Nearly 30 km to go, no time to waste. Hiking or not, breakfast is always an important meal and somehow it just sets the mood for the rest of the day. I went for pancakes with cheese and red berries at Andrzejówka Hut. The portion is huge. Finished the first pancake and took the second to eat later, somewhere in nature.

Route: Andrzejówka Hut to Zygmuntówka Hut
Distance: ~ 28-29 km

The track begins rather moderately and after less than a kilometre, I am at Turzyna (898m a.s.l.) from where it’s another 3 kilometres to the ruins of Rogowiec castle. For castle enthusiasts – nothing much to see here, but as a viewpoint, it’s totally worth a stop. To get to the ruins I have to leave the red track and follow the yellow one which later on merges with red again, making it a super easy detour.

Now it’s time for 2 kilometres of easy descent through the forest towards Rybnica Mała. I am not far from Jedlina Zdrój but first I need to go up to Wawrzyniak Pass (568m a.s.l.) and cross the railway tracks before entering the town.

The track crosses the road 381 and leaves the town immediately, but it is worth to take a short detour and check out Jedlinka Palace. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the place was open for tourists only on the weekends, so I couldn’t go inside. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful building to see from the outside and have a lunch break on the grass in front of it. The building was built at the beginning of the 17th century as a baroque manor house. In the years 1944–1945, it housed the design office of the Nazi Todt Organization and is closely connected to many other Nazi locations in the Owl Mountains and Włodarz Massif.

After the lunch break, it’s time to sweat. The track climbs to Marcowa Pass. It’s already after 1 PM, so the temperature doesn’t make it easier. It’s a scenic fragment of the track though! After Marcowa Pass (Przełęcz Marcowa) it becomes flatter and here I met a couple following Main Sudetes Trail as well, but not in one push like me but they split over a couple of visits in the region. The guy seems to be a real hiker with huge experience in Polish mountains so it’s a pleasure to listen to his stories and the time (and distance) flies fast until we reach the Eagle’s Pass (Przełęcz Sokola).

First issues with the weather appeared when I saw dark clouds on the horizon, the sun was burning like crazy and I couldn’t stop the feeling that it had to end with a storm. 8 kilometres left to Zygmuntówka Hut but on the most difficult terrain of the day.

I started the ascent from Eagle’s Pass (754m a.s.l.) to the Great Owl (Wielka Sowa – 1015m a.s.l.). There was a lot of people on the track, going to the observation tower. Dark clouds were getting closer and I could already see the lighthouse-like construction at the top of the Great Owl when I heard the first thunder.

I didn’t go up the viewing tower but rushed towards my final destination. Seems that not too many people venture beyond as the track became totally deserted. Luckily it’s mainly downhill so I was moving really fast. Unfortunately, the wind was getting stronger and stronger and I knew it’s only a matter of minutes to feel first drops of rain on my head. It started around Kozia Równia, so 2 kilometres before Zygmuntówka Hut. I put a rain jacket and rain cover on my backpack and continued walking for another 1 kilometre. Suddenly, the rain started to be simply insane and thunders were getting launder. Luckily, I noticed a wooden structure, full of rubbish and empty beer bottles inside, but good enough to spend next hour there waiting for the storm to calm down.

I knew I am very close to the hut, but it really didn’t make sense to push in such weather conditions. After a perfect sunny day with blue sky, a few hours later everything was covered in clouds and the temperature was dropping together with heavy rain. Quite common in the mountains, isn’t it?

I reached the hut totally soaked, yet satisfied. It was a challenging day without the happy ending but damn, so enjoyable. After all, that storm will stay in my memories and I created my own happy ending – with the Owl’s beer (Sowie).

After most of the previous day spent in Krzeszów, when the weather was rainy, then sunny, then stormy again I was really happy to wake up and see perfectly blue sky. It always gives some extra boost of energy in the morning!

The plan for today was to reach Andrzejówka Hut and spend the night there. Due to COVID-19 and uncertainty what is open and what is still closed, I gave them the call to confirm availability. They said they are in the middle of renovation but still have some rooms available and I am welcomed. Great news! After the night spent in Odrodzenie Hut in Karkonosze Mountains, I had only good memories and was looking forward to staying again in a proper mountain hut rather than private accommodation in the village.

Route: Krzeszów to Andrzejówka Hut
Distance: ~ 22 km

For the first 2 kilometres after leaving Krzeszów, the track takes me uphill towards Mount of Saint Anna (Góra Św. Anny), where I can have a closer look at the chapel seen the day before from a drone. From here, I look for a very last time to the panorama of Krzeszów.

Then, it’s another 4 kilometres through the area called Hills of Krzeszów (Krzeszowskie Wzgórza) to the village Grzędy. Mostly in the forest, however as I get closer to the village, the forest is left behind and I see huge fields of yellow-blooming rape. It seems to be a great scenery for drone footage, therefore it’s time for a short break. With a drone, I discovered something that otherwise I only heard from the distance – melaphyre mine.

