We’d had this hike on our radar for a few months, but the right time to actually do it only came now. The next 10 days are forecast beautiful sunny weather, with temperatures on the hills up to 10°C and below freezing at night. I’d never done a crossing in conditions this cold before, so we’ll see if I can pull it off. I pack more warm clothes, adjust our daily kilometers to the length of daylight, and count on a fairly good network of huts and shelters. On Thursday evening I lay everything out on the bed so I don’t forget anything, since I’m packing for Jozef too. Before we leave I go buy three days’ worth of supplies and head to Žarnovica, where Jozef’s waiting for me. We start our loop in Krahule, mainly because there’s a good parking spot there that lets us start hiking right away. On the parking lot we pack the food and Jozef repacks his backpack too.

Krahule – Cabanka

Friday, 18.10.2024

→ 9,5 km ↑ 487 m ↓ 283 m

We set off at 4pm. Today’s destination is Cabanka, 9 km away. First we climb through the Ski Krahule area and then continue on a forest road to Skalka.

For now we’re walking in just a hoodie, but when the wind gusts it’s genuinely cold. The trees all around are already beautifully colored.

At Skalka we add a windproof layer and keep up a brisk pace. We pass through some insignificant little tunnel and then continue along the ridge, up and down.

It’s a preview of tomorrow’s stretch to Štúrec pass, which we both remember as the worst part of the SNP Trail. The sun sets fairly fast and it’s already pretty dim in the dense forest.

We try to move fast and tap our poles to make our presence known. At 6pm we join a cycling route, and it’s just a short way to the hut from there. It’s already fairly cold.

At the shelter we hear a dog barking, there’s a man there heading the opposite direction. We check whether the upstairs floor is fine for sleeping. It’s really nice up here, with mattresses. Jozef goes straight to cook mashed potatoes with tuna and olives. Then we have chocolate, a magnesium drink, and go brush our teeth. I wash the mess tin right away too, so it doesn’t dry on till morning, and in that one minute in ice-cold water my hands go numb. We lay out our sleeping bags on the mattresses. Reluctantly, in 7°C, we change into pajamas and more layers, and by 7:30pm we’re lying in our sleeping bags. Half an hour later I blow up the sleeping pads, since a draft was coming up from underneath, then it’s fine, and I fall asleep nice and warm.

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Saturday, 19.10.2024

→ 33,3 km ↑ 1364 m ↓ 1227 m – total 42,8 km

After 10 hours of sleep we get up at 6:30am. Slept like royalty. Even though it’s only 5°C in the hut, changing feels easier than last night. We pack all our things and go down for breakfast. The man’s already up too. We have cod salat with a roll, which was originally supposed to be yesterday’s lunch, coffee, chocolate, and Jozef has tea too. We chat a bit longer. That dog, Bran, weighs 43 kg and eats half a kilo of kibble a day, that’s quite a lot of extra weight.

Before 8am we leave the hut together. After a few hundred meters our paths split, and Bran, who’s already gotten used to us, whines while the man has to pull him the other way. We continue along a nice, gentle path and check out the mushrooms along the trail.

After a few kilometers we’re wondering why this stretch was so bad on the SNP Trail. We reach Flochová pass and from there it drops very steeply. Looking at the signpost at Turecká cesta pass, we remember. From here it’s only 2 km to Štúrec, but that much demanding.

Since we’d expected it, it doesn’t feel quite as brutal as it used to. We take a break by the road, sit in the sun, eat kaiser rolls with salami and cheese, and I catch up on the blog. We rest for about half an hour and then follow a cycling route 10 km to Hotel Kráľová studňa. It’s a very gentle climb, so we move fast.

The road’s lined with beautifully colored trees, and the higher we go, the more the views open up. We’re there in two hours. Three buses are parked there and half the country’s out.

We have cabbage soup, a radler and a beer. We charge our phones and soak up the sun. At 2pm we continue toward Krížna. This is where my favorite stretch of views begins.

