Siklawica – If you Can!

Almost the last of the missing blogs now – this one dates from the Sunday 22 July – Enjoy!

With so much water on the scene, one of the few things we had failed to see so far were any waterfalls, as a result our last walk in the Tatra Mountains was to a small one of these. So an even simpler route today – straight up the Strażyska Dolinia pass the mountain hut and onto Siklawica, a simple water spout. Not much after the great master pieces of Iceland.

The walk, like many of our previous ones, passes out from the edge of town and up a woodland path along the edge of the Strażyska Dolina, a small bubbling mountain river, that rumbles down this split in the hillside between rock walls that move in and out from the river but for the greater length were never that far away. The surrounding slopes though, are well hidden with the spread of the woodland, Spruces, mixed with various broad-leaves such as Rowan and Beech, coat the slopes. This spread of trees makes it is almost impossible to see the five sharp dolomite rocks, that stick up above the ridge and form structures known as the “Chimneys”, by now you just get the occasional hint of there presence amongst the trees. As for the ground flora, mainly the leaves of a Butterbur blanket the areas close to the path, but occasionally a number of what looked like Fragrant Orchids (Gymnadenia conopsea) and a very dark red coloured Dark Red Helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens) peaked out, accompanying the many yellow spikes of the Yellow Broomrape (Orobanche flava) that were growing on the Butterbur.

Strażyska Dolina with Giewont Lost in the Mist – 22 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

The walk up the Strażyska Dolina leads to the open meadow around the mountain hut, from where views of Giewont should be visible, had the mountain not be lost in the low cloud, and from where we are rapidly surrounded by trees again for the final short climb up to Siklawica.

Siklawica is a two stage waterfalls that drops a total distance of about 23m, in two stages 10m in the first and 13m in the second and from a distance looks like a single simple spout of water pouring down the north face of Giewont. Strangest of all though is how this simple spout or chute of water falls down a moss cushion that runs the complete length of the rock face, but is never more than a metre or two wide, with the water mainly confined in the centre of the moss strip. Careful examination of the rock face does reveal water running down much of the rest of the expanse, so one wonders why the moss is not more expansive?

Siklawica – 22 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Walking in the Clouds

This is a another of the missing holiday blogs – this one dates from Saturday 21 July – Enjoy!

Continuing what seems to have been a decided trend of this holiday, Saturday’s walk was again an attempt to look at some of the more open upland pastures, hopefully with their associated views and we were again lost in the thick mass of a cloud! Get the feeling here that there is a pattern to the walks here? Just a bit of cloud and mist, maybe a drip or two of rain?!

Simple route today, head up through the forests and over the top of Boczań at 1208m, which you’d never know was a top, as it was surrounded by Spruce forest, with no open views. This early on I knew the cloud was upon us, as the top of the trees were already attempting to get lost in the mist. Maybe my confidence of the views that I was expecting, should have wavered a bit at this stage, but still I walked on with confidence, always expecting to see something exciting over the next rise. Then we walked up on to the Skupniów Upłaz Ridge and continue on up to the pass at Przelęcz Między Kopami, at 1499m. Passing on the way through Dwarf Pine woodland, before opening out in to what should have been open alpine meadows, supposedly accompanied by some views! Unfortunately they were lost in dense cloud, and I had to dream of the open soaring views that should have been there. Finally we head back down the Dolina Jaworzynka, which took us down through the range of habitats again and finally into some lower wet meadows.

The View From the Skupniów Upłaz Ridge – 21 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Maybe a lack of views and maybe most of the species that I wished to see were lost in the mist, but even so the mist produced some amazing patterns as the clouds wafted amongst the cliffs, crags and trees. On a smaller scale, what was lacking in the views, was made up by the beauty of the water droplets that had settled with a precise placement on various stands of vegetation. It was as though each had been placed individually, as if each droplet had been selected with an artistic brilliance and added to brighten the dull day.

