GC272Y6 - [EN] Vale of snails and does

Come on! I'll take you to a place, where a little piece of wlderness survives. Between two fields, near to a village with a romanesque church. On this place the trees grows without human intervention and their time comes, they fall and lianas twine their dead bodies. Then they moulder giving live to their offsprings. Snails crawl the ground in trees' shadow and canty undulates come down for the water of muddy brooklet and sleep in safe of the thick shrubs.

[back to the listing/Czech]

Northern cliffs at the early evening

Ok, this place is not something extra. And this is good. Because here you can find a genuine Moravian wilderness. The one, you can expect in a small country inhabited with some four millions of people. You can easily see the nearest cottages and the field starts just after the trees on the edge of the vale. Rags of fertilizer bags are scattered here and there occasionally accompanied with other litter. But the place is not a dump. It's a sanctuary. A piece of world left by people. Not an "abandoned" place, rather let to live on its own.

This place is not something extra and it is good. Other way crowds would visit it. Other way it wouldn't be a piece of world let to live on its own. And so I hesitated. When I discovered this place at the end of the winter 2008, I was thrilled. And when I remembered it this spring, 2010, I craved to tell about it to every cacher. But then I faltered. If I place a cache here, won't I kill this place? Maybe yes. Other, if I don't place it here, won't this place die either in several years, without being known by the most of the people? Maybe yes. Probably yes...

The vale can be divided into three parts - upper, middle and lower ([CZ] horní, střední a spodní).

The upper is the most flat one and the least interesting. It is rather a bosk between two fields. There is a little lake at its end, whose dike is the dam is the field road coming from Hrubšice (to the North).

The middle part follows. This part is the most wild of all. There is a lot of trees and bushes here growing without any order all around. Some trunks have fallen to the ground, others have leaned on those still growing, some balance on the crowns of shrubs. The game passes beneath them on its low path, in some places less than half of meter height. It looks too low even for does. The middle part is about 600 meters long, but it took me more then an hour to pass through in April 2010. And I didn't relish the view, I went as fast as I could.

The last one is the lower part. The deepest, the widest and it's slopes are the steepest. The lower part is also the only one you can quite comfortably walk through. And it is the most attractive, too. The valley is not bordered by gradual slopes any more. The steep cliffs of clay tower along its edges here. At the very end there is a fence of some industrial facility. It prevents almost any access to The vale of snails and does going from one side to another and leaving only narrow shrubby passages aside. I guess this fence the most important factor keeping people away. Walking the valley down you'll pass the game manger and then you'll see the fence and a rusty car wreckage just before it. If you turn to the north, you'll find a short adit in the cliff.

Red ears - strange (for me, at least), bright red plant or fungus.

Snaillies - there is really a lot of snails in the valley, at the end of April you can find about five to ten per sq. meter.

Approaching the cache

The cache can be approached virtually only on foot, maybe also on mountain bike.

The field road parallel to the valley, which you can see on some maps, doesn't exist in reality. The closest thing to it you can find in terrain is a track beaten by tractors and connecting parkings P1 and P2. The track goes about 10 meters south of the valley, however I don't recommend it for cars. Mountain bikers can definitely use it, as well as pedestrians. After raining the track gets very, very muddy.

For motorist I recommend using parking P1, especially in warmer seasons. Although P1 is not the nearest one, there is a lot of room there, even for several cars. Parking P2 can barely accommodate one car, P3 maybe two or three.

The way to cache is harmless, of course if you keep yourself in safe distance from the edge of the ravine. Be aware of it especially at night. Go along  the southern side of the vale, unless you wish to climb down and then climb up the slopes of the valley (ravine).

The cache is not inside the valley! Though it is near of its edge, it's not necessary to come or even climb down.

The cache's been hidden here.

Warning! The cliffs are steep and unexpectedly high, especially in the lower part of the valley. At some places the terrain rises and without any warning is cut down and the land ends. The cliffs are soft and breakable and they fall apart from time to time. Do not come near to the cliffs and don not climb them under any circumstances! Be very cautious, especially in night!

Be considerate!

Although I've brought you here, I ask you:

• Go down to the valley only if you really want to see it.
• Behave gently. Don't tamper places, where the game sleeps, don't make new paths through.
• Be quiet. The game gets startled easily, let's give it some peace.

I recommend to visit the lower part only (the middle is really scrubby, you'll see). The best way down is the doe's path starting just about eleven meters to the West from the cache location.