The sun’s warm and I soak in the views all around. The weather’s top notch, no wonder there are so many people here. The climb to Krížna takes us about an hour. After that it rolls gently along the ridge, I love this stretch.

Today’s destination is Salaš pod Suchým vrchom, but Jozef thinks it’ll already be full. He’s right. Three tents are already pitched and there’s just one free spot left inside. We fuel up on croissants and continue another two kilometers to Salaš pod Chyžkami. Three people are heading there right ahead of us. We could still fit, but it’s fairly dirty inside and those guys are pretty odd. So we find some kind of flat spot for the tent instead.

Jozef goes for water and I get the sleeping pads ready. The spring’s pretty dirty, so we filter the water. But we’ve got a beautiful view of Ploská in the last rays of sunlight. The idyll’s disturbed a bit by those guys, who spend about an hour hauling wood down from the hill, smoking weed and coughing horribly. Well, what can you do. To warm up we have a packet pea soup, and then I head over to Chyžky to try to photograph the comet. I can’t see it on my phone, but the camera picks it up. I set it on the tripod, start a time-lapse, and after three frames it shuts off. The battery’s cold, so I put it in my jacket for a bit and try again. Second attempt it lasts about 12 frames. That’s enough for today, it’s really gusty here and I’m cold.

Meanwhile Jozef’s cooked pasta with tuna, cheese and dried tomatoes. We cuddle for a bit so I can warm up, and then, after a lot of convincing, I change into merino. I’d wanted to note the temperature too, but I lost the thermometer. On top I put on down trousers and a down jacket. Hoping I stay warm tonight. I finish writing the blog and I’m asleep by 9pm.

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Salaš pod Chyžkami – Koliba Príslop

→ 24,2 km ↑ 1501 m ↓ 1859 m – total 67 km

Alarm’s at 6am, but it’s still dark outside, so we push it back 30 minutes. Then it starts getting light. I photograph the colored sky from the tent. I scrape the frozen condensation off the inside wall of the tent.

I was warm in the night, just my feet got cold, so I had to pull the down trousers on, tucking my feet into them too (Jozef originally bought these trousers, they’re a size L from AliExpress, though I think L for Chinese sizing, so on me they’re just nicely long). Jozef’s feet were cold too, but that’s because we were on a slope and his sleeping bag got damp from condensation. In the morning I’m surprisingly fresh, I take photos, do a time-lapse and sip tea. Breakfast is oat porridge and Vietnamese instant noodles.

Jozef went up the hill to read the news, while I comb my hair. I set off at 8:30am, and our neighbors, who kept it going till 3am, are just getting up too. We start with a climb to Ploská, tougher than it looks.

Then we run down to the hut below Borišov, and after an hour of walking we take a break.

We dry out the sleeping bags, the tent, and have steamed buns with coffee. We soak up the sun and I don’t really feel like leaving this spot. Still, we set off at 10am. Unusually we continue along the red trail. First we cross lovely meadows with views and meet one woman.

It continues like this all the way to Javorina, where we take a short break. We agree we’ll eat at the next meadow. Judging by the ridge ahead, that’ll be at Malý Lysec, which has a small meadow on top. It’s only 4.3 km, but through forested ridge that feels like a roller coaster.

We’re pretty hungry by now and it seems endless. We finally arrive, spread out a feast on top, and soak up the sun. The trail continues along a fairly narrow ridge and then over deadfall all the way to Jarabina. We were prepared for this, but it’s still tiring, constant going around, stepping over, ducking under.

Below Jarabina we top up water and push on further. In places it’s a real slalom, then through bushes, then brutally steep uphill.

I’d already done this stretch once before, but I must have blocked out how demanding it was. We don’t meet another soul, so we tap our poles and whistle occasionally. We finally reach Kľak, which at least has a nice view, and then it’s steep downhill.

We’ve still got one more hill ahead, Chládkové, but it’s really beautiful and colorful.

