Hey guys, been kind of lazy for several months.. Been procrastinating everything, even posting something about the trip. but here it goes along with a train from me - Level 1 - Level 4 restrictions, 4 games per level. Enjoy :) Runs until september 8, next saturday.

PICTURES ADDED AS LINKS TO SOME KEYWORDS

Im just going to go over in several words about the trip here, If anyone is interested just ask :) I will be happy to go into detail.
I am writing a little recap about the trip and will add some paragraphs in GA descriptions, as long as Im writing them anyway.

So on 22nd of June seven friends and I went on a trip with rented van to Poland, Zakopane to climb Tatra mountains. around 1100 km long road in front of us. Drive there was rather successful but tiring as we drove without rest stops. We almost got lost and ended up in Belarus (kind of illegal without visas). So the start already was adventurous

1st day - we climbed Giewont, 1985 m high and beautiful. It has a huge cross on top of it and it looks down to city of Zakopane. Weather wasnt great - it was raining at times and temperature didnt rise above 15°C. But we had fun, we where soaked wet and freezing but we where happy.

2nd day - we planned on a rest day going to Gubalowka. But we kind of missed our planned trail and went on one that is very very steep through pine forest.. Not our brightest moment, but then again - we where excited and having a launch with beer on the tourist street atop of Gubalowka was that more rewarding.

3rd day - Plan is Morskie Oko. But it has a horrible (IIFRC about 8 km long) tarmac trail to get to it. I had bad trainers on, so my feet where killing me. Morskie oko is beautiful, no other words to describe it. On the way back we split up and those who wanted went on longer but more scenic route to the Valley of The Five Lakes. Mesmerizing, just mesmerizing.. We had a launch with view, and then, on the way back, we had Tomato soup and beer in a mountain house. Beautiful waterfall and extreme trails where you almost have to crawl to get over the rock.

4th day - Was just a little walk to another lake (sorry, cant remember what it was called). But this day was most exciting - on the way back we wanted to check out caves. We either could have gone to one with guide, but we had to wait for it to begin. So we chose caves without guide. We started going in the caves expecting them to be many small caves along the trail - what we arrived at ? One long cave, where you have to crawl and at moments even go on your stomach. it was one way trail so we didnt go back. For 15 minutes we crawled through complete darkness on our knees. It was scary, I wont deny. But it was so exciting and we all where just happy beyond everything when we found the exit.

5th day - Kasprowy Wierch. Went up there with a cable car. it was suppoused to be with great views - what we got was mist so intense we didnt see the cables for the cable car. Like this we went to Świnica, which was our target of the day. But we sadly turned around because the trail started to become dangerous - with chains and open cliff (I hope its the correct term). And without seeing anything further thanks to mist half of our group got scared and we decided to turn around (one of our friends already stayed at the station atop of Kasprowy Wierch thanks to swollen ankle so this was dissapointing to us. But at least its something to plan for the future.

6th day - We went to Slovakia to go on a trail from other side of Tatra mountains. Again in front of us was long tarmac trail. Tiring and boring mountain pass, but we decided to split up again. And the trail we took further was delightful. A perfect conclusion to perfect trip :)

Along the way we met some awesome French backpackers, really cool Polish tourists who had came here with train, friendly random people along the trails. We witnessed two rescue missions on the day when we went to Morskie oko.

Anyhow - a little look at my trip turned into a big post, but maybe someone finds this interesting :) Thanks for reading if you got this far, and hope you like the GA :)

PS. I will add photos and maybe more information along the way.

5 years ago*

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Have you climbed mountains ?

View Results
Yes, been to Tatra mountains
Yes, been somewhere else (maybe share in comments)
No, haven't yet, but want to
No, not interested

Never heard of them, are they located somewhere in Poland? I'd love to see photos

5 years ago
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They are located at the south of Poland. And they go along the Poland-Slovakia border. The trails atop of Kasprowy Wierch goes along the border and you can see markers for both countries.

5 years ago
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I'm not much of an outdoors guy. My favorite mountain is Space Mountain at Disneyland. 😉

5 years ago
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Checked out what that is - looks interesting :D I hope chance comes for me to visit disney land, too.

5 years ago
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I remember when I was there a decade or so ago they were encouraging visitors to "climb the mountains." In this case it was Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and The Matterhorn (with the exception of Splash Mountain, all were steel rollercoasters). I didn't participate, but I assume you received some sort of memento if you did all the rides.

5 years ago
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bump

5 years ago
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Have a good trip :)

5 years ago
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We already went, post is about how it went ;) But we did have a good trip and cant wait for the next one, thanks :)

5 years ago
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Have you had any apple pies in the mountain huts? They differ from hut to hut and are subject to heated debate which ones are the best.

