On Monday 8th July 2019 I headed to Strbske Pleso which is a beautiful little resort town set at 1355m above sea-level up in the High Tatras mountains. I had booked a 1-bedroom apartment for 3 nights, and the apartment owner lived very close to Strba, a short train ride from Poprad. She was kind enough to meet me at the Strba train station and drive me to the apartment.
The apartment was lovely. It was warm and cosy, and a 10 minute walk from the town centre. A perfect base for exploring.
That afternoon I took a nice relaxed walk around the lake to acclimatise. It's definitely a beautiful spot.
I met a new friend along the way!
The next day was the big one, and the main reason I had decided to base myself in Strbske Pleso for a few nights. I was going to take on Rysy, all 2499m of it! Rysy is actually the highest mountain in Poland, with the High Tatras mountains forming a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. It is the highest mountain in the High Tatras than can be hiked without a guide.
The hike started off fairly gently with an hour or so gradual uphill walk through the forest to another lake called Popradske Pleso. There was a chateau there, but I didn't think I had quite done enough work to warrant a meal yet!
From here, the 'proper' trail to Rysy began. I was very impressed with the trail-marking and information you got along the route. There was almost zero chance of going astray. You just had to take note of the colour of the trail you were on, and watch out for the regular sign-posting along the way. You can see the trail-mark painted on the rock in the very bottom right of the photo below.
There was beautiful wide open views as I hiked into the Mengusovka Valley.
The landscape changed as I climbed higher and higher and left the lush green vegetation behind. I even started to hit pockets of snow, which is pretty impressive considering it was July, the height of the European summer!
Once past the lakes I hit the short section of fixed chains and ladders. There was a little bit of a bottleneck here, but it wasn't too bad. Apparently it can get busy once people start coming back down the mountain as well and there is two-way traffic.
A little bit further and I passed under the prayer flags that are just before Chata Pod Rysmi.
Slovakia really does do hiking well, and part of the reason is that it has these random mountain lodges in the middle of nowhere! I was very pleased to see Chata Pod Rysmi. It was a chance to get out of the elements for a bit, eat some lunch, and refuel and warm up with a hot chocolate before the final summit push. The place was absolutely humming!
The view from the toilet was most spectacular!
Slovakians do have a good sense of humour...
I was pretty high by now, and it was pretty chilly!
The scenery was awe-inspiring, just peaks and rock in every direction.
The final push to the summit was a strenuous scramble, picking a path from one marker-pole to the next.
The effort was rewarded with amazing views from the top. I wrapped up warm and enjoyed it for half an hour or so.
It was then time for the descent. Going downhill is always a bit tough on my poor old knees so I took it easy.
It was nice to get back down to the Chateau again, but this time I didn't stop.
It was nice and quiet with no queues by the time I reached the ladders and chains section.
I'm definitely not looking as fresh as when I set out!
It was a great feeling when I finally spotted some familiar sights of 'home'.
I arrived back at my apartment almost 12 hours to the minute from when I left, exhausted but happy after a great day in the hills. 40 000 steps and 30km is a pretty epic day in my book!
I woke up the next day feeling surprisingly good, so headed off on another adventure, but nothing as strenuous as the previous day! Today's trip involved several modes of transport (and just a small amount of walking). I started by taking the mountain railway to Stary Smokovec, another small mountain town. From here I boarded a furnicular to Hrebienok which is a tiny place that essentially serves as a trailhead for lots of different walks into the mountains.
I had chosen to do a two and a half hour walk to Skalnate Pleso.
This was a lovely walk on well-formed trails with an elevation gain of only 500 metres or so. Literally a walk in the park after the previous day's efforts!
Halfway to my destination I stopped at a chateau for a good authentic Slovakian lunch of beef stroganoff and bread dumplings. When I ordered I wasn't aware there were 5 different types of stroganoff to choose from, but we eventually got there despite the language barriers! It did make a nice change from my usual hiking fare of cheese and salami rolls!!!
Happily satiated, I continued on my very pleasant walk.
I was heading to Skalnate Pleso in order to take a cable car up to Lomnicky Stit, the second highest mountain in the High Tatras at 2364 metres above sea-level. I had bought my ticket online in advance as they sometimes sell out days in advance, so I had a bit of time to chill out whilst waiting for my departure time.
You get to the summit in a suspension cable car which scales a vertical ascent of 855 metres in the eight and a half minute journey.
Unfortunately the summit was shrouded in cloud and mist, so my views weren't great. I managed to get a few pics as soon as I arrived, but later on it was a total white-out!
It was freezing up on the summit. Below I'm rocking a wool/down/gore-tex combo on my head and it is still so cold it is making my eyes water!
Luckily the bar/cafe at the top made a pretty mean hot chocolate (just ignore the very un-pc plastic straw).
You have to use your imagination for the background in the pic below!
Back in the cable car you could look back up to the peak and see its cloud cap.
Back at Skalnate Pleso I took a 2-stage cable car back down to Tatranska Lomnica. It was nice to finally feel warm again!
From here, it was back onto the mountain railway back to Strbske Pleso for the final night in my apartment. My first few days in the mountains were everything I wanted them to be!
