Tatra Mountains - Climbing Orla Perć the most difficult trail in Poland

Leaving Zakopane behind for a 4th day in a row, we take the first minibus to Palenica Białczańska once again. Not long after entering the National Park, a junction to the right and a post marks the beginning of the route to Schronisko PTTK hut. The path is well marked and goes through dense forest and over a few streams to eventually reach another junction, where, if you do not wish to ascend to the hut, continue straight and up to Siklawa waterfall, the highest in Poland at about 23m. The path continues around it and ascends above the cliff by Wielki Lake.

Crossing a small bridge to the right, a gentle narrow path cuts across the plains. Several junctions allow hikers to reach different mountain summits, but we continue Est, towards Zawrat. Without knowing the ridge can only be hiked one way, we make the mistake of taking right to Pusta Dolinka. Arrived at the col and joining Orla Perć, we now realize that it's impossible to stick to the original plan and were forced to join the others in the direction of Kozi Wierch.

The route is marked with red and white bands and is a proper scramble. Quite exposed at times, but well secured with iron ladders and chains. Via ferrata kit is of no use, but a helmet might come in handy as the risk of someone above you dislodging a rock is high. Sure foot, experience and speed is key. Unfortunately we find ourselves stuck in queues quite often waiting for unexperienced climbers to make their way across the narrow ridge. We've queued almost as much as it took us to do the ridge.

There are several 2000m peaks along the ridge, but the most important one is Kozi Wierch. The view is splendid, but we're eager to overtake as many people as possible and continue without wasting to much time on the top. After a short descent, a junction allows you to return to the earlier mentioned hut, but we continue NE to Buczynowa Strażnica peak. Here the route breaks away from the ridge and descents on a steep slope on the other side of the mountain. Another escape route allows you to go all the way to the bottom in case of bad weather, but we continue our ascent via a small crack secured with chains. But not before witnessing a helicopter rescue.

At the top, the path continues it's ascent to join the ridge once again and to the summit of Zadni Granat and then to a couple more peaks. While not as exposed as before, attention is still required and chains and cables secure the most difficult parts. On the summit of Skrajny Granat we check our watches and decide is time to head down. After all there's a long way to go back to Zakopane by foot. Even thought the initial plan didn't work our, we've managed to climb more than half of the ridge, including the most difficult sections.

The descent is easy and pretty straight forward, at first on rocks and after on a series of rocky steps between dwarf pines all the way to Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy lake where we have been two days before. From here we push North on the path that goes to Murowaniec Hut and further down into the valley, but this time we take taking right at the junction and arrive a few hundred meters from Kuznice. As always, after a long day on the mountain, we prefer the speed of the minibus back to Zakopane.
#EaglePath #HikingTatra #BestHikes
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