Hey travellers!
I’m still thinking about my wonderful weekend in the High Tatras. I can’t concentrate on anything else. These weekends are the most beautiful for me. No parties, clubs or dancing. No home couching & sleeping till lunch time. Mountains!
Originally, I wanted to go there for the extended weekend, from Friday to Monday, but it was supposed to snow on Friday and Saturday. Even though the weather changes really quickly in the mountains, the conditions have betrayed me so many times, so I didn’t want to risk it. So I set out only for two days – Sunday and Monday.
Since I had time, I spent my Saturday hunting for new trekking boots, as I’ve already worn the old ones out. When I finally picked the right ones, I almost passed out when paying for them. Can you guys believe, how expensive a good pair of hiking boots is?! If someone was interested in what I chose, let me know in the comments and I’ll tell you 🙂
On Sunday, my alarm rang at 4am. I jumped out of bed like never before, I packed my car and got on the highway towards Tatranska Lomnica. After 6 hours of driving, I arrived in Smokovec, where I parked the car. I took a cable car ride to Hrebienok (1200 m.a.s.l.), because the beginning of the trek never touches me. It always goes through a boring forest or there is a trillion people, going for a Sunday walk after lunch.
From Hrebienok, I followed the green sign passing the waterfalls that are definitely worth seeing! But there were still thousands of people, so I took a few pictures and got going further up.
At Rainer’s Lodge I joined the red sign and aimed for Zamkovskeho Hut. As soon as I passed the sign saying “warning! Avalanches!”, people suddenly disappeared. It finally became interesting. The amount of snow increased, so I put on my crampons and continued walking. From Zamkovskeho Hut, I followed the green sign through Mala Studena Dolina, heading for Teryho Hut, where I had planned on sleeping.
The weather didn’t get much better on the way, and the higher I was, the more foggy it was. As soon as I passed 2000 m.a.s.l., I couldn’t see anything because of the fog, and almost got lost a few times. By that time, I wished the weather was better, but as I’m thinking about it right now, I figured, that the fog simply belongs to the mountains, and it makes the pictures look more dramatic. Blue sky in the mountains is a bit of a kitsch for me.
It took me 5 hours to get to Teryho Hut. This hike can be done in three hours, but I had to stop every two minutes to take a picture, haha:) By the way, I brought my new electronic stabilization for my GoPro for the first time, so I’m curious about what you’ll think of the video! I’m almost done with it, so I’ll put it on the blog tomorrow.
Originally, I thought that I would see those five lakes, that are right next to Teryho Hut, but they were all covered with snow. Up there, there was about 2 to 3 meters of snow. I ran into the cottage, had a shot of “hruškovice”, took one of the beds, got rid of my backpack and set off again, this time only with my camera and tripod. I walked around the hut and, when it started to be dark outside, I got back in. Not that I was afraid of the darkness, but about 300 meters away from the cottage, I saw some huge footprints in the snow, probably belonging to one of the local brown bears.
When having dinner, I met a Slovakian girl, who made it here on the skialpes and who was really excited about my photographs. I was hoping the sky would get a bit clearer, so I could take picture of a starry sky before going to bed. There is nothing more beautiful than starry sky in the mountains, which proves my December hike to Wiesbachhorn in the Alps. Unfortunately, it was still too foggy outside, so I went to the dormitory. I took one last look out of the window, to make sure I’m not missing anything.
When I was half-asleep, the Slovakian girl, who slept right by the window suddenly screamed. I looked out of the window and saw exactly what I wanted to see for so long! Clear sky and stars! I hysterically started to getting out of bed. I woke up the whole room with 15 sleeping people.
I ran out with a tripod, wearing only leggings and a hoodie and pointed the lens at one of the mountains. Originally, I wanted to make an hour-long exposition, but it was so cold that I changed my mind after ten minutes. If anyone wondered why there is an orange smudge in the picture, that’s because the hut was behind my back and someone turned on the lights in the hallway, haha:)
I went back to my room, waking up everyone again. I set the alarm clock at 4.30am to see the sunrise. When it rang, I woke up everyone again, because I forgot to silence my ringtone. I think everyone hated me, which I could see on their faces during breakfast. The sunrise wasn’t unfortunately as epic as I had hoped. The sky cleared overnight, so in the morning there were absolutely no clouds, that would cause a pink morning show.
I went back to the hut and sat down for breakfast. The cottager asked me if I wanted to put some rum in my tea. Since I did not understand him, I said yes and when I took full sip, I almost passed out. I wanted to complain that he gave me warm rum instead of a tea, but I was afraid that he would hit me with a iceaxe, because the he looked like yetti.
After breakfast I asked the cottager if it was reasonable to climb Baranie Saddle (2,389 m.a.s.l.). This peak is closed for tourists over the winter, unless you are a member of the CHS or SHS. Well, I’m not a member, but I wanted to try it anyways. The cottager informed me that I was totally crazy and that there is one meter of new snow from the other night and that he’s not going to rescue me there if an avalanche falls on me. Then, I asked him, if he thinks I could make it on to Priečne saddle, through which I wanted to go back down, so I wouldn’t have to go down the same way. When he heard my question, he rolled his eyes and told me, that there was a chain section covered with snow & ice, so he asked me to go the same way down if I don’t want to break my leg, haha:)
I obliviously listened to him and then set off the same way back. At the end, it wasn’t so bad, because the landscape looked completely different with blue sky.
I got to my car at about noon and drove back to Prague. The way back to me took 7.5 hours instead of the expected 6 hours, for which I blamed the dug up highway and another fifty thousand people coming back from the extended weekend.
Anyway, it was a wonderful weekend, and on the way back I was already thinking about what mountain I will climb next. The so-called Big Venetan in the Alps got into my mind, but I’d probably will need a partner or two since it’s 3666 m.a.s.l., and that is a bit more tough than the High Tatras. Has anyone been there? 🙂 I’d be happy for any tips! :))))
And what about Tery’s Hut? Anybody been there? If yes, did you like it? 🙂
Have a beautiful Thursday, guys!:)
E.