It’s only 1.6 km to the pass, with almost 300 meters of descent, which we feel like we drop in one go, straight down. Jozef held it together all day and only now starts grumbling about what a nightmare this is. Luckily we join a forest road and it’s a straight shot to Koliba Príslop. We drop our things and find out the spring next to the shelter isn’t flowing. We pack our change of clothes and bottles and head to the second spring, 200 m away. I wanted at least a bit of a rinse after three days, but the second spring only trickles out in a thin thread. We wait for it to fill a cup, which we then pour into a bottle. This way, 3 liters of water takes us about half an hour. Meanwhile Jozef went to cook pasta with tuna. I froze to the bone waiting there. Back at the shelter I just sat on the mattress and warmed myself by a candle. Today I have doubts about whether we’ll actually finish this. Then we ate, had herbal tea, magnesium, and went to lie down. I wanted to write more, but I’m so tired it just knocks me straight out.

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Koliba Príslop – Podšíp

→ 24,9 km ↑ 1402 m ↓ 1568 m – total 91,9 km

At 3am I wake up because I’m warm, so I take off the down layers. But then I need to pee, so I go outside, where the moon’s shining completely clear, and I wake Jozef in the process, who also goes to pee. And now I’m not warm anymore and I’m getting hungry, so my chances of warming back up are slim, so I put all the layers back on and I’m fine in them. In the morning alarm’s at 6:30am again. It’s up to 10°C inside and a proper frost outside. For breakfast we make herbal tea and mushroom soup. We really don’t feel like facing that cold. After yesterday we’re worried about what else is waiting for us. We start on the road, where the sun’s not up yet and everything around is white.

At first we’ve got a fairly steep but short climb. Then, to our surprise, we walk a nice gentle path just below the ridge, with views of Malá Fatra.

Jozef remembers it’s actually English Monday today, so we try to speak English, though I keep slipping back into Slovak. From Vyšné Rudno we continue along the ridge, having to dodge around trees a bit, and then a very steep descent into Ľubochnianske sedlo.

We’re starving, so we eat the last food we’ve got, korbáčiky cheese, chocolate, and chocolate-covered raisins. Meanwhile I read articles about the climb up Kopa, which we’re supposed to do from this pass. Blogs say it’s the worst stretch of the whole crossing. After yesterday we really don’t feel like more deadfall, it’s a lot of elevation, and we’d probably struggle to reach our planned spot. So we decide to take the shorter route into Ľubochňa through the valley instead. We’re still sitting there though, since I’m catching up on the blog. We drop down fast and go wash up a bit in the Ľubochnianka river.

After three days I feel pretty dirty, and even though this was a very quick wash in ice-cold water, I feel a lot better. The green trail continues alongside a canal that once fed a hydroelectric plant.

Ľubochňa’s a fairly interesting village. We head toward Restaurant Eden, where we each have a burger with fries, a beer and coffee. We’re there about 2 hours, charging our things. Then we go stock up for one day at the shop, which has basically nothing, and set off. Ahead of us is the climb to Šíp via Havran, 12 km with almost 1000 m of elevation gain. We’re a bit worried about making it before dark. The climb to Havran starts gently on the road, but then goes very steeply along the ridge, we’re there within the hour.

Since yesterday something’s been stabbing at my toe, I already checked and saw nothing, but now my whole foot’s starting to hurt from it, so we need to deal with it. Jozef takes a look and finds a very tiny splinter, which after a few tries he manages to pull out. Such a small thing causing so much trouble. We try to move fast, but the terrain’s pretty demanding, over rocks, constant up and down. From the pass below Ostrý it’s luckily a fairly nice trail, so we speed up a bit.

We’re at Žaškovské sedlo at 4:15pm, and the signpost says our destination, Podšíp, is 2h 15min away. We’ll really need to hustle then. It’s not even 5 km, but with 500 m of elevation gain. We have a fruit puree and get to it. Ugh, it’s brutally steep.

