Me and my itchy feet: The famous pine tree

Monday, 7 December 2015

The famous pine tree

The next day, after we got to the Three Crowns, we decided to hit the other famous summit of Pieniny, meaning Sokolica. It's a bit lower, but not really easier to conquer.

We decided to get up early in the morning and hurry up as much as we could. It was still unbearably hot and sunny, so we wanted to hit the trail before the hottest part of the day.

Even though most of the trail is hidden in the forest (which means a lot of shade!), it's still a huge challenge when you're sweating like hell. And this trail is steep. The trek takes only about 45 minutes, but it is difficult 45 minutes.

What you can find on top of the mountain, is a rocky summit, also steep, might be slippery when it's raining. And a wonderful view. Dunajec River right below you, lots of forests and little villages around. Rings a bell? Yeah, it seems a bit like the view from the Three Crowns, but it is a bit different, trust me. Besided, on top of Sokolica, you'll also find the famous pine trees that are over 550 years old. And one of them, as though hanging over the rocky summit, is a kind of a symbol of Pieniny Mountains.

The trek down, together with getting to the other side of Dunajec, took us just about 20-25 minutes. So much less. And no, we were not running down. And yes, we didn't have to wait for the transport across the river. And it might take a while at times.

But once you get to the other side, you might think of stepping into the Nature Park building. Inside, you'll find a tree-trunk, born in 1848. On it's tree rings you'll find numbers, in roughly three columns. Each column marks different things in history, since the birth of the tree. One is devoted to the history of Poland. The second one is devoted to the history of the protection of Pieniny Mountains. The third one is devoted to the history of environment protection in Poland. That's all only in Polish, which is a shame, but the way it was presented was interesting.