Rising at 6 am from my camping spot under the trees I hoped to spot a wild animal this morning. Over night I had heard them, moving about and vocalising, but there was no sign on them this morning.
I walked down to the base of a narrow valley containing Kamienica, then walked up the other side. After crossing the ridge it was downhill again into the next valley of Nowa Morawa. From there the gravel road curled upwards through the forest, the summit always appeared to be around the next bend, but never was. Finally I did reach the high point of the track then followed a narrow tarmac road and various paths down towards Stary Gearałtów in the base of another valley.
On the last section there was a side path up to the Trzecia Siostra (Three Sisters). These were two large slopping, slabs of rock (a type of metamorphic rock call gneiss) and a separate tower. Two climbers were preparing to climb one of the steeper sides. As I continued down to the village others were coming with their helmuts and rock climbing gear. Apparently a dragon once lived where the rocks now stand. He captured three men from the nearby village. Their wives set out to see what happened to them. In seeing the dragon they are so petrified they turned to stone forming the rocks of the Three Sisters. While the dragon was distracted by them their husbands escaped from the cave where the dragon was holding them. They have been searching for their wives ever since.
Approaching Stary Gearałtów I briefly left the woodland behind and walked through hay and over grassland. After crossing the ribbon development of the village by the fire station, I started up the other side of the valley, sadly on the wrong track, for the second time today! On both occasions I missed inconspicuous turn offs. Annoying as it was adding extra distance to an already long day. There was then another climb.
At the first summit, finally reached by a steep and rough path, there were a collection of low walls made of angular, uncemented rocks, all that remains of the medieval Karpień Castle.
Further on there were more towers of gneiss among the trees. On the final one a steel platform had been erected. I climbed the steps up to it and admired the view down to Lądek-Zdrój. Many people had walked up to see the rocks and view today for a Sunday afternoon walk. The path they had climbed up and which I now descended was steep and rough with scattered rocks. Despite this people of all ages were making their way up.
I was relieved to finally reach my accommodation, my feet were hurting and I worried about stumbling over loose rocks on the path and injuring myself. Lądek-Zdrój is an old Spa towns, and I am staying in one of the old villas that has been refurbished as a hotel.
After arriving I first showered and then checked my naked body in the mirror for ticks as I had earlier caught two insects that looked like ticks crawling on me. All I could spot was flabby skin on my belly! Then I checked out one of the coffee shops, sadly the cheesecake (sernik) was not up to standard, gelatine based rather than baked. I had a huge beefburger back at the Hotel which operates my villa, one of those stacked with so many layers of patty, cheese, tomato, pickles and lettuce that no way could you eat it with your hands, and a collapse of the structure was inevitable when cutting it with knife and fork. Curiously the bun was black. After I had a Polish vodka as a digestive.
No comments:
Post a Comment