E3: Pekelnik to Strečno: Day 131

Better weather today with good views from the high ridge, but a long, painful descent.

When I put my boots on this morning I discovered one of the laces had broken overnight while they lay in the "porch" area of my tent. Or perhaps not broken but eaten through by some tiny animal and then one of the two parts pulled out. I tied the two parts together and hoped that there would be no further breaks. 

In the night, leaving my tent for a call of nature, I saw a fuzzy orange moon, and far away in the valleys, lights from distant villages. Sadly, when I woke in the morning this scene had dissolved into a white mist. Starting early I was gladdened as the mist cleared as I walked. Wisps of cloud kept crossing my view driven by a cold wind, especially when I took out my camera to capture a scene, but when the sun lit the forested valleys above the cloud filled lowlands, with "islands" of hills poking through, it was amazing.

In the mud of the path I could see the footsteps of the people who had walked by my tent last night, and later this morning met a group of eight heading for one of the higher peaks. A few others were out walking lower down. Knowing that I am not the only person in the mountains gave me a sense that I am doing something that others appreciate too. Among the things to appreciate in these high mountains were the flowers, such as the blue trumpets of the Southern Gentian in clefts of rock and the purple orchids among the grasses.

I made the steep climb up to Malý Kriváň (1671 metres) and from this summit could see three peaks ahead of me on the ridge. The middle one was most concerning as it was a large stump of rock with scrub sized pines growing where they were able. This peak was called Biele Skaly and I approached it with trepidation. I could have bypassed it on a yellow trail, but I had memories of tree roots from the previous day and the path did not look well developed. Fortunately it was not raining today as it was a scramble up and down Biele Skaly on bare rock. Not difficult, there were plenty of hand and foot holds, but it was unexpected and progress was slow as I was being careful,  thinking of my age and lack of agility. 

After the final summit it was a steep drop down to a glade where Chata Pod Suchým was located. This was a mountain hut offering accommodation and food. However, when I looked in there seemed no-one around.

I continued on the ridge, at first pleasantly flat but then heading down steeply on a rough path. My knees were suffering and were not pleased when I spotted the river and the road beside it. My accommodation was at the same level as the river, and although the river and road were nearby (I could hear the cars) they were a long, long way down. 

Cursing the prolonged, steep descent and rough rocks I finally reached Starý Hrad (Old Castle). A square tower and a few walls remained of this fortress, which dates from the 13th century. Once I reached the comfort of a flat road beside the river I could see the castle which replaced it on the far side of the river, called Strečno Castle. Its ruins looked more extensive. 

I crossed the wide River Váh on a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists, cars have to use a ferry. Turning towards Strečno on the opposite side I spotted a stall selling ice cream and coffee, at which I indulged watching passing cyclists. There were many about, there seems a good cycle path beside the river.

Now in my hotel which is above a Pizzeria, where I of course had pizza for dinner.

E3: Zázrivá to Pekelnik: Day 130

Although it rained all day I found I managed the long ascent better than I expected. 

Suprisingly, my left knee did not have much fluid on it this morning. Maybe the effect of an early finish yesterday followed by use of my compression sleeve? First job this morning was to buy some food at the Coop for breakfast and wild camping tonight. After doing that I managed to buy an Expresso Lungo at the bar next door from the lady cleaning the tables.

Today was a walk along a ridge over numerous summits. I decided to divert around three of these summits. The first hill was a diversion off the road, which made little sense to me, I just followed the road. In doing so I passed three cabins selling local produce such as cheese and also coffee and tea as a sideline. None of them was doing any business on a rainy Monday morning. Feeling sorry for them I stopped for another coffee at a stall with chairs, sheltered from the rain by umbrellas, just before I left the main road.

Continuing up a side road and then a good track, I was pleased to gain some height on a good surface although sweating with the effort in my waterproofs.

Reaching a point where the E3 (waymarked with red) climbed over two summits I decided to follow a yellow route around them. I did not feel too guilty about this departure from the E3 as the visibility in the mountains could be measured in metres, there would be no views from them today. In addition the path over one of the summits was closed according to the "Mapy" app. It was a route involving ladders. Even if the path was open, climbing up and down ladders plus the associated rocks in the rain did not seem prudent.

I had feared that my yellow route might be blocked by fallen trees but it proved a pleasant and easy path to follow. Although there were some significant uphill sectioms much of it contoured the mountainside which I particularly appreciated.

