Day 4:
Shut up & pedal
Shut up & pedal
There is something about a morning after the storm has passed. The calm, quiet dignity of clouds evaporating from those blessed saturated woods around brings peace to our wandering minds. Walking over the wet meadow upon the ridge, with our feet bare, we don't want to hurry down to Súlov, where Michael spent the night in an official campsite. (He searched for some traces of civilization, being aware of all those werevolves, vampires, dire bears and other common Carpathian fauna...)
Our sublime shelter proved to match the ferocity of wild gusts of night, tremors of enraged gale that didn't let us sleep, rather well. We are dry, that's what matters.
Our sublime shelter proved to match the ferocity of wild gusts of night, tremors of enraged gale that didn't let us sleep, rather well. We are dry, that's what matters.
Our house is our castle.
Again?
Tranquil Carpathian morning. What more could one ask for?
The valley of Súľov in all it's glory. The ridge on the horizon is jagged by innumerable conglomerate rocks and cliffs. Let's explore at least a part of it!
The village of Súľov under the eponymous castle built high among the crags.
We find Michael rather tired and wet - not even the shiny Súľov camping establishment managed to offset his leaky tent. (At least there were no werewolves around...) It seems the forecast is not favourable either. Decisions, decisions.
Homo urbanus is a lazy, spoiled creature. He values a roof, when it's going to rain, he even values a sauna and similar comfortable facilities of modern times. Perhaps - a train? With a restaurant car, naturally.
Calling himself a wanderer, in times of crisis he transform into a mere tourist. He books a roof at the heel of the Tatras, he rushes to Žilina train station...
But why the rush? We should at least touch those magnificent crags around.
Homo urbanus is a lazy, spoiled creature. He values a roof, when it's going to rain, he even values a sauna and similar comfortable facilities of modern times. Perhaps - a train? With a restaurant car, naturally.
Calling himself a wanderer, in times of crisis he transform into a mere tourist. He books a roof at the heel of the Tatras, he rushes to Žilina train station...
But why the rush? We should at least touch those magnificent crags around.
The super-hero mud of Súľov!
Finally, they climbed their mounts and embarked on climbing.
What a convenient bike path leading up there...
The forrest guardian.
A rigged bike. Much better means of transport than we thought.
At the top of a hors catégorie climb.
Vacation. The hardest work of them all...
Ah, a tourist mood, right? Your's truly climbed the ridge ON a bike. But, alas, there was no one with a camera around. :( How sad is the life of expedition photographers...
Let's see what's around, shall we?
Oh my... What a view. What a wanderful world!
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. But who's who?
Riding with such a sublime backpack must be rather comfortable, musn't it?
And now to reap the well-deserved fruit of our suffering - time for some downhill!
Then, finally, the time will come. The necessary rush to catch the train. The spice of every well-planned expedition since the beginning of time.
Under the Lietava castle...
...to Žilina
Štrba station
On the board of the Žilina - Štrba train. And after getting off...
The panorama of High Tatras.
Ostrá, Solisko, Štrbský štít and Satan (1) towering above Štrbské Pleso on the left. The peaks above Mengusovská dolina (the Valley of Mengusovce) with Vysoká and Končistá piercing the clouds form the middle part. On the right the imperious Gerlach, the highest peak between Niedere Tauern and Altaj, hides it's face high above the gentle Slavkovský štít.
(Footnote 1: Named after the mythical creature. No, not that one! Not after the ice-hockey player! It's the middle-eastern god of resentment, pain and suffering, who lent his name to that ragged ridge dominating Mengusovská dolina. Other then pain and suffering, the mountain also offers popular freeriding lines through it's numerous couloirs.)
The hospitality of Mengusovce awaits.
But Tatra is angry. Right at the feet of thunderous Gerlach, the highest peak of all Carpathians, we tensely await the verdict. What will the weather have in store for us tomorrow?
Končistá and the jagged western face of Gerlachovský štít.
Day 5:
A cyclist for all season
A cyclist for all season
We'll want to exploit a window of opportunity while the lashing rain relents.
Heading for Popradské pleso we are tackling over 700m of elevation on 15 kms, but the climb is not particularly hard. Rising to Vyšné Hágy, we quickly found ourselves cutting kilometres off the Tatra highway - called The Road of Liberty. Soon, we'll be racing e-bikes and strollers on the popular route from Štrbské to Popradské pleso.
Climbing to Vyšné Hágy
Rding the Road of Liberty, the speed limit don't bother us.
The Road of Liberty
The view towards Low Tatra and Slovak Paradise. The water from those slopes and the valley bellow flows into Poprad, Dunajec and Wisla and finally into the Baltic Sea.
Crossing Poprad
The glacier did a good job there.
The thistle of Tatra
There are some sharp gradients with slippery wooden bridges on the way and we are often stopping to enjoy the panoramas of the lower parts of the valley of Mengusovce. Clibing each on our own, we'll meet on the shores of lake Poprad, 1550 m. a.s.l., where the road ends and mountaineering paths start.
The glacial lake Poprad, lying at the feet of Zlomisková dolina, between towering slopes of Vysoká and Satan, feeds the Krupá stream, a source of the Poprad. Surrounded by dense forrest, it's one of magical places of the Tatra mountains.
The famous Needle of Ostrva hidden in the clouds.
Ostrva
As it seems the returning heavy rain won't cease for a while. Time for growing into proper rainproof cyclists.
Frozen from waiting for the rest of the gang.
Holiday in Slovakia - Good idea!
Finally down in Mengusovce, alive and well. Let's have a sauna and a proper sleep, because tomorrow, tomorrow...
Tomorrow we are going to explore the kingdom of the forest immortal. And it should be quite a journey - right into the Tatra heartland and beyond.