Taking it Rysy

22-08-12

Goodbye Poland (well sort of) and the West Tatry and hello Slovakia (again, well sort of) and the High/Vysoke Tatry. Strangely enough, today's mission is to reach the highest point in Poland. The true summit of Rysy (2503m/P163) is in Slovakia, however, close by on the border is a lower summit at 2500m. Many of the people who were using the same route as me turned out to be Polish.

Start sign near Strbske Pleso

I started from the resort of Strbske Pleso (1312m) and followed the well constructed red marked path over the Trigan to Popradske Pleso. A left turn up a blue marked path meant I soon met the uphill track at 1620m where the climb really begins. This path has been constructed with tight zigzags so that at times you are barely a few metres higher than you were going the other way - this meant the eventual length of the track on my GPS was a lot longer than the map would imply.

 

Rysy from near Trigan

Not sure who is carrying the chip-pan

Quite high up at 2250m there is a refuge the Chata pod Rysmi - where everything, including
heavy gas bottles, has to be carried up by human carriers. I passed a number of heavily laden men on the way. Still it meant that I could have a cup of tea whilst looking at the spoof timetable on the nearby bus stop before completing the ascent to the ridge and the two summits.

All food hand -delivered at this Chata

Bus stop with spoof timetable

Polish summit = country top

The Polish summit was quite crowded, whereas the Slovakian one was much quieter. I was one of the few that went to both tops - because as a bagger I wanted to be able to tick both the country top list and the prominence list.
The return route was much the same as the ascent - although at the Chata I had a beer instead of a cup of tea. Not sure that was the wisest decision, but it is something a lot of people do before they go down even the most difficult paths. I am glad I did not have two beers.

Slovakian top = true summit

Writing down the web address for this blog in the  Polish summit logbook

Both Rysy tops

Symbolic?

At the Popradske Pleso (lake) I was intrigued by a sign that pointed to a Symbolioky Cintorin about 40 minutes away so I went to have a look. Turned out to be a fairly unremarkable chapel and I could not see why it was considered 'symbolic'. However, amongst the trees around the chapel were a number of erratic boulders with memorial plaques attached. And it looked like a large proportion of them were dedicated to climbers who had been killed on a mountain either locally or elsewhere in the world. Most of the plaques named the mountain and the date of the accident.

Usually when I see a memorial plaque 'official' or homemade stuck on a rock on the hill I  find it irritating. You know the sort of thing - 'Fred Bloggs used to enjoy the view from this point' - well, then why ruin it for the rest of us with your tacky plaque? However, these were discreetly hidden and collectively made sense. I did not recognise any of the names, but I am sure they included some well known ones in the climbing community.










That evening I experienced my first typical late afternoon or evening Vysoke Tatry electrical storm - the thunder and lightning accompanied  torrrential rain for a short while and then just as quickly the skies cleared. I have already been accustomed to this that it only becomes noticeable on the days when there isn't a storm. I wonder how many of the memorial plaques were to climbers who failed to get down before the storms started?

Pilgrimage time

Giewont from Kresanica

20-08-12

The exertions of the two previous days meant that I was looking for something relatively easy to do. Which is a bit hard in the Tatry - bit like saying 'I want a gentle walk on the Cuillins'.
So, Giewont (1895m/P170) became my objective - and, as it turned out, the objective of rather a lot of other people. I will say this for the people in central Europe they do like their hills. Looks like everyone is willing to have a go.
Again I started from the campsite to Kusnice and then up a blue marked path where I paid the entry fee to the Tatranske park , past the Hotel Gorski and on to the Schronisto na Kondratowej Hali  refuge for a cup of tea. From there the path turned from being an amble to a steepish hillwalk to reach a saddle at Kondracka Przelecz. The sign said it was 30 minutes to the top of Giewont so I expected to be up there and back within 40 minutes - until I saw the queue. Despite a one way system, progress was very slow on a series of chains to the summit and cross.

The chain gang

Standing room only

This is where being an 'obsessive hillbagger' becomes a burden. Any normal person would look at the queue and say 'you know, I can't be bothered to wait' but a hillbagger has to touch the summit - there is no choice, freewill or commonsense does not enter into the equation. So I joined the queue and quite literally on the top there was standing room only - indeed most of the people stood there were just the queue for the down route.




Thankfully,going down,  there were sections where I could bypass the chains and avoid waiting for someone to agonisingly slowly lower themselves down half metre steps one minute at a time. More than an hour and a half later I was back down near the saddle. From there I took the red path that dropped steeply down the Grzybowiec that wasn't greasy but slippery at times because the rocks were worn smooth. Then it was back into the forest in the Strazyska Dolina and then I met the Droga pod Reglami near to where my brake caliper had snapped two days previously. Back to the campsite - and not feeling that it was quite an easy day as I had hoped for. But hey, I managed to visit the cross on top of Giewont that is a pilgrimage for so many- and explains why there are so many monks and nuns in Zakopane.

