The Orla Perć trail or “Eagle’s Path” is despite of (rather because of) its reputation one of the most popular destinations in the High Tatras mountain range.

I have to admit though, having been in the Polish part of the High Tatras mountain range for the first time this year, that I was pretty much ignorant about this very fact until quite recently.

What I actually wanted to do on a bright, sunny and very pleasant Saturday in late September was to ascend to the Kozi Wierch mountain (2291 meters AMSL).

This tour struck me as appealing, as I was doing my little research a couple of days before, because the mountain was listed as the highest lying in its entirety in Poland, and since the logistics seemed straightforward:

Hiking from Kuźnice to the Murowaniec mountain hut (Schronisko PTTK „Murowaniec” na Hali Gąsienicowej), then scaling the Zawrat saddle (2159 meters), and then proceeding to Kozi Wierch on a red marked trail displayed on my digital map as one-way just like the trail in the other direction to Świnica.

Kozi Wierch, September 21

As it turned out, I did not scale Zawrat, and the time I had calculated to do this tour was wildly optimistic, for I was totally unaware that the mountain is part of that popular mountain trail named Orla Perć.

I realized something was up as I was reaching Zmarzły Staw Gąsienicowy on 1790 meters and seeing a long queue almost all the way down to the small mountain lake. 

Starring aghast at such an unfamiliar spectacle, what I could do at this point was to switch to a yellow marked path to my left, that led to a place named Kozia Przełęcz, where I kind of naively assumed that in those high altitudes the crowd certainly will have dispersed.

What I encountered about one hour later though was something I had never encountered before in the mountains: literally a hundred people stuck in a traffic jam, waiting for their turn.

My turn came after a period of waiting and sunbathing of about two hours, and I could see then what was the matter: a very steep, narrow, almost vertical wall down posing as bottleneck (sorry I could not make a photo here for obvious reasons).

I wondered how many people had jammed the whole queue of enthusiastic mountaineers in or around this place because of a (near) panic attack on this day, or on some other day (as mentioned, the trail is one-way so turning back is not allowed, and would not have been possible anyway because of the many people blocking the way).

However, after summiting Kozi Wierch and enjoying splendid views a curious thing happened.

It was getting lonelier and lonelier, and as I was making the push to Przełączka nad Dolinką Buczynową I was completely solo, and remained solo for the next two hours as I finally finished my circular tour at the Murowaniec mountain hut after doing an unexpectedly exhausting descent through Dolinka Kozia where I was rewarded with a magnificent sunset.

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Skrajny Granat, September 27

The idea to do the whole Orla Perć trail as I was now sort of familiar with it certainly occured to me afterwards, but the weather had other plans for the remainder of my stay in the High Tatras mountain range.

To gain experience I decided to ascend to Skrajny Granat (2228 meters AMSL) once more from the starting point Murowaniec hut, a peak also located on the Orla Perć trail, what was easy enough even with lots of rain for there is only one short section with a metal chain and the rest is of moderate difficulty.

Yet the question whether you want to do an extensive mountain tour like Orla Perć at all with crowds as large as those on Giewont has to be mulled over: personally I perhaps do it again, but for sure never again on a weekend in months like August or September.

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Final notes and recommendations

I highly recommend wearing a helmet when doing Orla Perć. Also carry enough liquids and food in case you have to wait in a queue.

Schronisko PTTK „Murowaniec” can be used for a sleepover (link here), but you have to book a long time in advance if you want to stay there during the high season. Alternatively, you can take a bus from Zakopane to Kuźnice (takes ten minutes), and hike from there to the mountain hut in two to three hours.