The Amata river is considered to be the fastest flowing and the wildest river for boating in Latvia. It’s not recommended for amateurs to boat there with no professional in charge. So, every adrenaline seeker and adventurer who reads this article, keep that in mind when visiting Latvia! But this time the article won’t be about boating but instead about hiking along the Amata river. Slippery trail, challenging but nevertheless – awesome!

Had a really great time with these awesome folks!

Introduction

Currently, in Latvia, it’s quite popular to go hiking in groups. Groups are usually formed on Facebook. An organisation or an independent person makes an event, plans everything and invites other enthusiasts to join them. It was the case also this time. With the help of the Internet, a group of a little below 40 people were formed. A friend of mine, who usually represents “Purvu bridēji” (Eng. Swamp waders) and “Trekking.lv” posted about the event and invited me to join. I first met Kristaps during the Instagram trip a few months ago. So, if you are not from Latvia, but you are interested in any of the adventures related to the above-mentioned sites, contact me and I will hook you up with the right people.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQvR-UuBatq/?taken-by=trekking.lv

Nature trail

The trail was slippery almost all the way through. Therefore, it was quite challenging from time to time. At the beginning, we even chose a dangerous trail, which forced us to move slowly and grab onto every rock and branch near us.

Also, what made this part dangerous was the ground which is mixed with dolomite and clay. Also, a few rocks fell while we were crossing the dolomite wall. I must point out that the rocks didn’t fell from the wall but below the wall (we did no harm to the wall).

We took a little break at the hilltop with an amazing view. During the break, we drank warm tea and ate a little bit to freshen up.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQsNyllgTsx/?taken-by=artursbridaks

By the way, two of the participants even took their dogs with them. It seemed like they had a great time too. The information board of the nature trail stated that the trail is 12km long but my phone app estimated that I made more than 19km at the end. We couldn’t wish for a better day for hiking because the weather was just perfect!

It’s awesome that this kind of events unites people from different kind of backgrounds. I have met physmaths, mathematicians and many other professions which are not related to nature and it’s amazing. Even me – my primary field is electrical engineering.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQsNPOsF8fE/?taken-by=artcervus

More pictures

All pictures are mine. The photos were taken with a phone and weren’t edited.