Within the hour we’re at Šíp and photograph the views at sunset.

The ridge is still a bit technical and then we run downhill. We make it while there’s still light. Podšíp is a settlement of wooden cabins with a really lovely view of the Krivánska Malá Fatra range.

We pitch the tent under a tree, so we don’t get as much condensation. Today’s noticeably warmer than the previous nights. I’m a bit worried some bear might wander over to us, so we cook on the tables away from the tent. Dinner is Slovak-style rice with mortadella. While we eat I set up a time-lapse for the comet, hoping the battery lasts longer today.

After dinner Jozef hangs the food and trash on a tree. He goes to lie down and I keep photographing the sky.

I try to write a bit more in the sleeping bag, but it just doesn’t come to me in the evenings. So I go to sleep after 9pm.

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Podšíp – Chata pod Chlebom

→ 20 km ↑ 1815 m ↓ 1136 m – total 111,9 km

Again we both go pee around 3am and get up at 6:30am. We pack fairly fast and have bread with salami for breakfast. It’s noticeably colder this morning because of the humidity, so I have herbal tea and Jozef black. We’ve got a beautiful view of Malá Fatra lit up by the morning sun.

Today’s going to be a shorter day. We start with a descent into Kraľovany, 2 km, first on a cycling route and then on an unmarked road. On the way down we hit fog, which makes it even colder.

We descend to the railway bridge over the Orava river, which a train just crossed. We hurry across too before the next one comes. I’m a bit worried, so we jog it lightly. At the station we go to the Dvojka bar, have coffee and charge our electronics. I catch up on the blog while Jozef goes shopping. It’s a legendary spot among the local regulars, where the waitress already refuses to pour them a shot of borovička at 9am. Then I go clean myself up a bit in the bathroom and wash some underwear. We have one more beer each and set off at 11am on the green trail toward Stoh. It’s 8.7 km and almost 1300 meters of elevation, the sign gives a time of 3:30. We start steep, right into the hill. We go slow, but steady.

After an hour and over 600 meters of climbing we take a break. We each eat two rolls and a Mila bar. Walking’s easier after the break. A fairly strong wind picks up, and after standing still I’m left cold. Another hour on and we’re at Žobrák hill. That final climb with the strong wind was a real treat. Then we drop a bit and the views open up.

Stoh’s summit is wrapped in clouds. I’ve never taken this route up Stoh before, and probably never will again in my life.

Almost a vertical trail straight up. We finally reach the end, and with the break included it really took us three and a half hours. It’s white and windy at the top, we don’t linger and head into a somewhat gentler descent.

I realize I haven’t been here in a really long time, and that this was actually our first time climbing Stoh together. Once we drop below the cloud cover, the wind dies down and views open up over Rozsutec and the whole ridge.

The further we go, the more the clouds retreat, flowing between the mountains. In the end it turns into a beautiful, interesting day again.

After Stoh my thighs are already worn out, and I start whining on the next climbs along the ridge. Luckily we don’t have far to go today and the views are beautiful. We reach the pass below Hromové and start descent toward Chata pod Chlebom. After a few hundred meters clouds swallow us up.

I’m already really looking forward to the hut, finally a shower! It’s pleasantly warm inside, we unpack and each have a beer. We pay €10 for the tent, which includes a shower too. Jozef goes to pitch the tent below the hut and I blow up the sleeping pads inside. Then I go shower, feels like a whole new person. For dinner we have lentil soup, garlic soup, liver sausage and steamed buns, with a beer (they’ve got Martins on tap here, Jozef’s favorite). Over dinner we chat with the waitress Petra, an ultramarathon runner. I write the blog and edit photos. Jozef’s already heading for the tent when the guys at the next table offer us beer, saying they’d ordered too much. I decline, since I’ll already sleep badly tonight and tomorrow’s the toughest day of the whole route. I upload the blog for about another half hour and then head to the tent too. Jozef has to reinflate the sleeping pads because the air expands and contracts with temperature. I brush my teeth, change into pajamas, and we’re asleep after 9pm.

