A poster in the read "W górach jest wszystko co kocham" - In the mountains is everything I love. How true this is.
Zakopane - Side Street
Along Pod Reglami
Dolina Strążyska
There are a number of waymarked walks through the Tatra mountains at Zakopane. These are graded according to their difficulty from Red (Easy) to Black (Hard). One such walk takes you through Dolina Strążyska. At the start of the trail a Nuthatch was seen.
The river through Dolina Strążyska
Giewont (1,894m)
Limestone outcrops
Local farmers make cheese from sheep's milk (Oscypek) which is smoked inside small wooden huts.
Oscypek huts.
Waterfall at the end of Dolina Strążyska
Kasprowy Wierch (1,987 metres)
A rather more challenging hike takes you from Kuźnice to the top of Kasprowy Wierch the summit of which lies on the border of Poland and Slovakia. Having taken the minibus from the centre of Zakopane to Kuźnice, the walk starts out on a fairly gentle climb along a tarmac path beside the river.
In the river there were Grey Wagtails and Dippers. In the woods we saw Jays and Crested Tits. Ravens were seen and heard overhead.
The early stages of the walk up Kasprowy Wierch
The limestone cliffs bordering the valley
A good viewpoint looking down over the forest to Zakopane below.
The easy way up from Kuźnice!
The signs provide a fair indication of the distance to go.
Fly Agaric mushroom in the woods.
Less than half way up and we entered the mist. This was very disappointing as I was hoping to get a good view from the top. The higher we climbed the colder it got. We reached a level were all the vegetation was covered in frost.
Dwarf pine covered in frost
As we got further I noticed that the frost was thawing and gradually we could make out the sun starting to break through the mist. All of a sudden we were through the top of the mist and greeted with views far better than we could have expected.
The Tatra mountains peeking through the mist
The top of Giewont (1,894m)
The final 150 metres of climb was very pleasant. The summit provided not only a welcome rest but excellent views.
The summit - 1,987 metres
The most striking thing at this point was that the mist was only over the Polish side, the Slovakian mountains were completely clear. The ridge which runs along the border at about 1,850 metres was holding back the mist.
Poland to the right in the mist - Slovakia on the left clear
Into Slovakia (only just!)
Looking down the valley in Slovakia
After our brief Sojourn into Slovakia we headed to the summit restaurant (to cater for the cable car visitors) for a beer - Żywiec is our favourite.
After a refreshing break it was time to head back down. This of course meant heading back into the mist.
Heading down into the mist
Small pond on the way down
Finally a selection of black & white images
1 comment:
Very nice pictures of "my" hometown Zakopane and Tatra Mountains. Barbara /www.discoverzakopane.com owner:)
Post a Comment