Last Day In Stary Smokovec
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We had a great climb today – up & down 1005 m. (they don’t measure things in distances when you climb mountains – just elevations). We started in a valley full of wild flowers and glacial streams, and gradually found ourselves above the tree line with waterfalls cascading down the mountains all around us. Interestingly, we were actually hiking on what they consider to be a cross country ski trail around here – it would kill anyone at home to even contemplate skiing it. It was essentially an old Roman road made out of boulders that had cleaved off the mountain. It was 8 ft wide at its widest, and 2 ft wide at its narrowest, and followed the contours of the mountain, with death-assured drops on the valley side. The flower filled valley reminded me of my grandma’s kitchen – it smelled like herbal teas, brewer’s yeast, various herbal remedies and a bit of must.
The hike today started in Stary Smokovec, where we climbed up to the top of the funicular (Cog Railway Car), then started to the first mountain hut, Zamkovskeho Chata (1475 m), where we had some coffee and bread. Then on to the next leg of our hike to Teryho Chata (2015 m). On the way back we stopped at Rainerova Chata (1300 m) also known as the Sherpa Club and Bilikova Chata (1265 m).
Even thought the climb was pretty tough, there were families with small children doing it, old men & women in their 70′s & 80′s doing it – the only people who seemed to be having trouble with it were people in their 20′s (?!?). Most impressive was the Sherpa who hauled all the restaurant supplies up to the mountain huts on their backs – they would have three propane tanks and a crate of cabbages on their backs, passing everyone on the trail. The guy we saw had a keg of beer, a flat of orange juice and a bunch of other stuff on his back.
At the top of our climb there was a mountain hut beside three lakes in the saddle between two mountain ranges. There was snow on the mountains, and the lake water was freezing – the lakes fed all the water falls.
We are off to Bratislava tomorrow on the morning train and will be there for about 2 days before moving on.
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