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Chata pod Chlebom – Chata Javorina

→ 35,4 km ↑ 2167 m ↓ 2159 m – total 147,3 km

We actually manage to get up at 6am. It was fairly warm overnight with occasional gusts. The tent’s completely soaked with condensation and all our things are damp. We change straight away, Jozef gets breakfast ready and I pack. Then I go look for the kitten I’d been petting last night, and there it is.

We give it a slice of salami and we’re already friends. It winds around our legs so much that we give it a few more. It knows how to work us. Meanwhile we have breakfast, drink tea and finish packing. Unbelievably, we manage it all within the hour. We start with a climb on the yellow trail to Snilovské sedlo. The sun’s just coming up and the sky’s beautifully tinted pink. The clouds add to the magical atmosphere.

At Veľký Kriváň we photograph the cloud blanket below us and take a photo together.

Then the sky clouds over and we more or less stay in the clouds for the whole day. We just can’t seem to get good weather here in Malá Fatra. No matter, today we’re in a hurry and at least we stop less for photos. It’s about 10 km to Chata pod Suchým.

We continue through Malý Kriváň, Stratenec, Biele skaly all the way to Suchý. The last stretch is more technically demanding and we move slowly. The descent from Suchý is fairly unpleasant, over loose scree.

At 11am we’re already in the warmth of the hut. I have coffee and strapačky, and Jozef has a farmer’s platter and a beer. Half an hour later we head down, since we’re supposed to meet my brother Dávid in Strečno at 1pm, who’s bringing us a gas canister. We descend from the hut on the blue trail. We thought we’d chosen the easier route, but it’s more like an ankle-twister. It’s an unmaintained rocky path, covered in leaves. I go at a gentle jog to get it over with fast. Jozef falls behind and grumbles, since he’s the one who picked this route. Once we join the red trail lower down, we move fast alongside the Váh river.

In Strečno we first go shopping for the next two days and then head to the parking lot by the castle, where we’re meeting Dávid. Three little Heglas girls are waiting there too. Together we climb the stairs up toward the castle, top up water, and they walk with us a bit further to the turn-off.

It’s 2pm and we’ve still got 13 km and almost 1300 meters of elevation ahead. We choose the red route, which is a bit gentler than the alternative. Even so, we start with a solid climb and then join a forest road that feels endless.

After 6 km and 800 meters of climbing we reach Javorina pass and take a break for bread with salami. From here the route’s very familiar to us, since we ran it a month ago during Big Bear’s Ultra. And we know exactly how nasty a climb is waiting for us. There’s logging going on here, so we go a bit off the marked trail, bypassing it the same way we did during the race.

Gradually the route eases off and we move a bit faster. At Minčol it looks like we might get above the clouds, but no luck. When we ran this, it felt shorter somehow. From here it’s still 4 kilometers to the hut.

We’d originally wanted to sleep in the tent by the hut, but all our things are damp, the tent weighs double from this morning’s condensation, and there was no time or conditions to dry it today. At 5:30pm we reach Chata Javorina. We have a beer and ask about a room. The waitress and the hut keeper exchange glances, guessing it’s just the two of us here. It is. I’d actually thought about calling ahead yesterday. So the hut keeper stays with us and the waitress arranges her ride home. We put the tent to dry in the boiler room and the shoes on a special boot radiator. Second day in a row with a shower, even though my legs look like I haven’t washed them in a week. No wonder, the shoes already have holes in several spots. Then we go have dinner, I get lentil soup and pancakes, and Jozef gets bean soup and a amazing segedin goulash. We watch the news while eating and our brains basically shut off, so we turn it off instead and chat with the hut keeper about hiking, shoes and injuries. Before 9pm we head to bed. In the room I still edit photos and write the blog, but it’s like pulling teeth, so I leave it for tomorrow.

