A two-days traverse of the Polish Karkonosze

A brief presentation of Karkonosze

From the top of Slęża, climbed the week before, and despite the sceptical opinion of Dorota, we could distinguish the blur shape of Karkonosze, South West, in the distance. This was the destination of our next excursion. We had planned it for long. We had already planned it in November, but weather didn't allow us. Dorota had been in Samotnia the spring before, but snow prevented her to climb any further. Finally, a stop in May on the road to Prague allowed us a short hike to the Kamieńczyka waterfall and a pleasant foretaste.

Karkonosze is in Poland the most mountainous part after the Tatras, much more West, and shared with Czech Republic. However, the range is completely different. No sharp mountains there, only wide desertic granitic plateaux bordered with glaciar corries. The landscape reminds somehow of Scotland or the french Auvergne.

How to visit Karkonosze in two days ? There is no much choice: being a long-shaped range, it needs to be walked on its length. The return being made by another way, lower, on the second day. Two resorts end each side of the range : Karpacz and Sklarska Poręba. Having already seen the second, which is the less interesting of the two, we chose this time Karpacz (which, as its name doesn't show, is not in the Carpathians :)

Samotnia and red wine

Gone on Friday afternoon after my work, we head to Jelenia Góra, and Karpacz. During 30mn we struggle in this maze of holiday houses to find a car park near the trailhead. We finally ask a hotel for using their car park. Dorota carries just her camera and me the whole backpack for two days due to her knees problems, plus a bottle of wine, but this is kept secret for now. The path is cobbled and goes along the Wang church (a Norvegian one, dismounted and rebuilt here some centuries ago, with all its viking ornaments), and cross few bare meadows before heading into a deep valley.

The sunset illuminates the range and its summit Śnieżka, we couldn't expect a best moment to walk along right here. In the valley, we quit the cobbled track for a small path... obscurity. Then we reach the hut of Samotnia, on the shore of the lake Mały Staw, nestled in a corrie. The hut is desert, the hutkeepers are not really friendly and the atmosphere feels kind of gloomy. We drink the wine.

We start walking the next morning: first, we climb Śnieżka, 1602m, from where we dominate all the Sudetes, there is an observatory (a bit awful) standing on the top. We climb down and decide to replace our heavy hiking boots by the sandals once back on the flat track. We follow the main ridge, along the border with Czech Republic, overlooking the lakes Mały Staw and Wielky Staw, and we head into endless vast grassy meadows. It could be Scotland, or some regions of the Massif Central like the Margeride or the Aubrac. Dwarf pines and granitic boulders are found here and there. The first half of this hike is completed as we reach the road pass Przełęcz Karkonoska.

Outcrops, glaciar corries, fainful feet and thunderstorm.

Some surprising prominentgranitic outcrops, similar to those found on the french Brittany sea-side (côte de granit rose), or somehow similar to Fontainebleau, stand from time to time, defying the laws of erosion: The "pilgrim", the "Marguerite", the "3 horses".. In the end of the afternoon, the sky gets cloudier. We are now walking along the cliffs of Śnieżne Kotły, the "Snowy corrie", another glaciar valley whose walls are very sharp, and in the botom of whose are lying three little lakes.



Far in the distance, some large forests of high coniferous, unfortunately damaged by acid rains few decades ago. Small trees just start to re-invest the places. We end on Szrenica, ultimate hump of the range, on whose top stands the second mountain-hut of our journey, 1310m. The sky is now really black. Feet are painful. As we eat and take a shower, surprise: the thunderstorm resonate.

When we wake up the day after, I have a glance through the window: we cannot see anything through a thick fog, not even the antenna of the hut ! Our plan was to get back to Karpacz via the forest trail below, but a misty rain and painful legs change our plans and we decide to hike down to Sklarska Poręba and catch a bus taking us back to Karpacz. As we drive back to Wrocław, a splendid sun reappears as we drive away from the Sudetes, and the heat of June warms us again to our great pleasure.

Back to Wroclaw and epilog

Despite we told ourself that we must come back to hike that trail below together, we still haven't done that. We only gave back the Karpacz church a winter visit so far. But, on the other hand, we also realized that the Czech side must be full of interest: a goal that I fulfilled since then by bike, and whose photos can be seen in this album.

Kamieńczyka waterfall

Back to Sklarska Poręba

Wang church in winter

Lakes in Śnieżne Kotły

Top of Śląskie Kamienie

Images

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