Water Droplets on Spruce – 21 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Not quite all was lost in the mist, many of the grasslands where brightened by many white Umbellifers, the pinky-purple of the Shining Scabious (Scabiosa lucida) flowers, and a pinkish Knapweed (Centaurea sp.) heads. But best of all though, had to be the bright single white flower of a Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustria) plant by the edge of the path; that seemed to shine out of the mist like a lighthouse beacon directing ships.

 

Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustria) – 21 July 2012 (Copyright Ross Lockley)

On the Roof of the Tatra’s

Now that I’m back in Scotland, I’m trying to catch up with the last few blogs from the holiday period, that failed to be written as I was having far too much fun to write – This entry dates from Thursday 19 July – Enjoy! There should be a couple more to follow shortly.

What is it about me and the tops of mountains that are covered in cloud, with a thunderstorm rapidly approaching? Yes, there I was again, standing near the top of an even taller mountain, Kasprowy Wierch this time, watching the clouds roll rapidly up from the lower valley, accompanied by a very distinctive roll of thunder, as it began to rain. So much for the plans to look at the high alpine flora up here, in the limited time that I had before having to catch the cable car down again, as the clouds rolled in and the furthest that could be seen was about five metres away.

 

Cloud Rolling In Towards Kasprowy Wierch – 19 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Somewhat earlier, having made the decision that taking the cable car up was going to be the only way to reach the higher tops and have a look at some of the higher alpine meadows, as the walk and climb up the mountains to this height was beyond the time I had available. I’d finally made it to Kasprowy Wienrch just as, with predicable occurrence, the clouds rolled in and all was lost in mist. The journey up had been quite amazing as it had taken us rapidly through the Spruce zone, passed open meadows and on to the Dwarf Mountain Pines, before finally reaching the open tops.

 

View Close to Kasprowy Wierch Cable Station on the Way Up – 19 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Finally at the top I had a small chance to look at the surroundings, where many areas of grass where bright with colour before all was lost to the mist and rain. Many areas had a white coating from some form of Pignut (Conopodium sp.), dotted with the yellow of Cinquefoil (Potentilla sp.) flowers and the strange feathery seed heads of the Mountain Aven (Dryas octopetala). Best of all though were the pale blue flowers of the Bearded Bellfower (Campanula barbata), that though on the way over, were still amazing with their paper-like flowers covered in a dense coating of hairs that rapidly caught droplets of water as the mist rolled in.

 

Bearded Bellflower (Campanula barbata) – 19 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Postscript

Please note the queues to the cable car are ridiculously long, on good weather days it can take up to four hours to move less than two hundred yards!! On bad weather days the views from the top are lost in cloud and the cable car may stop running. It seems best to arrive around 4PM when the queues have diminished, but at this time of day the risk of rain is greatest. Once up the top a return ticket allows you two hours there before needing to return. People with return tickets get first entry to the return, single ticket holders have to wait for spaces on the cable car.

The Hole

Having been far too busy having fun to keep up with the blog – this entry dates from Wednesday 18 July – Enjoy! There will be more to follow.

Having struggled with up and down dale the previous day, Wednesday saw us take an easier route up the Dolina Ku Dziurze to the cave, Jaskinia Dziura, which appropriately seems to translate from the Polish as “The Hole”.

The walk up to the cave is up through the gentle lower slopes of the lower Tatra, beginning with the improved pastures above Zakopane and finally from the boundary of the National Park, into a steep sided, wooded, limestone valley that eventually feeds with water from Sarnia Skała way above. Leaving the openness and passing rapidly into the enclosed mixed wooded slopes, covered in both Beech and Spruce. The slopes on either side, soon climbed high enough to leave only a narrow enclosed valley, from which little light reached the bottom and where the ground flora is thickest along the route of the path and the stream.

 

Dolina Ku Dziurze – 18 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

As with all good limestone streams, the Dolina Ku Dziurze is one of those streams that come and go. There one moment and lost within a limestone fissure the next, to reappear again just a few metres further on.