Zakopane from the summit of Giewont

Plenty of Svinica but no salt, please

19-08-12

Svinica from the west

Svinica in chains

Svinica summitteer

No bike brakes meant it was walking all the way. As I had made a late start I did contemplate getting the ski-chairlift from Kuznice to Kasprowy Wierch (1987m). However, when I saw the length of the queue, I realised that it would be as quick to walk rather than the probable three hour wait. Again, it was a long trek through forest to the Schronisko Murowaniec refuge, past some tarns and then zigzags up to the main ridge at Swinicka Przelecz (Pig saddle). There was a fine scramble along the ridge with chains nearer the summit of Svinica (2301m/P351).

If you look carefully you can see my house in Poland from here - Svinica summit

From here to the saddle at Zawrat the route was a series of chains that dropped down and up dramatically - not particularly difficult to follow but tiring. Waiting for someone to come the opposite way gave a welcome chance to have a break, but slowed down progress.
At Zawrat I did consider carrying on the Orla Perc (Eagle's perch) to Kosy Wierch but decided against it as already late afternoon and I would end up descending in the dark. Now I was missing the 24 hour daylight I was getting only a few weeks ago in Norway.

Looking back at Svinica

Looking back up to Zawrat

Kosica

The blue route from Zawrat was interesting enough in itself - at the beginning it was quite steep, with plenty of chains. On the way down I came across a small herd of wild kosica/mountain goats who did not seem to be troubled by human presence. The kosica is a pretty animal, a lot more attractive than the normal goat - my photo does not really give them justice.

Czarny Staw Gasienicowy

Svinica from CSG

No money exchange, or what?

After the kosica the path just became the standard rough bouldery stumble that I am getting used to. It was quite pleasant to circumnavigate the Czarny Staw Gasienicowy tarn with good retrospective views back up the hill. And then it was a long trek past the Schronisko Murowaniec where there was a chance to have a cup of tea.

When's the next bus?

As I was approaching the Przelecz miedzy Kopami saddle in the late evening daylight I could see a group of people sat down on each side of the track as if they were waiting for a bus. This, foolishly, raised my hopes that there may be such a service. I just could not figure what they were waiting for. As I turned the corner it became clear why. It was so good that I realised when they all looked at me that I must have said 'wow' out loud and not just thought it. The sun was low down and about to set in the gap between Kresanica and the distant Babia Gora - if you are concentrating you will remember both these from previous posts in this blog. That's why there are benches on each side of the path and people wait there. Again, my photo doesn't really give the view justice.

Looking west, so it must be dusk, not dawn

I have been in this situation before, whereby if you sit and watch the sunset whilst still high up on a hill it means that inevitably you are going to end up walking down in the dark. So, the final kilometres were a bit of a stumble in the dark and I was glad to finally reach the road at Kuznice. From there the last couple of kilometres back to the campsite was a doddle despite feeling tired and by now, hungry. But I was by no means the last to get back - I had left behind all the other sunset worshippers and overtaken several other people on the way. Maybe it is only in GB that the hills seem to empty after 3.00 pm and that you rarely meet anyone else on the hill at susnset.

Gerlach from Svinica - see later blog post!

Kresanica - an introduction to the Tatry

18-08-12

Kresanica

Koscielska Dolina - the solo walker's dream

The pain in Zakopane seems to be the traffic and finding somewhere to park. So I decided to cycle from the Pod Krowkia campsite in Zakopane to the start of the day's walk at Kiry. I felt hot sweaty and a little tired even before I started walking up the very busy track in the Koscielska Dolina. Thankfully, the majority of the people and the horse drawn taxis stay in the dolina (Norwegian 'dalen', English 'dale'?) although I am not sure where they all go.

Kresanica

In the buff at Malolaczniak

A fair proportion of the people though took the same red marked path as me through the forest on the northern slope of Saturn to come out onto a ridge that leads to the first summit and the Slovakian border at Ciemniak (2096m). The border path drops to a bealach - the Cicerone guide book warns of a 'sudden vertiginous drop at the edge of the grass' - I must admit I didn't notice it. Then it is up to the main summit Kresanica (2122m/P323) which was too crowded to hang round on. So I went down and up with the border path to the next summit Malolaczniak (2096m) where there were far less people.



