W ostatni piątek dość spontanicznie pojechałem ze znajomymi na festiwal. W końcu jakieś wakacje! Jeszcze w drodze byłem prawie pewien, że jedziemy gdzieś w Bieszczady, ale dość szybko połapałem się, że jedziemy autostradą w zupełnie odwrotnym kierunku. Później dowiedziałem się, że w Bieszczadach będzie inny festiwal, dwa tygodnie później. Ale to jeszcze nie koniec mojego nieogarnięcia w ten weekend. Cały ostatni tydzień był upalny, gdzieżby przyszło mi do głowy, że noc w górach może być nieco chłodniejsza? Nie wziąłem więc sobie żadnych cieplejszych ubrań. Lekki sweterek plus koszula to były wszystkie moje warstwy. Pół nocy spędziłem więc przy ognisku, a do snu musiałem ratować się pożyczaniem ubrań. Wciąż jednak było zimno. Wieczorem jeszcze zobaczyłem sobie na mapie okoliczne góry. Wylądowałem na południu kotliny Kłodzkiej, w miejscowości Stara Morawa. Oczywistym wyborem wydawało sie więc wejście na Śnieżnik.
W nocy udało mi się zasnąć na ledwie dwa pełne cykle, nieco ponad 3h, później zrobiło się już jasno i zdecydowałem wyjść w góry wcześnie, żeby nie stracić za dużo z festiwalu. Jeszcze tylko poranne dogrzewanie przy ognisku w towarzystwie najbardziej wytrwałych zawodników i ruszam.
Po drodze przechodziłem przez Kletno i wtedy skojarzyłem, że byłem tutaj parę lat temu na poszukiwaniu ametystów. Zalew w Starej Morawie rzeczywiście wydawał się jakiś znajomy. Po drodze wsuwałem przydrożne poziomki i czaiłem się na jakieś interesujące rośliny. Znalazłem między innymi czyściec leśny i obiecałem sobie, że w drodze powrotnej trochę sobie nazbieram.
Warunki dopisały, było rześko, sucho, nieco mocniejszy wiatr tylko kiedy około 8 rano dochodziłem do schroniska pod Śnieżnikiem. Akurat o 8 było otwarcie restauracji w schronisku więc przywitała mnie tam pokaźna kolejka gości. Zjadłem podwójną jajecznicę ze wczorajszym chlebem, trochę się oburzyłem, że w takiej cenie to chociaż mógłby być świeży i poszedłem dalej. Do szczytu jeszcze pol godziny marszu. Po drodze poznałem chłopaka z Torunia, który po górach chodzi dopiero od roku i wlasnie był w trakcie 14-dniowej trasy przez Główny Szlak Sudeckie, razem niecałe 500km. Trochę porozmawialiśmy, wymieniliśmy się doświadczeniami z wędrówek i wspólnie zdobyliśmy najwyższy szczyt Masywu Śnieżnika.
Sam szczyt jest dość płaski i gdyby nie zbudowana niedawno wieża widokowa to widok byłby raczej średni. Przez swój specyficzny kształt wieża nazywana jest ponoć blenderem. Prawda że podobna? Niestety nazwa to jawna manipulacja, na szczycie nie było żadnego śniegu.
W drogę powrotną udało mi sie znaleźć alternatywną trasę i chwilę przed południem wróciłem z wycieczki i zdążyłem na interesujące mnie warsztaty i prelekcje. Po drodze przechodziłem jeszcze przez dwie inne górskie miejscowości i widać było jakie żniwo zebrały ubiegłoroczne powodzie. Jednak co najbardziej mnie zaskoczyło, przez całą drogę tylko w jednym miejscu były jagody na krzaczkach. Przedziwna sytuacja. Przecież chyba nie zostały zebrane wszędzie indziej? A zioła? Co prawda udało mi sie nazbierać czyśćca, ale po powrocie z Katowic zapomniałem je wziąć z samochodu.
[ENG]
Last Friday, I rather spontaneously went to a festival with some friends. Even on the way there, I was almost sure we were heading to the Bieszczady Mountains, but I quickly realized we were driving the opposite direction down the highway. Later I found out that there is another festival in Bieszczady — two weeks later. But that wasn’t the end of my cluelessness that weekend. The whole week had been hot, so it never even crossed my mind that the night in the mountains might be a bit colder. So, I didn’t pack any warm clothes. A light sweater and a shirt were all the layers I had. I ended up spending half the night by the campfire, and to fall asleep I had to borrow some clothes. Still, I was cold.
In the evening, I looked at the map of the nearby mountains. I found myself in the southern part of the Kłodzko Valley, in a village called Stara Morawa. Naturally, the obvious choice was to hike Śnieżnik.
That night, I managed to sleep just two full cycles — a little over 3 hours — and then it got bright. I decided to head out to the mountains early so I wouldn’t miss too much of the festival. Just one more round of morning warming at the campfire with the most hardcore folks still awake, and I was off.
