The Three Crowns

The second half of November and the whole December is usually a very busy time for our family. That's why it's been a little quiet here. It does not mean, though, that I have forgotten about you :)

I am almost done with our summer holidays trip. But almost does not mean completely. So here the story continues.

We already spent almost a week in the mountains and we hardly did any climbing or trekking at all. Just Wdzar, which we haven't even planned in the first place. And we still wanted to get to the top of two most famous mountains of Pieniny: the Three Crowns (Okraglica in particular, cause it's the only accessible one) and Sokolica. We already knew that getting to the top of Sokolica takes roughly an hour. And another hour or a little bit less to get back. Meaning it's a short trip. And in the forest almost the whole time. So not a big deal, even when it's hot.

But the Three Crowns is a whole other story. We've been to both summits already. We - meaning me and Chris. Nine years ago. We took a trail directly from Czorsztyn, which took us a loooong time. Three hours, was it? And most of the way with no shadow at all. Not a chance to do that this time. Not with the heat, the sunlight, the kids. Too long, too exhausting.

But the Czorsztyn trail is not the only one leading to the Three Crowns. I found two trails leading to the summit from Sromowce Nizne. Which was perfect for us. We drove to Sromowce, took one trail to the top and the other on the way down. So we didn't even have to take the same route twice. Both routes were a bit under two hours long.

Artur made it to the top all by himself. Which is pretty obvious, cause neither of us can imagine carrying him anyway ;) And he's eager to climb, kind of used to it. Paulinka, on the other hand, was carried most of the time. It wasn't that she didn't want to go on her own. Though that is partly true. Carrying her speeded the trek a bit. Ok, a lot. And that was most important for us. Have I mentioned that it was really hot then?

The trek itself is challenging at times, but is doable. Although the mountain is less than 1000 metres high, the views from the top make up for all the effort put into getting there. The green forests, the little villages, Dunajec river with rafters on it. It all can be seen.

Once you're done staring at the views, you can keep going. The are a few options. You can get back to Czorsztyn or Krościenko, you can get back to Sromowce Niżne, you can go to Zamkowa Góra (Castle Mountain) to see the ruins of Pieniny Castle where St. Kinga was hiding. Then you can continue to Sokolica (another summit) and further to Szczawnica, or you can get back a little, to Polana Kosarzyska, and continue down to Sromowce.

We decided to go to Zamkowa Góra. We wanted to show Artur the ruins of the castle, since Saint Kinga was hiding there. That was our first, but not last, meeting with St. Kinga on this trip. The second one was about to happen in 3 days.

 Almost on top.