Although there was a dense mist, today there was no rain for which I was thankful. Among the mist, groups of bright yellow marsh marigolds in wetter areas added bright points to the day. The low points were the many steep, uphill sections and ridiculous downhills. Going down from Płaziny's summit was particularly memorable as it dropped over a 100 metres in elevation. The gradient was extreme and the earth was slippery due to the recent rain. Fallen leaves gave no purchase. My trekking poles were essential to stop me sliding. I slipped once onto my bottom, I was close on several occasions. For part of the way a rope had been attached to the trees to help. Such steep gradients up and down were enervating and made me glad I was leaving this path today. I thought fondly of the Alps where paths tend to take an oblique route up mountains, zig-zagging gracefully rather than just heading straight up in a brutal assault.
At a crossroads in the track I was faced with a "No Entry" sign due to tree felling, a crossed out person made the message clear in any language. The path to my left might have offered a means to bypass the work which I could hear in the distance, however this also had a warning sign. Details on this second sign were confused in that they described a route that ended at the pass where I now stood. I decided to simply ignore the "No Entry" and continued up the trail. I encountered no foresters, from the noise they were working to the left of me.
Javorina was one of the higher peaks I crossed today. Sadly all I could see from the specially built viewing platform was white mist, the information board showed that on a clear day many distant mountains were visible.
The most interesting sight on this section was a First World War cemetery. Apparently the front between the Austrian and Hungarian troops to the south and the Russians to the north, ran along here. The hundreds buried from both sides were from a particularly deadly battle in March 1915.
After that I left the E3 on which I had been heading east and turned north into Poland on a quiet and very straight road. I will pick up the northern part of this loop of the E3 tomorrow and follow it west, making progress towards the Atlantic Ocean where the E3 finally ends.
Each side of the road there were large areas of richly coloured grass dotted with dandelions and being grazed by cows. Higher up the hillside the trees began, part of the forest I had been walking through for the last few days.
Although I thought of Poland as a Roman Catholic country, along the road I noticed a church that looked distinctly Orthodox with bulbous spires. By its door (sadly locked) a board said it was built as a Greek Catholic Church in 1903 but is now used as an Orthodox Church. In the same enclosure, in front of the church, was a children's football pitch which seemed incongrous but I thought a pleasing combination. I saw another Orthodox church a little way of the road a few miles later. Zdynia was signed in both the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic. Investigations on the internet suggested that the Orthodox Churches and Cyrillic script was associated with the Lemko ethnic group (a subgroup of the Rusyns) which were concentrated in this area.
I had booked accommodation in a cabin although had a little trouble entering as the owner was in Ukraine. Now I am in I have various things drying over doors.
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