Poland trip, day 5
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 24.09.25 | Śnieżka/ Sněžka | 1603m | 1183m | Dolnośląskie, Poland, Hradec Králové, Czech R. | – | MAP |
Continued from Poland trip, day 4…
Wednesday: The day had come to visit Sněžka (Czech) / Śnieżka (Polish) – the highest mountain in the Czech Republic – located on the Polish-Czech border. Anne and I would have company on this hike.
Eric Visentin – French but living in Poland for years – wanted to come along with us. According to Eric, he has been following westcoastpeaks.com almost since I created it in 1999. I received the first email from him in 2006 and in 2008, we made contact on Messenger and have stayed in touch since then.
After being “pen pals”, Eric must have thought it would be worthwhile to meet with us, as he took the drive from Wrocław to Malá Úpa to join us. He had previously been to Sněžka 7 times…
He arrived at our hotel around 8:15 and we had breakfast together. We were in no rush, as there was fog and wind on the mountain. We could only hope it would pass, but I had a feeling that we wouldn’t be getting any views on top.
We walked from the hotel and followed some back roads at first.
Then we got on the road leading to the Jelenka hut. After 3,5km (from the hotel) we arrived at the hut.
At this hour, Jelenka was closed, but there wouldn’t have been any reason to stop here, this early on the hike.
From Jelenka, we followed a nice path up the forest.
Over the years, a lot of effort has been put into this trail along the Polish – Czech border.
Eventually we reached the high ridge and the named point Czarna Kopa (Polish) / Svorová Hora (Czech) at 1411m. If I hadn’t known, I would never have guessed that this was a top.
The next leg was in really cool terrain.
Despite the fog and wind, we were in a very good mood. We were on our way to another country high point, and we finally got to meet Eric.
Eric and I kept talking non-stop. We had a lot to catch up on. Eric enjoys endurance type of sports, like rowing, running and long cross-country ski-trips. He told me about his run across Sněžka in snow.
Finally, we were closing in on Sněžka and the wind was picking up.
And then we were up! If it hadn’t been for the summit buildings, it would have felt like a whiteout up there.
The weather was bad, but our spirit was good!
There were lots of people on top, especially young people. I guessed that this was a school class (or classes), coming up with the lift from Karpacz. They didn’t seem dressed for the weather.
We were dressed for the weather, but it was cold and unpleasant.
We found shelter inside a café and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate.
The wind was raging outside. The local weather station said the wind speed was 21,4 m/s with gust up to 27,2 m/s. That’s unpleasant even for a Norwegian.
Eventually, we decided to continue our hike and leave the comfortable café.
We proceeded down the south ridge for a few minutes, before going east along a route parallel to the ridge we followed to Sněžka.
This trail was also nice and easy to hike.
After a while, the weather was changing. The fog was lifting.
I didn’t feel bad about not staying on top for longer. I could do without the summit views. But it was nice to get some views on our way down.
We didn’t meet anyone on our way back to Jelenka.
Back at the Jelenka hut, it was time for lunch, and we ordered Gulash and beer without alcohol. It was a nice stay.
The service was mediocre. I just felt that we were a bother to the people working there.
Eric and I decided to treat ourselves with pancakes for dessert. Anne passed, as that kind of food is not good for you. But since there was an extra fork, she decided to dig in – under the excuse that she is generally interested in foreign food…
After lunch, we returned to Malá Úpa along the route Anne and I followed the day before, coming down from Skalny Stół.
Since we passed the trail rest and recreation area one more time, we had to stop and discover our inner child.
Eric was challenged…
We then returned to Malá Úpa and found a bench where we could take a break, watch Scottish Highland castle and the top of Sněžka – now free of fog.
I tried to count how many country high points I’ve been on, and found that Sněžka was #23, not counting high points on Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Faroe Islands and Bali. It’s a fun hobby. Gets you around.
We returned to the hotel and parted with Eric. We really appreciated that he took the time to join us, and I hope he enjoyed our company too.
The time was 4pm and we rested in the hotel room until dinner at 6pm. Yesterday’s dinner wasn’t awesome, but tonight’s dinner was just great. We enjoyed this concept. Soup for starters, then a choice of two main dishes (wholesome food) and a small dessert.
I enjoyed my Czech beer, and Anne enjoyed a little bit of her Polish vodka. We had earned it. By 9:30pm, we called it a day.
Trip statistics: 17,4km, 990 vertical meters, 6h:30m