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Chata Javorina – Útulňa Javorina pod Kľakom

→ 28,6 km ↑ 1663 m ↓ 1913 m – total 175,9 km

Alarm’s at 6:30am. Jozef got up before it went off and started waking me. Didn’t exactly put me in a good mood, I hadn’t slept that well. We pack our things and go down for coffee. We’ve got a beautiful sunrise view, even though the windows are wet with condensation on the outside. Jozef goes out to photograph it.

Meanwhile I pay and we sit a while longer until the sun climbs a bit higher. The hut keeper gives us a Mila bar for the road too, probably knows it’s my birthday today. At 7:30am we set off. Five minutes later we reach Veľká lúka and fog wraps around us.

So we set out breakfast, hoping it’ll clear soon and we’ll get nice views along the ridge walk. Meanwhile I finish the blog, and by the time I upload it, the fog’s cleared.

I’ve gotten properly cold from sitting still, so I put on two pairs of gloves and we set off. First we walk through a kind of tunnel of dwarf pine, and then the ridge opens up beautifully and we continue across a meadow.

Clouds sit below and the sun shines beautifully above. I’ve warmed up by now too. From Horná lúka I need to duck over to the outhouse by the burned-down Grandhotel Partyzán. Shame about that shelter, it burned down in 2014, got rebuilt, and burned down again in 2021, though apparently people were squatting there and it had turned into quite a mess. Now only a lightly trodden little path leads there, and my shoes get completely soaked crossing it. I turn back, have some nuts, and we continue along the forested ridge.

We plan lunch for Hnilická Kýčera. From this side it’s not such a terrible hill. Up top there’s a small meadow with a lovely view, so we set up, eat kaiser rolls and a Horalka wafer. Going down is worse though, straight down through mud, luckily fairly dry now. We descend very slowly and Jozef goes for water. He meets an ultra runner heading from Fačkovské to Orava, who mentions he also finished the Koruna Turca in 3 days.

We continue on and reach more meadows with views. We were last time here about three years ago, on our 5th date, and I don’t remember it being this beautiful at all, guess we only had eyes for each other back then.

On the descent into Vríčanské sedlo there’s logging going on, so the road’s ankle-deep mud. We go around it however we can through the forest.

At the pass we take a short break before the climb to Kľak. It’s 500 meters over 3 km. We start very steep. I’m really running out of steam today. Halfway up my mom calls, so at least I get a short rest. We don’t remember this brutal climb either, must have blocked it out too. When the hill eases off, another treat awaits, pushing through young beech saplings.

Luckily we then reach a lovely viewpoint on a rock, and from there it’s just a short way. But I’m genuinely done.

There’s only one person at Kľak and it’s really windy. The views are beautiful, we can see the entire Koruna Turca laid out before us.

We take a few photos and jog down to the shelter below Kľak. We’re there within 20 minutes. We drop our packs and go gather some firewood. Jozef then splits some wood that was already stacked there. I got properly cold up at Kľak and my shoes are soaked through. I go fill a pot with spring water and put it on the stove to heat. No cold water for me today. Jozef goes to cook, first a packet of French onion soup in a mug. Once the water’s warm enough, I wash my feet in it, a real spa treatment!

I heat up more water and Jozef puts his feet in too, genuinely lovely after a whole day walking in damp shoes. We put the tent and the tyvek groundsheet out to dry a bit more. I inflate the sleeping pads, then warm up by the stove and pick out photos. Second course is pasta with tuna, garlic and ketchup, and for dessert, chocolate with nuts. The perfect birthday dinner! My brother Peťo even manages to call to congratulate me, partly in Spanish, since they’re heading there next week. I’ve got signal here, so I share it with Jozef so he can read his messages, and I keep editing photos. Then we brush our teeth, pee, Jozef goes to sleep and I write for a bit longer, but as always, I’m so worn out it completely knocks me out.

