The tourist spa town of Krynica-Zdrój was the next major destination after Zdynia. However, it was over 35 kilometres away with five mountains in the way. Having struggled to walk 25 kilometres recently I was not sure I could do it. As there were plenty of hotels in Krynica-Zdrój I decided to aim for it but be prepared to wild camp if I became too tired, or my knee became too swollen and debilitated to reach it. Despite waking with a stiff left knee I surprised myself in achieving the distance. A clear target, a dry day and the potential reward of cake, coffee and beer probably helped, whereas recently the daily destination has been yet more forest and even more mountains to climb up and down. Less attractive.
I started promptly, enjoying the use of the toilet at my cabin in Zdynia after three nights of wild camping. At 7 am I was on my way, up the road, rejoining the E3, this time heading west towards its final destination on the Atlantic. With my morning's energy I was over the first two of the mountains ahead of the timings indicated on the Polish signs. As the day progressed I was meeting the timings, and finally falling a little behind them. However, observing the time needed to reach Krynica slowly fall at successive posts was a major source of motivation. Unlike some of the earlier signs in Slovakia which were optimistic, those on the fingerposts in Poland seemed reasonable.
On the first mountain top I found another First World War cemetery. It was designed by the architect who was also responsible for the cemetery I saw yesterday. This held the Russian, Austrian and Hungarian dead from another battle that took place here. Rather than use heroic themes that glorified death for one's country, the architect used features of the local folk constructions, such as the wayside shrines.
As well as five mountains I passed near or through five villages. These included a few old houses built of logs, with the gaps between the trunks filled in to make the house wind and water tight. Lace curtains hung in the windows. The final village had a shop where I bought an ice cream and coke. Unfortunately my złotys were deep in my rucksack, however the lady serving allowed me to pay by card, after a bit of effort getting the card machine going.
My route went over ridges and across valleys. The villages lay at the bottom of the valleys surrounded by green fields for grazing cattle or making hay. Yellow dandlelions covered the grass and I also saw blue bugleweed. These fields rose up the valley sides reaching the trees which grew on the higher ground. Today there were more conifers than on previous days, pine and fir trees. Where wood had recently been cut down the fresh scent of pine filled the air.
I met two Polish backpackers today, unfortunately they did not speak English, so we just "fist bumped" to express solidarity among hikers, that were were part of the same community. They were possibly following the Beskid Trail, the Carpathian Mountain Trail that the E3 follows in this part of Poland, marked by red stripes.
My final mountain was Huzary (864 metres). Although the climb was not too steep the summit seemed to take a long time to arrive. Then it was downhill to Krynica where I stopped at the first coffee shop for a latte and cake (actually a sort of brioche with bits of plum on top). This allowed me the time to put my poles away, switch my phone on and generally get ready for finding a hotel. I chose one near the coffee shop, picking one of the better rooms for a very reasonable price. Dinner was in a nearby restaurant with a large beer. Now stiff from my day's walk, I made my way back to the hotel. On the way I saw many people collecting around the fountains in the main pedestrian area. At just after 8 p.m., the water spurted up and down to music, illuminated by coloured lights.
No comments:
Post a Comment