Polish version below

Yesterday I was hiking with friends in High Tatras. We've started in Stary Smokovec and our primary goal was Teryho Chata.

In the morning weather was great, though it was to change around noon. Going with some decent pace was not easy for me, but after each meter up my body woke up.

We came to Teryho 45min faster then trail sign showed. After pause for eating/drinking we decided to try to go towards Baranie Rohy. Our goal was to just go some time (1 hour max), even without reaching the summit.

The weather started to become 'hazy', but it was not bad. We went through the lake (Prostredné Spišské pleso) and up towards Baranie Rohy. The terrain was steep, but pace was finally good.

100m before mountain pass called Baranie Sedlo I had some second thoughts, but:

• the hill wasn't getting any steeper now (as far as I could see),
• weather was still not so bad,
• there were steps already made in ice/snow wall

so I moved on. After an hour from Teryho Chata I was at Baranie Sedlo (2390m a.s.l) awith some ski tourers and dog (sic!).

My friends caught up with me and were willing to go further up to Baranie Rohy.

I was looking up at the wall and some hikers climbing up for a few minutes now, and I was already sure that it wasn't for me. Going down from here will be hard enough and the "trail" up looked much steeper.

Fortunately my friends agreed with me and we started going down.

And now it started to be real difficult:

• The skiers droped ice bricks from above,
• The weather broke down even further, gusts of wind up to 70km/h picking up snow, there were moments that I couldn't see my feet,
• The steps which we used to come up were gone.

It was longest 30 minutes as far as I can remember. One foot after another, pull up ice axe, stick it little lower (sometimes punch through the ice), and again, and again, step by step, very carefully.

The trip was like a "Boiling Frog" (yeah, I know it's a fable, but it's convincing). Going up was looking pretty easy, but coming down was much harder than I thought. And of course the knowledge came a little late, we were already on top and had to go down.

Now I know it was unnecessary risk. Fortunately it all ended well and next time I will be wiser and pay much more attention to intuition (hope so!).

---

Wczoraj byliśmy ze znajomymi w Tatrach Słowackich. Wystartlowaliśmy ze Starego Smokowca, a celem była Chata Teryego.

Rano pogoda była piękna, ale prognozy mówiły że około południa się popsuje. Na początku szło mi się dość ciężko, ale na szczęście z każdym metrem przewyższenia organizm się budził do życia.

Do Chaty Teryego doszliśmy 45 min szybciej niż wskazywała rozpiska na szlaku. Po przerwie w schrosniku zdecydowaliśmy się na dalszą drogę w stronę Baranich Rogów. Ustaliliśmy ze idziemy w tamtym kierunku max godzinę żeby za późno nie wracać do Krakowa, niezależnie od tego czy dojdziemy na szczyt czy nie.

Zgodnie z prognozą, pogoda zaczynała się psuć, pojawiły się chmury i zrobiło się mgliście, ale jeszcze nie było źle. Przeszliśmy przez Pośredni Staw Spiski i dalej w kierunku Baranich Rogów. Teren zaczał być stromy, ale szło mi się bardzo dobrze i dość szybko.

100m przed przełęczą Baranią Przełęczą zacząłem mieć wątpliwości, ale:

• the hill wasn't getting any steeper now (as far as I could see),
• weather was still not so bad,
• there were steps already made in ice/snow wall

so I moved on. After an hour from Teryho Chata I was at Baranie Sedlo (2390m a.s.l) awith some ski tourers and dog (sic!).

My friends caught up with me and were willing to go further up to Baranie Rohy.

I was looking up at the wall and some hikers climbing up for a few minutes now, and I was already sure that it wasn't for me. Going down from here will be hard enough and the "trail" up looked much steeper.

Fortunately my friends agreed with me and we started going down.

And now it started to be real difficult:

• The skiers droped ice bricks from above,
• The weather broke down even further, gusts of wind up to 70km/h picking up snow, there were moments that I couldn't see my feet,
• The steps which we used to come up were gone.

It was longest 30 minutes as far as I can remember. One foot after another, pull up ice axe, stick it little lower (sometimes punch through the ice), and again, and again, step by step, very carefully.

The trip was like a "Boiling Frog" (yeah, I know it's a fable, but it's convincing). Going up was looking pretty easy, but coming down was much harder than I thought. And of course the knowledge came a little late, we were already on top and had to go down.

Now I know it was unnecessary risk. Fortunately it all ended well and next time I will be wiser and pay much more attention to intuition (hope so!).

---

Daniel Fenert