Tour name: Kammweg Ore Mountains (CZ)
(Oberwiesenthal – Johanngeorgenstadt)
Degree of difficulty: Valley trails
Tour length: 22km
Total elevation: 229m ascent and 445m descent
Alignment: West
Highest point: 1080m
GPS: route and track as GPX

The fir trees bend under the snow. The air is cold and clear. It is silent on the clearing. I’m leaning my head back to look up: The sky stretches across the white winter landscape. Countless stars. The snow reflects the light of the stars and dips the forest in a milky white light.
Suddenly, another light source comes on: Jarno turned on a flashlight inside the tent. Through the fabric, a warm beam of light falls on the surrounding snow.
We are trekking on the Kammweg in the Ore Mountains. It’s a long-distance hiking trail on the German-Czech border that is magnificent – in summer as well as in winter!

Now, in the cold season, there are ski tracks everywhere so its perfect for cross-country skiing too. There is another nice thing, that winter brings with it: while hiking we passed a few corner shops where you can buy mulled wine! But one after another! After an uncomplicated journey by bus and train, we reached the city Oberwiesenthal around noon. From there we started hiking. We left the city behind and reached the forest, in which we built up our tent. We want to test hiking and camping in the snow with our equipment, as we will be traveling on the Kungsleden in Swedish Lapland in a few months. Our destination is s Johanngeorgenstadt. It’s not far: just 22 km and we are in no hurry … it will be a relaxed hike.

“Hm, something is wrong!”

Christian’s gasoline stove, our loyal travel companion for years, does not work. No flame – nothing! But that’s not so bad! We still have Jarno’s stove as Back Up. The gas stove is set up quickly – we even have special winter gas for cold temperatures …

… but no chance: camping stove number 2 doesn’t work either. So we share the last sips of lukewarm tea from the thermos bottle and eat sandwiches. The subsequent night in the tent, fortunately, runs without any further surprises. The weather next morning is great: blue sky, sun, and temperatures around the freezing point! After a (cold) breakfast we get back on our feet. Because of the stove disaster, we have decided to hike to Johanngeorgenstadt today. That means 18km with the heavy backpacks… so I say goodbye inwardly from the relaxing tour with lots of time…

That’s just the thing with making plans: 1st it comes different and 2nd than you think …

But I can not sulk for a long time: nature and the landscape, through which the trail leads us, are simply too beautiful! Towards evening we finally reach Johanngeorgenstadt, where we get on the train with aching legs and sun in our hearts.

Postscript:
Why the stoves didn’t work?
1st stove: The valve of the gas cylinder was broken. But could easily be replaced.
2nd stove: Could also be repaired. Only the nozzles were clogged.