Where there is light, the vegetation is generally calcareous in nature, with my favourites of the area appearing in suitable numbers, in the form of the larger Greater Masterwort (Astrantia major), with its Geranium like leaves and white flowers tinged with pink and Sanicle (Sanicula europaea) with its tiny puff balls of white blooms.

Greater Masterwort (Astrantia major) – 18 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Finally Jaskinia Dziura is perfectly described by its translation of the “Hole” for it is that. An arc at the bottom of a cliff, that is some seven feet tall at its greatest and leads back into the hillside which can be exploded with a torch for a number of metres. Above which the rock rises grey and fissured from which a number of small trees hang on and slowly grow upwards, forcing apart the fissures.

 

Jaskinia Dziura or “The Hole” – 18 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Two Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain

Back to the hills again last Tuesday (17 July), where the rain over the past few days made the paths very wet and muddy. Easy plan for this day’s walk, up hill to Gubałówka, miss the Blackpool Strip by turning right, to head down hill through the forests to Piszezorówka. Then up and down dale through the small villages of Szczechówka and Słodyczki, while circling round to approach the far end of the Blackpool Strip at Buńdówka, again avoiding its horrors and head back down hill via a diagonal path to Zakopane.

At last a walk that gave us some views for we were able to escape the continuous confines of the Spruce woodland that has dominated on a number of walks. Even so when away from the trees there were always trees in view, but we did pass through a variety of meadows, some of which must have had been species rich before being harvested for hay, as suggested by the edge remnants.

Field Edge to the West Of the Blackpool Strip – 17 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

The woods themselves are much more acidic than those on the Tatra slopes and were carpeted with Bilberry, which was just becoming a feast of fruit and where the canopy had been thinned areas of Horsetail that looked somewhat like the delicate shoots of Wood Horsetail, with its multiple branched branches. Best of all though, while following the trail back to Zakopane, was the opportunity to obverse the mad games of a pair of black coloured Red Squirrels, as they ran up and down, and round and round a number of trees, oblivious to the onlookers.

Plan 9 – They Came From Outer Space!

OK – so the plan for Monday had been to climb some more hills, but when even the bottom of the TV mast is lost in mist, on one of the lower hills close to Zakopane and the rain is falling in steer rods, then you know its time to implement Plan 9 or should that be Plan B!

New plan for the day, go for a wander round town and take shelter during the showers, and have time to look for the local wildlife. First stop though was to dry out with local refreshment!

Okocim Porter – 16 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Smurf Ice Cream – 16 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Well OK, at least the beer was alive at some point, until it was pasteurised with the yeast fermenting and you hope the ice cream never was! So back to the more serious….

As with most small towns, most of the land left undeveloped within the development has a cover of ruderals and Zakopone is no different to anywhere else. Here many of the areas around the watercourses that run through Zakopane have been over taken by Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Looking a little trifids as they poke their heads over surrounding fences, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting passer-by. Now thankfully just about eliminated from the Scottish Borders by the work of the Tweed Foundation.

Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) – 16 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

My favourite though from many of the rough roadside areas, was the small dark maroon almost purplish black flowers of the Dusky Cranesbill (Geranium phaeum) that produce hints of colour amongst the banks greens from the Stinging Nettles and Docks etc.

Forests, Mountains and Rain – Again!

Friday’s plan was to walk up the wooded lower slopes of the Tatra’s, to the coll at Przelęczw Grzybowcu, by following the Grzybowiecka Dolina upwards from Strażyska Polana. Easy enough, but as with the previous visit to the Tatra’s earlier in the week, we were accompanied by the addition of wet weather. For me though, this made a better visit, as it gave the continuous canopy a greater feeling of wilderness, as the clouds swirled in and out of the tree cover, and the water droplets caught on the vegetation and sparkled in the limited daylight that filtered down.

Woods with Sarnia Skała in the Distance – 13 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Here the woods are mainly Spruce with only the occasional broad-leaved interspersed within the canopy. So the ground flora is limited to areas where the canopy is thinner, particularly along the path edges. The low clouds made the deeper depths of of the woods very dark and decidedly moody, giving the areas of thinner canopy a greater feeling of light and life.

