Western Tatras: Kasprowy Wierch

For the first part of the hike to the Kasprowy Wierch peak, from Kuznice village to Murowaniec mountain shelter, I chose the blue trail. The alternative yellow one is said to offer better views, but unlike the blue one, which climbs steadily and gently uphill, the yellow one is initially quite flat to later lead uphill quite a bit sharper. So the blue one is a bit easier, and since this is the beginning of the trip, I wanted to save my strength. On the other hand hovewer, the walk along the blue trail turned out to be quite boring for me, because for the first part, the trail runs through the forest. And well, you know, I did not come here to watch the forests, did I?

After about two hours from the start of the walk, I reached the Murowaniec mountain shelter. The Gasiennicowa Valley, where the shelter is located, is a completely different landscape league! The views of Koscielec and Granaty peaks are so spectacular that everyone who is there for the first time and has no camera, must experience a real drama being unable to shoot photos ;)

From the Murowaniec shelter, I followed the yellow and green trails towards the Liliowe pass. This section is a pleasure, because the dense mountain pine is gradually disappearing, and the views of the surrounding peaks and ponds encourage frequent breaks. The real reward for the effort, however, is reaching the Liliowe pass and the almost flat section of the red trail leading along the ridges stright to the Kasprowy Wierch peak. A view of the Slovak Tatras, clouds hanging over the mountains, and misty views of the peaks in the distance, that is what you are here for! Even fatigue cannot take a smile off your face. Or maybe the other way around, positive fatigue makes you smile and feel even better?

September is a great month for a walks in the Tatras. The day is still long enough, temperatures are optimal and there is no snow yet, brown are yellow colours start to appear. There are much fewer tourists in September, but these are the tourists who love the mountains. So there always is someone to talk to about mountains, and about photography.

Take a look at the photos below. Unfortunately, I have accidentally lost the GPS track of the route. The photos therefore are not marked with coordinates.

The route map is here. My hiking time was nearly 10 h. The route length was 15 km, number of steps was 32000+, and total ascent was 1158 m.

By the way, since you are here and reading, you might have (not) noticed that the site colors have recently changed, but most of all the site address is new. The new address is PIOTR DOT PHOTOS. Neither COM, NET nor other suffix. The new address is simpler and easier to remember. PIOTR DOT PHOTOS, as simple as that.