Day 23: Hiking in Zakopane

I was orignially planning on getting to the Slovakian side of the High Tatra mountains, but the logistics of getting there from Krakow were too much of hassle, so I settled for a day in Zakopane (on the Polish side) instead.  I was up at the crack of dawn and as we drove further into the mountains the weather got more and more miserable.  By the time I hit Zakopane it was pissing down rain.

I wasn’t about to let the weather stop me from hiking, and once I checked into a cheap pension for the night I caught the cable car up Mt. Kasprowy Wierz (ca. 2100m).  Now, hiking all afternoon in the clouds and rain might not sound like everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved it!  It was great to get back into the mountains to stretch my legs after seeing city after city for the past few weeks.

I planned a hike along the mountain ridge dividing Poland from Slovakia, and the route was dotted with markers signifying exactly where the border is – I literally walked with one foot in Poland and the other in Slovakia!  My objective was a mountain called Swinica (2300m) a few hours away, and just as I was climbing the cables at the summit (in clouds, I couldn’t see 20m…) a fresh thunderstorm rolled in so I raced back down off the mountain as quick as I could!  Wet rocks and steel cables aren’t the best things to be around in an electrical storm!

   
S for Slovakia, P for Poland.                   Very wet, but having fun!