Lac Blanc, Mt Blanc
Lac Blanc, Mt Blanc
  • A farewell to the mountains
    • 20/08/2019
Spent the last couple of days hiking before I turn south towards the great plains...

First up a gorgeous gorge walk in Slovensky Raj national park, an area of rocky, er, gorges, which have been fitted out with catwalks, chains and ladders to make them navigable by the average hiker, so long as you don't mind being one slip away from falling on to pointy rocks. there is one section where harnesses are mandatory, which I have not done, but the rest of it would still be classed as a health and safety nightmare in the UK. Fortunately it isn't in the UK and is lovely. Would be easier in proper waterproof boots but half the fun is finding stepping stone routes to minimise getting your feet wet.
All the routed link up at the top at an alpine meadow / ruined monastery / usual cafe selling cold beer and ice cream, as well as mountain bike hire stall trying to entice people to lazy to walk back down (no cable cars or funiculars today).

Short (40km) transfer day to the next campsite underneath the high Tatras again. I do stay in "proper" campsites when I'm off doing full day hikes, for better and worse.
In between, the hub city of Poprad is the equivalent of Zakopane on the polish side, with the bonus addition of an art gallery hosting an exhibition of the terracotta army.

For my last mountain hike I'm aiming for the summit of Slavkovsky Spit, 2452m, the highest walkable point from the campsite at 800m.
The route starts off nicely up a valley alongside an energetic mountain torrent, and lots of wild raspberries, but the final 1000m climb to the peak turns out to be a fairly boring trudge. Great visibility and some nice views at the top but its also a dead end, so back down the same way. So a slightly lower, circular route would probably have been more interesting. Never mind! Still better than the peak district!


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