Tatras. Part 1

  At last, my long-standing idea of a hike in the Tatras has come true. The route was planned two years ago and, in my opinion, covers the most picturesque part of the Tatras. The starting point of our trek was the town of Zakopane, which we reached from Krakow... We immersed ourselves in the world of the High Tatras from the very first day...      

 Interactive map of the first day's route:

 

  After walking from the bus station in Zakopane to the entrance of the reserve, we encountered a huge queue... At first, we thought it was a queue for tickets to enter the reserve... But it turned out the main queue was for the cable car, which took tourists to the top of Kasprowy Wierch. We, however, bypassed from another side and entered the Tatra National Park on a hiking trail, after purchasing an entrance ticket for 5 zlotys at the ticket office...

    From the summit of Kasprowy Wierch, which is 1970 meters high, beautiful panoramas of the ridge opened up to us...   

  From our first significant peak, we headed towards the next one...

   As we got closer to the rocky mountains, the state of excitement increased...

   Swienica Pass...

  On the way to Swienica...

   Climbing to the summit...

   The summit of Swienica, which is 2301 meters high, was heavily shrouded in fog...

   Descent from the summit to Zawrat Pass...

 Zawrat Pass (2158 m)...

   From the pass, there is a road leading to the Valley of Five Lakes, or you can switch to the beginning of the route called "Eagle's Path," which is considered the most difficult and dangerous trail in all of the Tatras... We chose the second option...

   Since the creation of the "Eagle's Path," more than 120 people have died...

 On dangerous sections, a chain was stretched, holding onto which you could calmly descend, the main thing is not to be afraid ...

   The reward for "fearlessness" are moments like these...

  Continuing along the "Eagle's Path"...

  In the middle of the way from the summit of Kozí Wierch, I led Dianka to the trail leading to the valley, and I climbed to the summit... The climb to Kozí Wierch was the steepest...  

    Getting closer to Kozí Wierch, the climb became more and more vertical...

   On the summit of Kozí Wierch, the fog prevailed, preventing us from enjoying the views... However, on the descent, I encountered quite a few mountain goats... How cool it is to see those who belong here in such places...         

   Descending to the Valley of Five Lakes, Dianka was waiting for me near the largest one...

  Having met, we headed to the hut for the night...

 Due to the large flow of tourists, sleeping places in the hut are booked in advance... And since we didn’t bother with reservations, we had to sleep on the floor in the dining room... The principle of our accommodation was that we paid 20 zlotys each (half the cost of one bed in a room), were registered in the book, and after the gatherings in the dining room ended (around 22:30), we chose the best spot on the floor... By the way, about 35 people slept in the dining room... People without bed spaces settled not only in the dining room but also in the hallways, passages, and generally wherever they wanted... In the hut, you could take a free shower, after standing in line, boil water in the tourist kitchen where there were two electric kettles, go to the toilet, and charge your phone...   

  Strangely enough, the rather crowded atmosphere in the dining room didn't prevent us from having a good sleep, and we started the second day of our hike in good spirits...

   To be continued... Tatras. Part 2