From Grzędy, the next destination is Sokołowsko, roughly 10 kilometres away but with significant ascent (~450m) and descent, passing through mountains, such as Mount Sucha (Sucha Góra – 767 m a.s.l.), Great Lesista (Lesista Wielka – 854 m a.s.l.) and Ostrosz (792 m a.s.l.).

But after walking through the Grzędy village, the most unpleasant section of the day begins. First, it’s over 2 kilometres walk on an asphalt road with cars passing by and then when it’s time to get back to the forest, the track is so poorly marked that I couldn’t find a way without double-checking it in the phone. It goes left into which seems to be a backyard of somebody’s house, but after you pass it, there is, in fact, a proper road. Moments like this give me a lot of frustration. Nowadays you can find detailed maps and descriptions online, but on the other hand, it would be so easy to mark it. Yet, no one cares. I would suggest to save yourself time as well as nerves and always have at hand mobile map, such as the one at www.mapa-turystyczna.pl

The steep descent from Great Lesista takes me all the way to the crossing with road 35 and then again the walk on asphalt road begins. Not pleasant at all, especially in full sun. In about half an hour I am at Sokołowsko and here I made short detours around the town to check out the sights.

In 1849 countess von Colomb arrived at the village, which had a significant impact on its further development. She found the area so nice and relaxing that she went one step further and persuaded her brother-in-law, Doctor Hermann Brehmer, to open a health resort. In 1855, worlds first specialized tuberculosis sanatorium was ready and the village was named after Professor Alfred Sokołowski, Brehmer’s co-worker.

Shortly after entering the town, I find old Sanatorium Grunwald on the right side of the road. After the fire in 2005, today it’s still a ruin, however there are works going on at some day it may come back to the old glory.

Turning right into Parkowa Street, I reach Orthodox church of St. Michael the Archangel. It was built to meet the religious needs of patients who came in large numbers from Russia.

Other than that, it’s just nice to walk around and admire old buildings and architecture, of once popular and today forgotten by the world spa town.

From Sokołowsko, the fun begins as according to my resources, the ascent to Bukowiec and into Dry Mountains (Góry Suche) is one of the steepest on the track. I meet a group of people that just went down and I see big smiles on their faces when they see me walking the opposite way. Well, if I didn’t like to go up and down, then I wouldn’t go to the mountains 🙂 It was steep. It was tiring. It took me quite some time and around 3-4 breaks on the way up. I think the main problem was my heavy backpack and the fact that I already had some kilometres in my legs.

From here, only ~2.5 km left to Andrzejówka Hut and the section was mostly in the forest, having another melaphyre mine on the left side, which couldn’t be clearly seen but could be clearly heard.

Andrzejówka Hut was not as remote as mountain hut should be, at least to match my expectations. To be honest, it isn’t remote at all, there is an asphalt road leading to it from one side so there is a lot of day visitors walking around and enjoying food and drinks. By then I didn’t know yet that it’s rather normal in the Polish mountains. Mountain huts are like restaurants giving you an option to stay for the night, rather than remote shelters to which you have to carry your own food and fuel, as it was during my hikes in New Zealand. Well, now I know.

The room had 2 bunk beds but due to COVID-19 restrictions, I was the only one in the room. I enjoyed dumplings, apple cake and a coffee at a terrace and started planning the next day.

The plan for day 5 was to cover the distance of approximately 23 km, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the hike without the need of being in a hurry.

From Średnica Pass, the trail ascents for 3 km to Mała Ostra, where we found amazing rock formation to climb, from top of which we were rewarded with the breathtaking view to the places that we passed in the last days, e.g. Śnieżka and Karkonosze Mountains.

From there, you may want to take a short detour (~ 700m) along the blue track to Skalnik (945 m a.s.l.), though the views won’t get any better. The summit belongs to the Crown of Polish Mountains, so it’s tempting to tick it off from the list.

Route: Średnica Pass to Lubawka
Distance: ~23 km

Next, the track gradually descends towards Bobrzak Crossroads and Czarnów, which is known for its Hare Krishna farm. Apparently it’s a good place to learn about the culture and try vegetarian food if you find it interesting. We decided to skip it at that time.

Passing through the peaks of Wilkowyja (776 m a.s.l.) and Liściasta (755 m a.s.l.), we finally arrived in Szarocin. Leaving it behind, we tackled the peak of Świerczyna (720 m a.s.l.). After the descent, there is a longer fragment of the track leading on an asphalt road, until we reached Paprotki.

Paprotki is known for nearby Bukówka Lagoon. However, the track doesn’t follow near the banks but instead climbs to Zadzierna Rocks (724 m a.s.l.). It is a wonderful viewpoint but having already some kilometres in our legs, we started to feel first symptoms of fatigue 🙂

The last section leads downhill to Bukówka village from where we were forced to follow rather an unpleasant asphalt road with car traffic on it, which is never nice for hikers. Luckily, it’s only 3 kilometres to reach Lubawka. The city has a nice main square with city hall and tenement houses from XVIII century. We stayed for the night in Hotel Lubavia which was quite minimalistic. They have a restaurant too, where we refilled with energy in the form of schnitzel, listening to a rather horrible disco polo concert on local TV.