Tatra Mountains National Park (Zakopane)

Travel Stories - Poland

Tatra-National-Park-Zakopane-Lake-Mountains-Poland

introduction

We arrived yesterday in the most popular hikers town of Poland, Zakopane. This morning we get up early. For a long time Zakopane was nothing more than a small mountain village. It is known that in 1646 there were no more than 43 inhabitants. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that Zakopane began to take on significance as a city and began to attract tourists and artists from the town of Krakaw, about 100 km north of Zakopane.

Zakopane belonged to Austria between January 3, 1795 and November 11, 1918. It was taken by Austria through the Third Polish Division and by the end of WW1 it came back to the newly formed state of Poland. The city lies at an altitude of 800 meters at the foot of Mount Giewont. Nowadays the city attracts many tourists, there are numerous hotels and guest houses. Because of the typical building style of the Podhale with wooden houses and a lot of carvings, the town still has a village character.

The locals, who in Poland are called the Góraly (= mountain dwellers), strongly adhere to traditions. In the street you can often hear a kapela playing the traditional music of the region.

into the tatra's

We leave the bulk of what belong in our big bags behind in the hostel and then walk to the bus station where a minibus is waiting for us. The bus is packed with hikers and we are even more shocked when we arrive at our destination; a gigantic long queue for the cable car and a circus of shops, stalls and people around it. With premeditation we have chosen a less popular hike and we will see the highest parts of the High Tatras but we will not hike up.

The path leads quite steeply up to a ledge where we have a good view of what’s behind us. We see the Polish villages that we passed and before us the peaks of the mountains in the mist. On the plateau before the high mountains really start we take place on a wooden bench behind a little wooden house and enjoy the sun. Many people end their hike here and take place on one of the large terraces. Others continue their walk towards the lakes, the route that we also have in mind.

We see, when we pass a number of hawing nuns, the first lakes with "trout", low bushes with occasionally beautiful colored flowers and watery green moss-fields. At one of the last ponds for the high steep rocks, where the path runs along and then returns, we take the path, which is actually forbidden and we make tea behind some bushes and rocks. Nobody will find us here or they have to spot us from above somewhere in the mountains itself.

High Tatra National Park

The High Tatras is a mountain range on the border between (Northern) Slovakia and (Southern) Poland. It is part of the Tatras, the Beskids and the Carpathians respectively. The mountain is the highest and also the only alpine part of the Tatras located in the central north of Slovakia (4/5) and the Polish area around Zakopane (1/5).

The highest point of the Tatras, and of the entire Carpathians is the Gerlachovský štít (2655 m), located in Slovakia. The most important city in the vicinity of the High Tatras is Poprad, located on the Poprad River, south-east of the mountains. The region around the Polish Zakopane is called the Podhale. The highest peak on the Polish side is the Rysy (2499 m).

The High Tatras is a unique nature reserve and also the most important ski area in Slovakia and Poland. It has the status of National Park. At the time of Communism, this area was especially popular with the somewhat wealthier part of the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact states. You can find (mountain) marmots, but also deer, wild cats and wild boars in the park.

Brrrrrrrrrrr ......

Pete falls asleep in the sun on a blanket as I walk along the lake and find a magical place behind a hill and a little lake. It feels like a sacred Indian place with three gigantic boulders. I awaken pete and show the place and immediately know that if we can sleep somewhere in the Tatra’s this is it.

We get our bags and I get some water from the crystal clear lake. We attach our anti-bear rope to the rock before hanging up our food bags. It gets more and more quiet on the route and when the sun goes down it is dead quiet and it is immediately chilly here at 1600 meters altitude. It is wonderful to have the mighty rocks from the mountain behind us and we see a small light flashing against the rock wall; probably a few more "hikers" who are stranded. At 20:00 it is pitch dark and the temperature drops very quickly; we both feel cold and quickly dive into our tents with all our clothes on.

It has been terribly cold last night; a breeze came in under the canvas, the tent was soaked by the lack of trees (from the damp) and the dew was hanging in the tent. For that reason I didn’t sleep at all, my face was very cold and I tried to sleep a bit by putting my feet in my empty backpack - all in vain! When I left my tent around five o'clock it became a bit light and I saw a layer of ice on top of my tent. In the morning we make immediately hot tea and I try to get warm by running around the tent and rocks, but it does not help much as my socks and shoes are soaking wet.

Fortunately, it does not take very long before the sun comes through and I lie in my sleeping bag in the sun on the rocks and I drift away. After we have eaten a portion of "porridge", we decide to break up and walk back through the landscape which is now entirely for us alone. It’s still very early. Back in the hostel we repack our belongings and after a hot shower and a perfect meal we quickly dive into our beds for a few extra hours of sleep.

tips & advice (2009)

At about 500 meters east of the actual center of Zakopane,the train and bus station are almost next to each other. Long distances are better taken by train while short you can better take the bus.

Zakopane - Proprad (SLOVAKIA): there are about 4 to 5 buses a day towards Proprad in Slovakia; it goes at 06:00, 08:30, 11:30 and 16:00. The ride takes about 2 hours and costs 20 Zloty.

Name: Hostel Szarotka

Address: Ul Nowotarska 45g

Price: 45 ZL double incl. Shower and toilet

Phone nr. : 018 201 3618

Website: www.szarotkaptsm.republika.pl

Content:

This very friendly and nice hostel with 62 beds (as the folder says) is located on a busy street but looks perfect inside. There is a kitchen and a washing machine and the double room we had was really perfect. The shower super hot, there was a large dining table and two fine single beds for a perfect price.

It is almost in the center.