The trail starts out in a deep forest and winds through mossy conifers and dry rivers (which are now only long crevasses of large boulders where glacial melt once rushed). Dew drips from spruces and wild mushrooms greet the rising sun, glistening from the moist air. A bitter wind blows through my jacket but the sun soon warms me. This is the beginning; the beginning of a climb that is the hardest and most amazing I have every completed. With no harnesses or helmets on a technical climb, I set off in search of a challenge, Orla Perć. The summit for most of hikers- a restaurant lodge, a crowded, warm, stuffy place sits at the right of the trail. I move on to rest in more wild area, like on a boulder next to a crystal blue lake. After a quick break, we approach the second lake, the last flat area before the climb starts. My mother decides to set her goals on something easier and tells us farewell. Now my dad, older brother, and I are left. We start hiking up the Zawrat when my brother suddenly slips on the steep rocks. With no via ferrata to assist him yet, he becomes nervous. He looks down at his shoes and frowns. Finally he tells us that he would be better off hiking an easier summit and turns back to join my mom. Only my dad and I are left now. As we continue up the Zawrat, I become anxious. Why should an 12 year old girl climb this mountain when a 16 year old boy cannot? I did not tell my dad my fears, I never do. I climb on and survive, I started to feel more confident. As the Zawrat comes to an end I feel restored and ready for the real test. I did not yet know that two people had died in the previous month, July, on this trail, and another person will have died 4 days after our own climb. The trail continuously bobs up and down, fooling me several times with false summits. The climbing is slow but we make progress and the sky is clear. Whenever we climb up. I am ahead of my dad and whenever we climb down, I am behind him, so in any situation, he would be able to arrest my fall. If he fell, l it would be very unlikely for me to catch him, especially at the age of 12. I see an emergency helicopter fly by to a mountain nearby. My dad tells me this is not a rare sight, people often get injured in these foreboding young mountains. After a while, I see some fresh blood on the rocks near the trail, my dad tells me it is just paint from the trail markers, but I know he is just saying that to keep me from being frightened. The summit, Kozi Wierch, is grand top with 360 degree views of the world. It is absolutely stunning, with visibility of all the Tatra Mountain peaks and other mountain ranges far beyond. There are some people on the top reading books and napping. I think it humorous that they brought books to read on a day-hike. With strong cold winds at the summit and daylight quickly waning, we stay only for a few minutes to take pictures and eat a snack.
The descent had no more chains for assistance, it was just a steep path down. However, it is more dangerous because of the amount of sediment on the path, which is littered with small gravel-like rocks and big stones. Because of the trail's steepness, these rocks are constantly moved by our feet, tumbling down, causing a treacherous situation for any climber below us. The further we descended, the further the danger increased, as we looked up to see others descending, also bringing down rocks with them. The rocks were flying by just waiting to hit someone, there was no way to escape, we had to descend. In later years, we bought helmets to use on such climbs We finally approach the restaurant which we passed in the morning, traveling next to the beautifully lighted lake. The sunset made the lake glitter but also cast the mountain's shadow on us. It is a dark and lonely trek on a gravel road through the forest from the restaurant to the car. We started jogging the bottom half, hoping to catch up to our other family members. When we finally arrive at the lodge they are no where in sight, but arrive a half hour later. We then proceed to relax on our last evening in the Tatra Mountains.
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July 2014
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