After rejoining the E3 I took another opportunity to divert around a summit on a yellow trail. This one was not so successful. There was much climbing over the gnarly roots of trees on the side of the steep slope, and outcrops of rock requiring hands as well as feet. The continuing rain made everything slick and to avoid an accident I was forced to move at a crawl (sometimes literally), carefully picking where to place my feet.

Rejoining the E3 there was then a steep downhill. Water was running down the path turning the earth into a surface impossible to avoid slipping in. I diverted onto the surrounding vegetation among the trees and made full use of my trekking poles, placing them ahead of me for support as my muddy boots were not gripping.

Fortunately the path flattened out and I then made good progress along the ridge. There were numerous summits with rocks poking through, and the stones made for better grip. Each side of me the ridge dropped away steeply, disappearing into white mist. The ridge was free of trees and being so high up, on a clear day the views must be magnificent. I will be continuing along the ridge tomorrow and hopefully visibility will be better then. 

Now I was on higher ground there were flowers I had not seen before, such as delicate blue Alpine Snowbells, white and yellow Mountain Avens and blue Alpen-Kreuzeblume.

The highest peak I reached was Chleb at 1646 metres. After the peak there was a saddle, Snilovské Sedlo. Unlike previous days I encountered no shelters or covered areas where I could have lunch out of the rain. As Snilovské Sedlo was at the top of a couple of ski lifts I was hoping for something there, but the two cabins were both padlocked. I was forced to content myself with a "Snickers" eaten quickly before I became too cold.

Having crossed Pekelnik summit, the point I planned to reach today I started looking for a place to camp. Finding a flat area, sheltered somewhat from the wind coming over the ridge, I decided to pitch there. It was only 4 pm but the rain had now penetrated my waterproofs and I was beginning to feel cold, nor was I sure that any flat spots would be available later, much of the ridge is quite sharp. In addition tomorrow's forecast was better, so maybe I will be able to see the surrounding countryside.

Despite seeing no-one other than a shepherd with his dog and flock of sheep shortly after leaving the road, a few minutes after getting settled in my tent someone walked by talking to his phone or a companion. He did not stop. I was a little concerned as I had seen signs including the no camping symbol, but having not seen anyone I had not tried to hide my tent from the path.

Everything is pretty damp.

E3: Javorova to Zázrivá: Day 129

A tiring day, up and down mountains to the village of Zázrivá.

Having decamped I began my way down to the Prislop Pass. Fallen trees made the first part difficult and then the track downhill became worse as it was churned up by heavy forestry vehicles. On reaching an area of grassland things improved. There were chairs and a table with an information board referencing the E3, then a good stretch of meadow to walk across, first downhill then uphill. Eventually, another downhill track took me to Prislop Pass.

I was two hours too early for the café so I began the next section of trail by struggling over piles of gravel and rock being used for repairs of the road crossing the pass. After the pass there was a long period of uphill. I fondly remembered my walk on the GR5 in the French Alps, where you walked up to a pass and then down the other side. Whereas here, the E3 follows the high points of ridges, in consequence you walk down to a pass, and then head uphill as you leave it.

The climbing continued for much of the day's walk, reaching successively higher peaks. Initially it was on forest tracks, often deeply rutted and obstructed by fallen trees. I wondered if they had fallen naturally, but I often could not connect the tree with any nearby broken stump. Possibly they came down as collateral damage when foresters felled larger trees and they were then pulled out of the way. Then there was a change, the route switched to a pleasant path that wound around younger fir trees with blueberry bushes each side. There was areas of grassland today where I spotted the dwarf yellow cinquefoil, its bright colours enhancing the landscape.

The highest point was Mincŏl at 1394 metres (the second mountain I have crossed with this name). Just before the summit, half hidden by mist, there were three ski lifts and a couple of towers with multiple aerials. At the summit sign post a couple of day walkers were having a sandwich. I carried on but they later overtook me, moving much quicker and more confidently than myself on the slippery downward track.

Zázrivá, the village where I had booked accommodation, seemed to take a long time to arrive, with an extra hill in the way that I was not expecting. Timings on signs were optimistic, at least for myself. However all things come in the end. On entering the settlement I spotted an ice cream stall where I, of course, stopped for a cone.

Having booked into my appartment, completed my chores, rewarded myself by phoning my wife, I then went to investigate the restaurant. Sadly they were not serving food tonight (Sunday) and the waiter indicated you needed a car to reach the next place open. (I had to use Google Translate as no English appeared to be spoken in this village). I settled for a beer and peanuts while watching the house martins swoop around the square. I will eat my emergency rations tonight and buy more tomorrow morning when the shops are open.

