Since I haven't been to the mountains since Romania it was an obvious choice to go there especially after a trip to the seaside. On 22nd of June I just hit the road. Hitchhiking. Again. Suprisingly even thou the weather wasn't nice, the trip turned out to be a fruitful experience. On my way to Zakopane I met two guys from marketing/PR company who seemed to be interested in helping me find a sponsor for sport competitions I'm organizing and later on I met a guy for whom I might be working in Georgia in some time. Wonder what would've happened if I stayed there longer :)
The weather as mentioned wasn't perfect. First day after arriving at Zakopane I took a mini bus to Palenica and walked to Morskie Oko mountain refugee. I found out it's possible to sleep there for free! Here's how you do it: you gotta look for the biggest room they have - 8-10 bed, dorm-style. Usually it's opened so you move in, choose a bed and that's it! Simple as that! In case they don't have free beds you can just ask your roommates if it's ok for you to sleep on the floor.
After spending a night in refuge I decided to go to another one in Dolina Pięciu Stawów. Took a yellow route leading through Szpiglasowa Przełęcz. On my way there I stepped of the trail and climbed Wrota Chałubińskiego. The weather was great, so were the views but it got worse when I got to the Szpiglasowa Pass. It become cloudy and windy and when I reached Szpiglasowy Wierch I couldn't see anything apart from some clouds and few rocks nearby. The wind was terrible and it was bloody cold so decided to go down to the valley without making a stop there. The first part of the road down is secured by some chains in order to make it safer. The result of it is that the chains make many people feel like they're climbing Mount Everest and they start to freak out even if it's a piece of cake go past 'em. This time somebody almost got killed by a rock thrown down by some idiot who panicked on the trail. Fortunately I cought it, unfortunately it costed me a knee injury - just a minor wound, some blood, nothin' serious. Even thou there was snow, the way down was easy and after having few stops for photos and chat with some people met on the road, I got to the refuge. Ah and also I went see Siklawa waterfall nearby. Good for photos, not in bad weather. This time I slept for free lke the other night, but it was the floor not a comfy bed. Drank few beers (bought 8 in Zakopane), talked to some people and went to sleep early cause I was about to et up at 4. Plan was to go to Zawrat -> Świnica (2301 m.) -> as far as possible.
The weather was supposed to be nice in the morning so I wanted to reach Świnica at about 8. So I did, but instead of nice summer sun and beautiful views I got minus temperature at the top, chains and rocks covered in ice and a view reaching 2-3 metres. Nice, huh? Apart from the fact climbing in this icy conditions was dangerous, I couldn't even see the trail markings so I decided to go back.
On my way to the refuge it started to rain - just perfect. Beeing completely wet makes you don't care about the rain so much so when I reached a shelter I just had a piece of apple pie and decided to head to Morskie Oko, this time taking blue route through Świstówka. Walking with big backpack is never easy but in the rain I didn't feel like I was tired. Listening to the music (Slayer version of Born To Be Wild) I managed to to the way in about half time I was supposed to walk. Then I decided to walk even further. While I've already been in Morskie Oko for a number of times, I chose to sleep in Schronisko w Dolinie Roztoki. Heard it's nice so decided check it out paying 30 zloty instead of free night at MO. Liked it very much (but the apple pie sucked anyway). In the evening played some cards with other people, had some beers (there was nothing left out of that 8), generally nice time.
Next day at 6 am went to Lysa Polana, hitchhiked to Rabka, then to Kraków, Rawa Mazowiecka and Warsaw. Just in time to have a beer with some friends..
Photos from the trip
