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So taken was I by the forest west of Sułkowice (which no map seems to want to name), I returned again today, this time with Moni who had popped over. Learning from my brother that the forest's most prominent feature is an esker, a "long, winding ridge of stratified sand, examples of which occur in formerly glaciated regions of Europe", we decided to check out more of it. Sunlight and clouds added drama.

Below: cross-section through the esker showing the stratification of the sand.

Below: we followed – as far as possible – the top of the ridge, as it snaked around from south to north.

Below: the highest point, Hill 133, marked by a geodesic post. This is over 20 metres higher than the river Czarna which runs between the forest and Sułkowice. This may not seem much to mountain folk, but in Mazowsze – that's a lot! 

Below: a thinning of trees, whitish undergrowth – lichens growing among the moss.

Below: close-up of the forest floor. Lichens and mosses. This part of Poland experienced a total of six waves of glaciation; Czechia, where Moni lives, experienced none. Consequently, she says, the soil in forests there smells different.

Below: towards the south-western end of the forest, a hunter's pulpit. Hoofprints in the sandy soil suggest the presence of deer. May the hunters miss.

Below: on the way back: the bridge over the river Czarna, which separates the village of Hipolitów from Sułkowice.

"I live in a part of the world that is SHUNNED by space aliens."

This time last year:

Hottest September in Poland?

This time two years ago:

Box-top art in the Sublime Aesthetic

This time three years ago:
Trains of thought, insights and 'voices'

This time five years ago:
Parliamentary train at West Ealing station

This time six years ago:
Progress in Jakubowizna

This time eight years ago:
Miedzianka by Filip Springer

This time nine years ago:
Out of the third, into the fourth

This time ten years ago:
Inverted reflections

This time ten years ago:
Observations from London's WC1
and Observations from the City of London

This time 12 years ago:
Civilising Jeziorki's wetlands

This time 13 years ago:
Warsaw's Aleje Jerozolimskie

This time 15 years ago:
Melancholy autumn mood in Łazienki

This time 16 years ago:
Autumn gold, Zamienie

This time 17 years ago:
Flamenco Sketches – Seville