5 years ago
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No I havent :(
Didnt go in these much. Just once to have the soup and once to warm up a bit after rain.

But I'll try to remember for the next time I go there ;)

5 years ago
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Really looking forward for some photos! ^^

5 years ago
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Added some photos as links to some key words in the post ;)

5 years ago
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Good thinking over there. The landscapes are trully amazing! Thanks for sharing Chris! :D

5 years ago
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Sounds lovely

5 years ago
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Bump!

5 years ago
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I don't go on trips like yours, but I like mountains and I usually go with friends and we eat and drink in some cabin, play cards, sing, pick up mushrooms, chestnuts or berries, spend a nice day together.

5 years ago
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Trailing definitely isnt for everybody, and I understand your point of view :) Even like that, camping is wonderful activity.

We did after all walk almost 100 km in these days.. So however you look at it - its sort of sporting activity..
But chilling out in the cabin is something I can get behind :)

5 years ago
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bump

5 years ago
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Have a bump

5 years ago
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thanks a lot for sharing your journey mate!
obviously we all know that the Tatra mountains are depicted on Slovakia's national flag (one of the three at least xD) and well, Slovakia's anthem is called something like "lightning above the tatra mountains"..
but we Europeans know not so much about them!
I loved so much reading your trip, that must have been really awesome!
for what concerns myself, I saw the Tatra mountains as a kid when with my parents we visited Slovakia (ok, it was still czechoslovakia at that time XD). I recall AWESOME landscapes, lakes, mountains..
Then, I started going as an adult to Zamosc and Lviv, for many reasons.. the shortest route from Northern Italy goes through the whole Hungary (Balaton lake, Budapest, we enter at Berehove) but I took more times the Polish one (as I said, I often had to stop at Zamosc which is in the extreme South-East of Poland, well, not extremely south but still it's south-east from Lublin which is the last major city you encounter there).
That's a very short route too - just half an hour more than the Hungarian one. You go through Wien, Brno and follow the very Southern Poland: Katowice, Krakow, Rzeszow.
And that means you see ALWAYS the Tatra mountain range on the right side, driving from the West! But I never climbed or did such marvelous trips, thanks for sharing and I'll definitely stop when I get to Krakow instead of rushing eastwards, since the Tatra mountains are really close to Krakow!!

5 years ago
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Thanks for the information about Slovakia
Being my first trip to mountains and trailing this was really special to me.
This time I learned more or less about Poland and Tatry there. Some time in the future we are planning to go to Slovakia and spend some time there, too. Maybe even get courage up and climb Rysy which is easier to climb from Slovakia.Basically see both sides of the mountains, because this time we only got a glimpse in one day.

Thats probably a beautiful drive going along the mountains ;) I think its worth the visit even if you just drive along them. A lot of places you can get through without much hiking (get on a horse wagon or cable car) and see beautiful scenery.

Body of mine is going there for years already and havent seen everything and climbed everything, so I dont doubt I'll return there

5 years ago
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Beautiful pictures. I admit though that while I'm not someone who loves sunny days at all, a bit more of its presence would have been an improvement. ;)

5 years ago*
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But to be perfectly honest, if it isnt raining the temperature under 20°C is really good for trailing..
Rain definitely ruins it, but if it gets too hot it becomes pain in the ass..

Biggest disappointment for me is the clouds and rain :/ I just wish we wouldnt have had them..
But we went in the period that is not considered season for trailing there, so cant complain much - We read June and July is considered a thunderstorm season there or something like that..

5 years ago
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BUmp!

5 years ago
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bump

5 years ago
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Bump

5 years ago
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Wow, as of right now, the vote is completely evenly split, 9-9-9-9. Is that a sign? No mountains in the poll, only flats?

Cheers!

5 years ago
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Bump!

5 years ago
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I've, uh, climbed the Říp Mountain. Then again, it's mostly just called a mountain when it's a hill, so.

5 years ago
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It's a fun-size mountain! :D

5 years ago
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I see a peak of positivity here...

5 years ago
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bump!

5 years ago
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Thanks for sharing your adventure!

5 years ago
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nice pictures

5 years ago
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thanks. :)

5 years ago
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Bump and thank you

5 years ago
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Looks like a fun trek. Thanks for sharing all these pictures with us. I enjoy traveling and hiking also, one of these days maybe I will share some pictures. My favorite trek I've done is Salkantay to Machu Picchu in Peru. One I would really like to do is in Torres del Paine, in the Chilean part of Patagonia.

5 years ago
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Oh my, those look like some beautiful places to visit,
Sadly its a whole different continent for me :( But someday maybe :D

5 years ago
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Closed 4 years ago by ChrisKutcher.