Polish Easter

or
Sick climbing

Do you know that pole children on the 2nd Easter day are running with water guns and are allowed to wash anybody? Nice tradition, isn't it? No surprise that the air temperature that day was up to 10°C only. Now I do know that too as I was one of the washed ones in the camping area we've chosen for our climbing Easter weekend in Sokoliki.

I was sick when we left Vilnius and I was sick when we came back, so the trip had no effect on that. I was physically not able to climb a lot, nevertheless I've managed to spend a nice sunny day on a wall doing some nice pretty easy trad routes.

The guys on the contrary were very active with climbing, while I've kept sleeping in a sun beside the wall. One day they have chosen a quite difficult but short boldering route, but it was occupied by two stylish poles who didn't manage to make a move and clip in the 2nd point. Our guys asked for a try and both made it in the 1st attempt. What a disappointment for a poles. On the other day they've chosen a very popular peek with a staircase and the watch platform on the top of the rock, where besides the noisy drunk youth some oldschool guys came for a trad climbing. Their cam stuck almost at the very top and we've challenged our youngster to take it off, because he managed to take one in a similar position a day ago. The old schoolers promised a glass of beer which we have never taken.

Well, the spring in Poland was some 2 weeks behind compared to Lithuania. We had a very nice time and good time away from daily routine as well the feeling 'that the spring is yet to come'

Test drive of new bike

or
Looking for the spring in still winter Samogitia

We've left Vilnius with cars heavily loaded with bikes on Saturday morning and came home late at night (or I should say early in the morning) to Monday. There were 15 persons and our lovely dog in 3 cars.

We've started from a lonely house next to the main road Šiauliai-Kretinga and went directly to the north. Šateikiai has a very nice church, where the Lithuanian master of arts and music Čiurlionis (this year is 100years anniversary of his death) has married his love of the life. Also there is a good looking old wooden manor. In the woods before Šateikiai we went looking for remaining of the soviet missile launcher places, but as they were dismantled, we've found old storage complex hidden in the woods. Well, these two places were the most exciting man created places in the trip.

The rest biking was really exciting in a different way. Still pretty cold weather, frozen lake of Plateliai and fog above it in the morning, cozy cemeteries and plenty of mounds varying in sizes and shapes. Since we had a dog running besides, we replaced paved roads to forgotten paths, crossing flood tided areas and beaver's dams, sometimes going straight through the meadow till the visible gap far away in the woods.

Thanks for Kubas, who organized the trip (he's already the author of one Bicycle travel book, and hopefully soon he'll launch another one); for French guys, who brought some international mood and didn't get cold; and for Samogitia for the amazing hills and dancing Grus grus.


Picture (c) DeGama