The mountains around me looked very high, it looks like it could be a tough day tomorrow especially as rain is forecast. 

E3: Trstena to Javorova: Day 128

A wet day walking over a mountains and crossing a dam.

Leaving my hotel my rucksack felt heavy as I will be wild camping tonight and so I am carrying extra food and water. After an hour or so I get used to the weight, at least to a degree. Despite the weight I paused in the main square in front of my hotel to read a few of the information boards and look in at the Franciscan Church. I learnt that Trstena has a long history as an important town in the Orava region but did not stop to visit any more of the listed sites.

The first part of my day was a climb up to the summit of Uhlisko in intermittent rain and then a descent down the other side to the Orava hydroelectric dam. All through trees, tall conifers, except for an area of long grass on the way down. From the grassland I could see across the flooded valleys of a huge reservoir. Under the lowering clouds the water's surface looked like dusty mercury. The final stretch to the dam was through trees, overgrown and wet, it was little used by humans.

The dam itself could do with a café, I was not the only one walking across it, and with the poor weather, viewing the water from the inside of a café would have been pleasant. An information board refered to villages that had been flooded when the dam was built in the 1950's.

After the dam it was a matter of climbing up and along the next ridge, a long ridge of fir trees that I would follow for many kilometres. Starting this climb was made difficult as the point where the path left the road, by a faded sign, was overgrown with tree saplings. Much pushing and crashing through branches was needed until I reached a clearer if narrow path. Then the route crossed a large field of crops. I kept to lines made by tractor tyres to avoid doing too much damage. After that the E3 joined larger tracks through forestry for the remainder of the day. Some of these were heavily rutted by the passage of many large forestry vehicles, dragging logs. There were large pools of water and areas of mud. The rain made even some of the better tracks slippery, especially as mud accumulated on my boots. However there were often little paths making diversions around the worst sections. Tracks not recently used by vehicles faced the problem of fallen trees, again often requiring extensive diversions.

While forestry activity generally left a mess of ruts, mud and broken branches, they did consider hikers. Trees on which footpath waymarks had been painted were cut off above the red and white painted stripes, leaving unusually tall stumps.

There were several summits on the ridge to climb over. The Stations of the Cross led up to one of the earlier high points. At the 14th station there was a covered shelter where I had a snack. I passed a number of simple shelters, a roof over a table and benches, very handy for hikers like myself. There were also notice boards which read like a prayer from the woods, pointing out all the useful things the forest provides and asking you to protect it.

Magurka summit had a large transmiter tower. A little after was a shelter where you could stay if you made the right arrangements. It had a "Self Service Buffet" where I put 2 Euros in the honesty box for a soft drink. The highest summit was Budin at 1221 metres. There were some views when the clouds cleared of villages in the valleys below, other times mist embraced me.

My aim was to camp a few kilometres short of the Prislop Pass, maybe I am a little further away but seeing a flat spot among the trees a little before the Javorova summit I decided to pitch my tent. Soon after the rain began again with peals of thunder, so I count myself fortunate. 

E3: Poland and the Carpathian Mountains: Some comments

Lower Poland proved an excellent area to walk across with interesting spa towns and good trails across forested mountains.

Starting with the towns, I thought Krynica-Zdrój was a beautifully set out old spa town, catering for the needs of tourists like myself. Sczczawnica was also attractive. The foot ferry on the route out was a chance to go a short way on a traditional flat bottomed boat poled across the river by a man with an embroidered waistcoat and a black felt hat. Zakopane and the area around was dominated by tourism.  There are a few interesting museums and lots of stalls selling soft toys, fridge magnets and the like. The final village, Chochołów was impressive for the number of traditional wooden houses, of the type built with tree trunks. In between these towns there were villages with accommodation so I had no need to wild camp, although I did stay one night at an official campsite.

The E3 crosses many mountains in Poland, all covered with trees, mainly conifers. There are steep climbs and descents. For two of the summits you have to pay to reach the absolute top. On two days I was able to lunch at mountain huts, they also offered accommodation which would have to be booked by phone or email.

While the E3 is not specifically marked, there are lots of waymarks of different colours, supplemented with signs giving timings. The E3 Poland page on the European Hiking Federation website is misleading implying the E3 follows the Carpathian Trail which it equates with the Beskid Trail, marked with red waymarks. While the E3 does follow part of the Beskid Trail it leaves it before Sczczawnica and follows trails with a variety of waymark colours to reach Chochołów. 

E3: Chochołów to Trstena: Day 127

A return to Slovakia with a climb over mountains with grassland and fir trees.