On the way, I passed through Kletno and then remembered that I had been here a few years ago searching for amethysts. The reservoir in Stara Morawa did feel kind of familiar. Along the route, I was snacking on wild strawberries growing by the roadside and keeping an eye out for interesting plants. I found, among others, wood betony (Stachys sylvatica) and promised myself I’d gather some on the way back.
The conditions were great — crisp, dry air with a bit of a stronger wind only when I was approaching the shelter under Śnieżnik around 8 a.m. Coincidentally, that was exactly when the restaurant at the shelter opened, so I was greeted by a long line of guests. I had a double portion of scrambled eggs with day-old bread, got a bit grumpy that for that price they could at least offer fresh bread, and kept going. From there it was another half-hour hike to the summit. Along the way, I met a guy from Toruń who had only been hiking for about a year and was in the middle of a 14-day journey along the Main Sudetes Trail — close to 500 km total. We chatted for a bit, shared some hiking stories, and reached the highest peak of the Śnieżnik Massif together.
The summit itself is quite flat, and if not for the recently built viewing tower, the view would be rather underwhelming. Because of its unique shape, the tower is apparently nicknamed "the blender." Doesn’t it look like one?
On the way back, I managed to find an alternative trail and returned shortly before noon, just in time for the workshops and lectures I was interested in. Along the way, I passed through two other mountain villages where signs of last year's floods were still visible. But what surprised me the most — along the entire route, I only found blueberries growing in one spot. Very strange. Surely they hadn’t been picked clean everywhere else? As for herbs, I did manage to gather some wood betony, but after returning to Katowice I forgot to take them out of the car.
Śnieżnik for you, Sněžník for me :) Pleasure to share mountains with you guys :) Cool hike btw, the landscape shots are just amazing!
@tipu curate 10
Thanks! On our way to this place we passed through part of Czech Republic :)
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 0/70) Liquid rewards.
The sky is so blue and the land so green, truly beautiful, a real refuge for the soul. It’s funny to hear you talk about warm clothes; here, temperatures not even at night drop below 27°C! It feels more tropical than Mediterranean climate, at least here in Rome. It’s lovely to see a post from you again after such a long time. See you soon!
Yeah, I didn’t expect it as well :D Is it also quite humid in Rome at this time? I can imagine that there is no time to rest from these temperatures...
I wonder from time to time how much of this is climate change related. For example there is record breaking drought in Poland, Vistula river is at all time low, 15cm deep in Warsaw. That means ground water levels dropped and there is not enough water to keep water level. Is it similar in Italy too?
Yes, it's very hot in Rome. Historically, though, the city was in an ideal position, protected by the Apennines to the east and open to the sea in the west. In the evenings, a breeze would rise from the sea, which we used to call il ponentino (the west wind). Thanks to this natural ventilation, Rome used to be much breezier, and even in summer, the humidity would drop, making the nights more bearable.
But now the city has become overbuilt and massive. It is sprawling and densely urbanized. The ponentino can barely make its way through all the concrete anymore.
On top of that, daily temperatures are noticeably higher. I don’t remember ever seeing 47°C on the car display in June just a few years ago, but now that has become a reality. The nights are unbearable, and the days feel like hell. When I open the windows, it feels like I’m in Bali, except without the beaches. I gasp for air like a fish out of water, trapped in a glass ball thick with humidity. You could almost wipe the air with a cloth and wring it out.
Winter hardly exists anymore. On December 31st, when I step out on the balcony to watch the New Year's fireworks, I wear just a sweatshirt, no heavy coat. I only need my coat for a couple of months, January and February. Rainfall is also scarce. Even the river suffers, and so does Lake Bracciano, the most important water reserve for Rome. Two years ago, the lake fell below its minimum level, forcing water rationing.
So yes, we are definitely in the middle of climate change. You can see it in the wildlife too. We are full of invasive species like the vespa velutina (Asian hornet) and American cockroaches, which were much less common before. When I talk about this, I feel anxious. I have two children, and I worry that one day we might face wars, not only the terrifying ones we are already living through, sometimes forgotten, sometimes overly politicized, but wars over water resources, which will be scarce and polluted.
I did not want to be heavy or depressing. Sorry if I am. You touched on a topic that really scares me.
Sending you a hug.
Thank you for sharing your feelings, none are too much, this topic is important to me too and it's painful to see how much we collectively stray from our connection to nature. Hugs!
Come here for winter! It gets freezing 🥶 (NYC)
!PIZZA !ALIVE
It's nice to realize that the nature and environment in your region isn't so different from the south of Brazil, it reminded me a lot of the campos gerais region here in the state of Paraná, where I live! Hugs to you, my dear.
Thank you! Now I need to talk with chat about this comparison:D very interesting, when I think about Brazil I have one picture of nature and it's much different than polish mountains :D
The beauty of the nature never gets boring😍! I feel like it genuinely clears me of negative energy from the city and I charge my batteries :). I hope you enjoyed!
Oh, I enjoyed so much! The most needed holiday time in my life I guess :D
Es hermosa la naturaleza y logras captar esa belleza a la perfección.
!ALIVE !PIZZA
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@geneeverett(10/15) tipped @sissim72
geneeverett tipped deepresearch
Come get MOONed!