Some days are built around one mountain. This one was built around efficiency, summit logic, and the quiet satisfaction of getting a whole chain of small objectives right. On 14 March 2026, I linked eight short Czech P100s south and southwest of Plzeň, starting on Koráb above Kdyně and finishing in fading light on Bambule…
Bambule: a dusk Czech P100 with a clear true summit above Strašice
Bambule was the last summit of my eight-peak day, and by then the logic had narrowed to something very simple: finish cleanly, find the actual high point, and do not let fatigue or fading light turn the final stop into a lazy near-miss. On paper Bambule is modest, at 661 m with 136 m of…
Stramchyně: a very short Czech P100 with a cairned summit above Červené Poříčí
Stramchyně was the seventh summit of the day, reached straight after nearby Tuhošť and just before the final stop on Bambule. On paper Stramchyně is modest: 543 m, with 119 m of prominence and about 2.67 km of isolation. In practice that is enough to make it a real P100 objective rather than just another…
Tuhošť: a short Czech P100 with a surprisingly distinctive summit
Tuhošť was the sixth summit in my eight-peak day, and by then the logic of the day was fully settled: drive as high as reasonably possible, walk only what still needed to be walked, and make sure the actual summit was handled properly rather than waved away just because the outing was short. Tuhošť fit…
Běleč: a well-marked Czech P100 above Švihov
Běleč was the fifth summit of the day and one of the cleaner stops in the sequence. At 712 m with 210 m of prominence, it has enough independence to matter, and after the slightly fussier summit reading on Říčej it was refreshing to reach a top that proved straightforward on the ground. I managed…
Říčej: a small summit puzzle above Chudenice
Říčej was the fourth peak on my eight-summit day, and by then efficiency mattered. Still, this was not just a filler stop. At 697 meters, with 133 meters of prominence and 2.86 kilometers of isolation, Říčej has enough independence to count as a real collecting summit rather than a nameless wooded rise. It also sits…
Doubrava: a survey-marked Czech P100
Doubrava was the third summit on my eight-peak day and one of those objectives whose value comes less from raw altitude than from clean topographic independence. At 727 meters it is not a giant, but with 199 meters of prominence and 8.57 kilometers of isolation it earns its place on the Czech P100s and stands…
Velký Bítov: a compact Czech P100 above Struhadlo
Velký Bítov was the second summit in my eight-peak day, and it was a good reminder that a peakbagging objective does not need big altitude to be worth the stop. At 713 m, this is not a giant hill by Czech standards, but its 117 m of prominence give it just enough independence to matter…
Koráb: a three-bump Czech P100 above Kdyně
Koráb was the first summit of the day after the drive down from Prague, and it made sense as an opener. At 776 m with 240 m of prominence, its importance lies more in independence than in absolute height. What makes it especially worth doing carefully is the summit structure: the tower and restaurant sit…
Ústí nad Labem 2026
Some days are built around one mountain. This one was built around rhythm. On 7 March 2026, I linked eight short peaks around Ústí nad Labem and the Elbe valley, starting on the broad plateau of Děčínský Sněžník and finishing in the evening quiet of Vaňovský vrch. None of the individual walks was especially long,…
Vaňovský vrch: A Short Prominent Hill Above the Elbe
Vaňovský vrch was my last summit of the day, which gave it an automatic advantage: by that point I no longer needed a grand expedition, just a hill that still felt worth climbing. This one did. At 561 m it is not especially high, and its isolation is fairly modest at about 2.85 km, but…
Střížovický vrch: A Quick High Point Above Ústí nad Labem
Střížovický vrch was the seventh stop of an eight-peak day, coming after Radešín and just before Vaňovský vrch, so by this point I was not looking for grand drama. I was looking for a clean summit tick that still meant something. This one did, mainly because it is a P100. The naming is slightly messy,…
Radešín: A Short Climb to a Hidden Trig Point Above Ústí nad Labem
Radešín came sixth on an eight-peak day, after Vysoký kámen and before the beautifully unromantic Peak 346, so by this point I was in efficient mode rather than lyrical mode. That suited this hill perfectly. Radešín is a short, practical little climb north of Ústí nad Labem, more of a precise errand than a full…
Vysoký kámen: A Quick Wooded Summit Above Povrly
By the time I reached Vysoký kámen, it was already the fifth peak of the day. Děčínský Sněžník, Chmelník, Lotarův vrch, and Javorský vrch were already behind me, while Radešín, Střížovický vrch, and Vaňovský vrch still lay ahead. Vysoký kámen itself is only 494 m high, but with about 132 m of prominence and 4.89…
Javorský vrch: A Short Open Summit with Wide Views Above Javory
As the fourth peak in an eight-hill day, and coming straight from Lotarův vrch, Javorský vrch felt almost suspiciously efficient. After a wooded summit and a longer sequence earlier in the day, this was a very short climb with a very open top, the kind of hill that looks modest on the map and then…
Lotarův vrch: A Quiet Wooded Summit West of Chmelník
Lotarův vrch was the third peak of my eight-summit day, and also the point where the day settled into a pleasant rhythm instead of just collecting names. After Chmelník, this was a short, practical wooded hill with a real summit, a few good views, and enough character to justify the detour. It was a short,…
Chmelník: A Broad Summit Traverse Above the Elbe Valley
Chmelník was only the second summit of the day, but it immediately felt like a proper hike rather than a short hill crossing. On paper this was a short traverse, just over 3.1 km with 221 metres of ascent and only about an hour on foot. In practice it turned into a compact, very likeable…
Děčínský Sněžník: A Short Loop on the Czech Republic’s Highest Table Mountain
Děčínský Sněžník was my first peak of the day, and as an opener it worked very well. It was short, efficient, easy to navigate, and still distinctive enough to feel like a real mountain rather than a glorified walk from a paid car park to a viewpoint. That is a useful combination when the plan…
Mozambique’s Only Ultra: Serra Namuli
Mozambique has only one Ultra-prominent peak, and that red dot on the map? Yep, that’s “Piercing Eye” — or at least that’s how it felt staring at it. Time to switch it to green. The 1757-meter prominence is solid on its own, but that 158 km isolation? A sweet little bonus. Our guide Cotxane mentioned…
Anatolia 2024
The idea for our Anatolia trip started as a straightforward acclimatization hike before tackling higher peaks. Dave and I thought the 5,137m Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) in Turkey would be the perfect warm-up before the 4,506m Gora Belukha in Kazakhstan. Simple, right? : ) But naturally, we decided to make things more interesting by adding…