Rysy Vysoke Tatry

We made a short stop in Brezno, Slovakia. We were planning on staying at a campsite about 30 minutes outside the small town of Brezno. Now when you get 30 minutes OUTSIDE of a small town...your pretty much in the middle of nowhere! We drove down a country road up to the campsite. Well after driving around the chickens and the goat we realized the campsite was really just a guys backyard. We were tempted to stay for the goats sake ...

... more traditional food like baked cabbage with meat.

A route which I especially recommend, and which I do more or less once every 2 years, is a trail to Chata pri Zelenom Plese (literally: a house next to a green lake). It takes about 3 hours to get there, and the walk is not too taxing even for a beginner. It's a peaceful place with a lake, a cosy hostel and the mountains. There are a few trails than ...

... sme zopar tyciniek. Chceme ist do potravin, no mame smolu, je zatvorene.

Obchadzame Hnilecke vrchy smerom na Sykavku, kadial oficialne pokracuje cervena Hnilecka cyklomagistrala. Za Hnilcom sa vsak cesta meni z asflatovej na lesnu. Ideme lesom a lukami tesne popri zeleznici a potoku. KRASNE ! Vona ihlicnateho lesa nas sprevadza aj tu ... a v lese je prijemne vlhko, zeby tu prsalo ? Je aj dost mokro, co si hned obidvaja odskusame padom do blata :)

... maar een goedkope (eigenlijk niet zo goedkoop, in onze haast kozen we het duurste hotel van Starý Smokovec, ons overstap-station-dorpje) vis met sla en bratkartoffel.

Zondag wilden we met de lift vanuit ons dorp naar het hoogst bereikbare punt van Tatra: Lomnica Stít. Bleek dat even tegen te vallen! Ten eerste was het poepduur, en stond er een veel te lange rij (met veel Duitsers, wat ook ophoudt..). Ten tweede bleek dat je tóch had moeten reserveren, want dr was nu alleen nog ...

... Bukowina is mid August. Around the 15th, a famous festival takes place here. It's called 'Sabałowe Bajania' and it's all about the traditional music of the mountains. People wear traditional clothes and the weather is really nice: it's warm and it's not pouring with rain. The best way to access the region is by plane (Krakow Balice KRK international airport), and then you can take a bus or a minibus (approximately 100 km).

... to a saddle (Sedlo pod Malou Svisťovkou) and then continued down through the woods to the yellow trail. This took us back up the hill to Zelené pleso, where we arrived about 3 pm. Both of us agreed that we would probably use this route tomorrow, because it was not nearly as steep. We had showers and washed out some clothes, then went to sit in the restaurant. Dinner was at 6 pm again; tonight we had tomato soup with rice followed by rice and roast beef with gravy.

The last week of camp was nothing but fun and games. Weather was our biggest enemy due to the fact that several hiking trips had been planned and alternative trips had to be made up on the spot. Don't worry, the kids stayed very entertained the whole time with a trip to a water park in Slovakia on Tuesday and visits to Zakopane and museums for the rest of the week. The water park was nice at least for my aching body as I sat and boiled in the heated spring pool. Some ...

... to Skalnate Plese, and then work our way back down the mountainside to the town of Tatranska Lomnica where we could get a train back to Stary Smokovec. I wasn't sure we'd have enough time, but neither of us wanted to retrace our steps so we continued on, upwards and eastwards towards the next lodge. This was the most difficult part of the days hike, as we were walking in soft, foot deep snow on the side of a steadily sloping peak. The views of the north ...

... so new plan again! It starred to thunder and then pour so I ducked under the awning of a little food stand and had a ham and cheese toastee and a peach milkshake to wait out the rain. Only took about 20 mins. I went over to the Tatrabob, it's a downhill track where you're on a single sled, almost like a small rollercoaster where you get to be in control. It was closed due to the rain, but I was told it would reopen as soon as the track dried. Good thing the ...

... the three hour (and bloody steep) ascent that followed, beautiful as it was. Usually, I can rely on my walking times being somewhere around 3/4 the guesstimated times offered on maps and park signs. In Slovakia, it seems, they're slightly more realistic about things. Having planned a good 13 hour hike according to the map times, I figured it would take us about 8 or 9 hours - a reasonable days walk. 8 hours into the walk, I had a look at the map and totalled up what we had done and ...