Chochołów is close to the border so I was soon leaving Poland and striding into the first Slovak village, Suchá Hora. According to Wikipedia it is a village that has repeatedly changed which country it is part of. 

Rather than take a direct route to Trstena, my destination for today, the E3 employs a curved route southward to the village of Oravice, then curves north to Trstena, taking in a few mountains. First it followed the border posts south. Tracks came and went but I kept heading in the general direction, initially through grassland rich in blue forget-me-nots and yellow buttercups and dandelions, plus a few purple orchids. Fallen trees frequently obstructed me today, necessitating diversions around them. At one of the first, a man was standing with a chainsaw ready. Despite me indicating I was English and had no Slovak, he gave me a long explanation about something. I smiled and nodded then continued on my way. Leaving the border posts the trail continued to climb through conifers. Apart from a single direction sign at Suchá Hora I saw no waymarks and wondered if my gpx track for the E3, taken from Waymarkedtrails.org, was correct for this stretch. After reaching a high point the track dropped steeply. Shortly before the village of Oravice I saw a faded yellow waymark before a particularly difficult section of fallen trees. 

Oravice had a waterpark that was under construction; a well populated open air pool surrounded by sun loungers with people spread across them in their bathing costumes; shut up stalls, stationary ski lifts, and a buffet open and selling food and drink. I ordered a langos with cheese and tomato ketchup. I first tried langos, a sort of fried, savoury dough, in Hungary. While cheese is a common and welcome accompaniment the ketchup that the waitress suggested was something new. Having tried it I would avoid adding it to langos in the future.

I knew from my research last night that after Oravice there would be a big climb up to the summit of Skorušina at 1314 metres. Having this fore-knowledge the uphill section was not too depressing. At the summit there was an observation tower so you could look over the surrounding trees. The ladder up was steep and I felt I had climbed enough. 

There was then a long, slow descent following green waymarks. In the dusty track there were prints made by people's boots, bikes, vehicles, deer and a bear. From the size of the feet it was a small bear. I had been on the lookout for bear prints throughout my time in Slovakia but these were the first I had seen. 

Once out of the trees I could see Trstena ahead of me and beyond a large reservoir which I will visit tomorrow. However it seemed to take a long time to reach it and my left knee was complaining after all the descent. Finally reaching my hotel in the centre of Trstena I was worried to see a notice on the door leading to the reception with red letters, was it closed? Using Google Translate to see what it meant I discovered that they were looking for a new receptionist, as a permenant employee. Fortunately the old receptionist was still there and checked me in. I had arrived in the town centre too late for the cake shop, but I enjoyed a evening meal at the restaurant attached to the hotel, sitting outside with the locals who were chatting over a Friday night drink. I probably enjoyed it too much as I ordered a second beer. Usually a mistake which I had avoided on this trip up to now.

E3: Zakopane to Chochołów: Day 126

A short day ending at Chochołów, a village with many old wooden houses. 

I returned to the croissant café again this morning and enjoyed a blueberry, raspberry and mascapone croissant. The franchise, Lviv Croissants, is a Ukrainian company I discovered. Of course, the clue was in the name.

Catching the funicular up the side of Gubałówka, the mountain to the north of Zakopane, returned me to where I left the E3 trail previously and saved a lot of climbing. I did not have far to go today so I had another coffee while admiring the view, which included city spread out beneath me, and beside me, a giant, plant encrusted teapot. 

After a kilometre or so I left the stalls and tourists behind and continued on quiet roads. Although not all was quiet, half a dozen quad bikes passed me going one way, then returned a little while later. One of the many activities on offer around Zakopane. Sadly, beside the road I saw two monuments to people who had been shot by the Gestapo in 1943. Eventually the road turned into a farm track and climbed a few hills. A tractor was out cutting hay in the fine weather. Behind me the view of the snow streaked High Tatra peaks was slowly receding, ahead of me I could see the high ridge I would later be following in later days.

Around 2 pm I descended into Chochołów, and as advertised there were lots of wooden buildings, challet bungalow style, with their gable ends pointing to the road. Made of logs, to keep out the wind and water the gaps between logs are sealed with what looks like rope, but is a product made of wood I have read. Houses are roofed with wooden shingles and strung out along the busy road. A few people were washing the walls of their houses, maybe to brighten them up, removing the grime and dust kicked up by passing vehicles. The church was the only anomaly, being stone built in a gothic style. I paused for a blueberry ice cream before walking to my accommodation. 

Today is the last day of my walk through Poland on this trip, so I had a Slivowicz to celebrate after my meal in the local restaurant.