Along the path edges as the slope was slowly zigzagged up to Przelęczw Grzybowcu were a variety of limestone loving plants from the small Sanicle (Sanicula europaea) with their white puffballs of blooms to the larger pinky white flowers of the Greater Masterwort (Astrantia major). My favourite though, was the blue flowered Alpine Sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina) that had formed a large blue-flowered clump in the middle of the path, far more delicate in the flowers than the common British yellow flowered Sow-thistles (Sonchus sp.).

Alpine Sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina) – 13 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Most suited to the wooded nature of the place are the fungi, which were occasionally seen along the edge of the path. The following picture is of a wonderfully deep peachy coloured fungi; that was found growing on a dead log, amongst moss and dead leaves. Unfortunately I have no idea what sort it is – so any names would be useful?

Unknown Fungi – 13 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Haystacks and the Blackpool Strip

Have to say my wonder at the world continued on Thursday’s walk. There I was expecting to be on a quiet village road that linked the small villages of Gubałówka and Buńdówka admiring the views south across the flower meadows down to Zakopane. When in fact I felt like I had somehow been transported back across Europe to the “Blackpool Strip” as there was fairground music and shows and a million stalls selling food and tourist tat plus thousands of people.

The plan for Thursday’s walk, had been to head up hill through meadows and areas of Spruce woodland and take a quiet country lane that linked the small villages of Gubałówka and Buńdówka and should have given wonderful views down into the valley containing Zakopane, before following a footpath back down towards Zakopane. Plans are sometimes different to reality!

Looking Down to Zakopane – 12 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Even so the flower meadows were still there and things were still wonderful with an amazing mix of colours. Many had been harvested for hay, which was then stacked into narrow vertical stacks, formed round Spruce poles, from which the side branches had been shorten. I have to say I was entranced by the way they made these very narrow, vertical haystacks, and in some places they were seen being taken a part and remade to allow the hay to dry properly and not over heat.

Haystacks Above Zakopane – 12 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Mountains, Forests and Thunderstorms

This blog was written for Wednesday, 11th July 2012 and posted a few days later.

There I was standing half way up a mountain accompanied by a multitude of multicoloured Smurfs, not to mention the odd nun in walking boots and habit, in a forest, with a thunderstorm approaching wondering what on earth I was up to and what had happened to the world!

Monday’s walk, was in the Tatra National Park, where the plan had been to head up Strażyska Dolina to Strażyska Polana and then turn west with a small detour up a rocky knoll called Sarnia Skała before heading down the Dolina Białego.

Sarnia Skala through the Trees – 11 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Simple as mud, or it was supposed to be. Footpaths are all labelled and it was only an eight mile amble. Then of course it was the day that all of Zakopane were walking in the hills and all the easy routes in the national park were full of walkers. Many of whom because it had become wet were dressed in these cheap plastic waterproofs, which with the hoods up made them look like Smurfs! Finally there I was standing at the junction of the path between the way down and the short off shoot to the summit, wondering whether going to the top of a treeless knoll while there was a thunderstorm close by, was a good idea or not? As for the summit, well they do say forests and mountains are not a good mix in a thunderstorms so we missed the summit, but still got seriously soaked.

This lower portion of the Tatra National Park is all wooded, with the lowest slopes a mix of Spruce and broad-leaves, from Beech to Sycamore and Rowan. As for the ground flora, very mixed and certainly near the lower paths, where many people pass fairly mundane mix of ruderals such as Butterbur (Petasites sp.) occur, but even amongst the usual comes the unusual with the addition of a number of Broomrapes probably Yellow Broomrape (Orobanche flava) parasitising the Butterbur, and springing up all over the place.

Yellow Broomrape – 11 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)

Then there were a number of what looked like Fragrant Orchids (Gymnadenia conopsea) and very dark red coloured Dark Red Helleborines (Epipactis atrorubens) peaking out from amongst the rough and ready plants. So beauty can always befound amongst the common.