Dziwiszów to Jezioro Pilchowickie: Day 164

A day walking through farmland and woods ending at a reservoir.

After breakfast, made by myself and eaten alone at the kitchen table, I left my accommodation and followed the road that rose steeply through the narrow strip of houses that formed the village. Rejoining the blue route I continued gaining height through grassland until I crossed a ridge and dropped into the next valley. From there a winding path through forest led me to another collection of rock outcrops hidden among the trees called Okole.

One outcrop had wooden stairs and a platform so that you could admire the view over the trees. However, today you could not. The mountain was in clouds and intermittent light rain fell. I met the Polish hikers that I had encountered yesterday, apparently the landlady at their accommodation had assured them the view was spectacular. 

Then it was downhill to the village of Chrosnica. On the way farm dogs on the loose barked at me aggressively. Inevitably other hills followed, with some confusing trails. Sometimes I was in forest, other times in farmland with huge fields of ploughed, brown earth. In one area there were bundles (or fagots) of alder branches presumably cut for use in traditional fencing. A number of villages were on my route but sadly there was a complete lack of cafes or shops. I did notice a few half timbered houses, until now they had all been built of brick and/or rendered. Chrosnica did have a church of particular interest. Although the church was modern, the original one had burnt down, it still had an ancient stone gatehouse.

Saint Hedwig church in Chrośnica

As it added variety I was looking forward to walking around a reservoir called Jezioro Pilchowickie. First I spotted an iron railway bridge above the water level. The bridge was fenced off and the railway line abandoned. It ran alongside of the reservoir and was of a broader gauge than usual. There was even a train station, its windows boarded up but otherwise ready to receive trains. All part of the Jelenia Góra–Żagań line which opened in 1906 and ceased operation in 2016.

Abandonned railway station beside Jezioro Pilchowickie

Trees hid much of the reservoir, when it was visible I could see a large expanse of earth as the water level was very low. This was possibly because they were working on the dam that dated from 1903, or maybe it was the drought. Beside the dam the map showed a restaurant. I was expecting it to be closed due to the activity on the dam, so I was pleased to find it open. It was not busy, one lady was serving as well as cooking and there were two customers. As I was camping tonight I decided on an early evening meal and ordered chicken schnitzel with potatoes and salad.

The blue route I was following ran along the top of the dam, but was closed due to the maintenance works. So instead I followed the yellow route to where it crossed the river below the dam. Then it was uphill on a green route until I could rejoin the blue route. This diversion was also helpfully marked with yellow and black tape by the Polish walking association. There were a lot of angry signs presumably telling you not to do something. I do not think I violated any of the instructions, unintelligible to me being in Polish, but was pleased to leave the area as my route continued to take me around the reservoir.

Pilchowice Dam

Seeing a convenient flat spot in a small, wooded valley I have pitched my tent. Although it is close to the path, and I usually like to hide among the trees, I doubt if anyone will be walking this way tonight.