trees.

We had to do some jumping over streams, too

A woman in a plaid jacket and a man in a blue one are walking through a snowy field, among dry grass. In the background, leafless birches and spruces can be seen against a clear blue sky.

And fall through the snow up to our knees and deeper

Two people in winter clothes are walking through a snowy forest among dry stalks and bare trees. In the foreground is a person in a plaid jacket and red boots; behind them is a person in a blue jacket with a backpack.

It wasn't easy

A woman in a hat and plaid jacket is leaning over dry grass in a snowy forest, while a man in a blue jacket with a backpack stands nearby.

But very satisfying

A woman in red boots is jumping over a meltwater stream in a snowy spring forest, while a man watches from behind.

We are soaring!

A man with a backpack in a blue jacket and hat jumps over a stream, splashing meltwater, in the middle of a snowy spring forest with bare trees.

How sweetly I hugged that tree! Almost like a girl

A fallen birch trunk lies across a forest stream amid melting snow. Around it, exposed ground with last year's leaves and bare shrub branches can be seen.

It's easier this way, but it could snap under you

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Beautiful. If only my eyesight were better. But it works great as a memory — you look and rejoice.

A young woman in a plaid jacket with a fur hood stands in a snowy clearing, smiling slightly. In the background, sparse bare trees and hills covered with mixed forest can be seen under a clear blue sky. 

Zombie on the march

A man in a warm jacket and hat is leaning over a narrow stream flowing through a snowy forest with bare trees. A backpack lies on the snow on the far bank.

For Oleg, the stream is knee-deep. Literally, as it turned out.

Two men in jackets and hats are standing on an old stone wall with their arms raised. Around them is a forest with bare trees and sparse snow on the ground. 

Mysterious ruins in the middle of the swamps. Waiting for the Hound of the Baskervilles.

Young coniferous and deciduous trees in a snowy clearing under a clear blue sky on a sunny day. The trees cast long shadows on the snow.

The forest is planted in neat rows.

A winter forest landscape with a frozen stream and remnants of ice covered with snow. Dry branches and stumps stick out of the snow and water against the backdrop of a dense deciduous forest. 

Our swamps are incredibly beautiful

A young woman in a knit hat, scarf, and plaid jacket is smiling as she walks through a snowy area among dry reeds and bare trees.

The girls are not bad either, with such heroic strength that they fall through the snow like epic heroes

A small forest stream with dark water flows among melting snowdrifts and bare trees in early spring.

 A young woman in a brown knit hat and a plaid jacket sits on a log in a snowy winter forest, bending over her bright patterned bag.

For travelers in the Latgalian forests, benches have been caringly blown down by the wind

A forest landscape with patches of snow on the ground, showing tall trees, a barbed wire fence, and low undulating barriers. 

We took a shortcut through the cemetery, and saw this guarded object

A girl in a knit hat and plaid jacket is sitting on a green bench, opening a Coca-Cola bottle, next to a thermos and a yellow bag, against a brick wall and cracked asphalt.

It's a good thing we have civilization, and benches at all the village bus stops

A smiling man in a blue jacket, jeans, and hat is standing under a canopy, holding an orange flask. To his left is a pole, to his right is a light brick wall with a bird's nest, and in the background a road and bare trees can be seen under a cloudy sky. 

We're not tired at all, and can still stand

A narrow dirt trail leads through a leafless forest, flanked by melting snow. In the distance, a small wooden bridge can be seen crossing a snowy clearing. 

Bonus: why is there no snow on the path, but there is everywhere else? It's dense forest all around. A mystery.

Young seedlings wrapped in protective white material in a melting snow field against a pine forest in early spring.

There's a satellite dish hidden in the picture. I'm serious.

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