Overnight much rain fell, battering my tent but fortunately unable to get in. Breakfast was scrambled egg with tomato, cucumber, cheese and ham in the cosy dining area of the mountain hut. I later learnt from a fellow hiker that Szwajcarka, the name of the hut, meant a Swiss woman. There must a reason somewhere. Near the hut is a small building with a picture of Wanda Rutkiewicz painted on. A Polish mountain climber who practiced in the area, she was the first woman to climb K2 and the first European woman to climb Everest.
After leaving the hut and trees of the mountain there was easy walking through the villages of Trzcińsko and Radomierz. The latter had an observation tower, which looked like it was once part of a churvh, but it was only open Saturday. All the villages today were ribbon developments, scattered houses stretched in a corridor around a road. After Radomierz the trail climbed into low hills.
Beside the trail today were large fields of grass, interspersed with copses and larger areas of trees; oak, birch and conifers. I saw one herd of cows today but generally the fields are empty except for maybe a few round bales of hay. A large tractor pulling a huge trailer loaded with these bales passed, I stepped off the road to make room for him.
Just beyond the top of Komano there was art piece by (according to Mapy.com) Magdalena Osak entitled "Into The Blue", or Droga w Błękit. It feature old shoes on a piece of painted wood. A little later there were a series of four carvings which included Mary and Jesus. This put religious themes in my mind, I recalled fragments of hymns, songs and psalms. The red berries of hawthorns and rosehips reminded me of Jesus's blood being spilt in Catholic iconography, and also that the year was moving towards its end, only to be reborn again next spring.
I came across a ruined farmhouse. Trees were growing within its walls and around them. Nature reclaiming it's own. That it was once a farmhouse was confirmed by two Polish hikers I met. One at least had good English. He also confirmed that the people were picking wild mushrooms in the forest and not some other type of fungi, better that artificially cultivated mushrooms he thought. He said it was a tradition going back to communist times when food could be limited. Pointing out the city of Jelenia Góra in the far distance to the south, with a tall chimney at its centre, he said the name meant "Deer Mountain", but that when the area was part of Germany it was called Hirschberg (which also means "Deer Mountain").
I left them at the top of the village of Dziwiszów where I had booked accommodation, they had arranged to stay at a place a little farther on. When I knocked at the Agroturystyka, the place I had booked, the elderly lady did not seem to be expecting me. Leaving me she returned a few moments later with a man and then showed me to my room. There is a kitchen shared with other guests but I seem to be the only one staying here tonight. At the local shop I bought a jar of meatballs in tomato sauce plus some extras and materials for breakfast. I heated the meatballs at length in a pan to make sure they were cooked, which meant that it was several minutes before they were cool enough to eat.
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