Table of contents

Introduction
August 26th (Łysa Polana – Zakopane)
August 27th (Jordanów – Hala Krupowa)
August 28th (Hala Krupowa – Zawoja)

Introduction

An invitation of a Polish friend to join him on a long distance hike in the Beskid mountains gave me the opportunity to leave the August antsiness of the touristy places in and around the High Tatras, since at the summer’s closing I had been staying in Slovakia for a few mountaineering tours.

In order to get to Poland I had to cross the High Tatras first, either entirely by foot or by public transport, what turned out to be a worthwhile journey in itself.

August 26th (Łysa Polana – Zakopane)

I decided to take the bus from Poprad to Łysa Polana (970 meters) lying immediately at the border, then to walk. Lysá Poľana, how it is spelled in Slovak, is a convenient starting point in general for various tours into the mountain range, and popular spots such as Rysy aren’t far off.

Consequently, as soon as I entered Poland, I was part of the weird crowd that was pilgrimaging in droves to Morskie Oko and the adjacent mountain hut, even on this weekday with not really good weather.

After one hour or so I switched over from the asphalt to a much less frequented green marked gravel path in order to get to my first stop-over Wielki Staw Polski (1665 meters). Then I followed a yellow marked path (unexpectedly long and steep I tell you) to Kopa nad Krzyżnem at 2135 meters, unfortunately the sky was still cloudy so the views were disappointing.

The descent from that peak was quite easy (but time-consuming too), because of the late hour it was getting lonelier and lonelier, Schronisko PTTK Murowaniec I reached at seven p.m. was devoid of any large number of people.

From there remained a two hours walk to Zakopane, and in Zakopane I was able to obtain a proper night’s sleep in a hotel right at Krupówki street, what was not so unimportant for I knew my friend was a hiking crack and I could expect the next day to be long and tiring as well.

August 27th (Jordanów – Hala Krupowa)

I met my friend at the train station in Jordanów (one hour distance from Zakopane) and we set off southwards on this bright, welcoming and very sunny day in late August.

Actually we did not really have a fixed schedule, or a fixed route we wanted to stick to. After relaxed three hours through villages and wood, we came across an outdoor museum named Skansen w Sidzenie rather by chance. We liked it so much there that we stayed for a couple of hours, even attended a guided tour where my friend acted as a translator so that I could learn a few facts about regional craftsmanship and farming techniques.

After that we began our march through a dense forest, not too difficult it seemed. Two hours and five hundred meters of altitude difference later, we reached our goal for the day Schronisko PTTK Na Hali Krupowej at 1152 meters, where we enjoyed hand-made cheese, local beer, and a splendid sunset.

August 28th (Hala Krupowa – Zawoja)

The seclusion lasted just one day, for as soon as we entered the area around Babia Góra the crowds reappeared, but it was somewhat endurable because it wasn’t weekend yet.

Well, the place is very pretty and intriguing, so it is no surprise that visitors are all around the area, and the good thing is you can vary your tour in sections so that you are alone.

Almost from the beginning we saw shrubs with small edible blue fruits everywhere (don’t ask me how these are exactly called), but also lots of blueberries and blackberries (presumably), at any rate we gathered a lot for their taste was delightful.

The views were fantastic, especially on the mountain itself (at 1724 meters). On the whole the views were seldomly obstructed by the vegetation, it was windy what spoiled the experience a bit but not too much.

A long descent was unavoidable, and I was at a point to start detesting the weight of my backpack, that was full of now useless equipment and clothing from my mountaineering tours.

We reached the town of Zawoja by nightfall, spent the night there, where on August 29th I said farewell to my friend to get back to Germany to prepare for yet another tour in the outdoors.

Thanks Adam for this great, although short tour in the Beskid mountains in Poland.

Featured image: Sunset in the Beskid mountains close to Schronisko PTTK Na Hali Krupowej (Kocia Łapa, 1182 meters)