I took the blue marked route down which was a bit exposed at times and there was a chained section - meaning it was more fun than the way up. There was even scope for a bit of scree running - although this generated some cross looks from other walkers. The path then seemed to go on an endless and intriguing traverse throught the forest before emerging back into the sunlight at Mietusi Przyslop. For some reason I had got it into my head there was going to be a refuge here and a chance to get a cup of tea or even a beer. However, I was misguided. Never mind it was only a 1.30 hours walk back to Kiry from here.

Kresanica from below

As I was cycling along the rough switchback track of the Droga pod Reglami the caliper on my front brake snapped off and I was thrown to the ground. This meant I was wheeling the bike down the steep bits as well as up the steep ones. Was I pleased to find a cafe still open at one of the places where the reglami met a road?
At the end of the reglami it comes out at the base of a couple of ski-lifts and what can only be described as a permanent fairground. Most incongruous, given the setting in the mountains.
The campsite is fairly close by - but far enough not to be heard.


Of course, Zakopane has loads of souvenir and outdoor gear shops, but not a single cycle repair shop.

On the road to Zakopane 17-08-12

A rare beast - it seems almost impossible to buy fresh milk

Stork's nest

Guess which house has a new born baby?

Devil's point

16-08-12

Babia Gora or Diablak (Devil's point) is yet another border mountain which can be approached from either country. The summit is exactly on the border. And it is higher and more prominent than Pilsko - i.e. 1725m/P1075. Another great, almost accidental, find. I decided to tackle it from the Polish side from Zawoja Markowa, after reading about the so-called Academic path - the Perc Akademikow. This path was devised by a university professor who wanted to show his students the range of flora that can be found at different heights on the mountains - and it also sounded interesting because it involves scrambling and the use of chains/steel steps. The cover photo on the map I bought in Zawoja shows a group of young people clambering up a chained section.

Chained traverse along a narrowish ledge

So, off I set on the green marked path through an extensive pine forest to the Markowe Szczawiny refuge. Found the start of the Perc Akad. and felt disappointed as it just seemed to traverse the hill for a while - and the flora was not particularly remarkable. Then it started to rise uphill fairly steeply but with no difficulties. Admittedly there were some nice flowers at times, however the scrambling was a bit tame. The photo on my map was taken of the most difficult section on the whole route - about as hard as a climbing frame in a children's adventure playground. And the views were great. Are they the Tatry mountains in the mists?

Once on the top there was a path that followed the border for many kilometres in both directions. I decided to go west as far as a minor summit Mala Babia Gora (1517m/P100+ i.e. a Hump)

Slovakian memorial

Diablak/Babia Gora from the west

Mala Babia Gora summit

 Then it was back down to the refuge and an alternative longer (and slightly regretted) black marked path through the forest to the start point where I stayed for the night, ignoring the no camping sign.

Step into Slovakia

Anti lib-dem sign in Korbielow?

 15-08-12 Feast of the Assumption

So once again I set off eastwards following the Carpathians/Polish border. Today was the Feast of Assumption. As a godless heathen and infidel I have no idea what this means, however for the Poles it is a national holiday and all the churches were packed and all the roadside shrines decorated. I got stuck in a massive traffic queue in one very small village.







Today's hill I came upon by complete chance, without realising it was one of Poland's few Majors (i.e. a hill with prominence of more than 610m). I bought a map from a road side booth in Korbielow - in the Beskid Zywiecki national park and set off on the blue track to Przel Przyslopy and then the green track, passing the crowded Hala Miziowa hut through a mix of borowka and dwarf pines to the summit of Pilsko (1557m/P752). Strictly speaking the true summit is not in Poland as it is a couple of hundred metres over the border in Slovakia. So this was my first time in another country.

First sign of Slovakia

Pilsko

Pilsko sign

Pilsko summiteer

On the way down I stopped off for a drink in the Hala Miziowa and thought I would use the path down that follows the ski-lifts, even though this would involve a bit of road walking in the end. However, somehow I managed to lose the path part way down and ended up following a track not marked on the map which took me almost all the way back to Korbielow. The path was lined with Great Yellow Gentian and Willow-leaved Gentian. My only worry was being stopped by a Polish GOML (=Get Off My Land) - however the very few people I saw just said the customary 'Dzien Dobry' * greeting as I passed them.

Great Yellow Gentian - Gentiana Lutea

 * In both Czech and Slovakian the greeting is 'Dobry den'. To save confusion lots of people just say Dobry whilst on these border mountains. And you end up saying it dozens of times everyday.

Willow leaved Gentian - Gentiana asclepiadea

From the summit of Pilsko I could see another hill in cloud. Turns out that hill was even more prominent and has a great name - Babia Gora.

Babia Gora from Pilsko

Des res in need of some minor repair