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Útulňa Javorina pod Kľakom – Útulňa SNP Sklené

→ 40,5 km ↑ 1420 m ↓ 1761 m – total 216,4 km

We get up at 6:30am. Slept nicely, warm in our sleeping bags. I lie there and finish writing the blog. Jozef gets breakfast ready. First he hands me bread with Pali pâté, but I don’t like it, so he makes me chocolate oat porridge instead, with tea and coffee.

Before we leave we visit the top-notch outhouse and tidy up the shelter a bit.

Today we’ve got the most kilometers of the whole route ahead, and we’re already setting off fairly late. It’s 5 km downhill to Vrícko.

First through forest, already covered in a pile of leaves, so we need to watch for rocks, then along a cycling route through the valley. The start of this road’s pretty marked up by logging, and even though we try to go around it, we end up looking like little piglets. We’re moving slower than expected.

In Vrícko we go shopping at the Jednota store. To our surprise they’ve got a fairly decent selection. We buy stuff for the last day: pasta, soup, tuna, mortadella, garlic, ham, a smoked cheese spread and good rolls. As a snack now we have a chocolate roll, a walnut pastry and a beer. We sit outside the shop for quite a while and then continue along the paved road about 4 km to Vríčske sedlo. I’d originally wanted to take the forest road, but it had more elevation, and given we’re in bear country, we figured this would be the smarter choice. At least it goes by fast on the road.

At the pass we join the SNP trail, which we’ll follow all the way to the end of our crossing. At the same time we also enter the Žiar mountains, which we should cross entirely today. We start with a fairly steep climb to Závozy through some unattractive forest. Then it continues more gently, with the occasional view.

Autumn’s really in the air now. Beautifully colored trees everywhere and leaves fluttering around us. But every time I try to film it, they stop. Jozef’s starting to think I have some kind of obsession with them. Here and there I remember bits of my own SNP Trail hike, like where I took a nap, and that in the forest before Vyšehrad pass there’s a little box with stones engraved with “Cesta hrdinov SNP.” If anyone feels their pack’s too light, they can add a bit of weight there.

Just before the pass, in a fence with cows, we have lunch, those amazing rolls. I catch up on the blog, though it takes a long time and probably means we won’t make it before sunset. It’s already past 2pm and we’ve still got 19 km to the end. Ahead of us is the last bigger hill, Vyšehrad. We move really fast and are up within 25 minutes.

We take some photos on the rock and jog downhill. From here the route should be gently rolling and mostly on some kind of forest road, which we can cover fast.

We push it to top speed and even run downhill. We barely stop, only for water, and in the second half I have a Mila bar to keep my strength up. There’s a lot of dense thicket here, so we whistle and tap our poles, but don’t spot any sign of bears.

5 km before the end we pass by Jožkovňa shelter, where I’d originally planned to sleep, but I want to check out the new shelter instead.

The kilometers tick by, and 500 m before the shelter we top up every bottle we’ve got. It only flows in a thin trickle, so it takes about 10 minutes. We cover the last stretch through the forest in near-dark. At 6pm we arrive at the shelter, genuinely happy with that timing. We go straight upstairs to lay out our things. There are nice mattresses, so we don’t even bother inflating the sleeping pads, just lay tyvek on them. There’s even a solar panel, so I charge my watch and we’ve got a light on. Jozef goes straight to cooking and I get started sorting through photos. First we have chicken soup with leftover Slovak rice, then pasta with garlic, tuna and mortadella, and finally herbal tea. I’m glad we’re finishing tomorrow, we really pushed it today and we’ve had quite enough. Our clothes could use a wash too, and I’d love to wash my hair. Jozef of course goes to sleep earlier, and I write the blog until 10pm. I don’t manage to finish it, but tomorrow’s a short day, so I’ll do it in the morning.

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Saturday, 26.10.2024

→ 19,7 km ↑ 749 m ↓ 629 m – total 236,1 km

We get up at 6:30am again. It’s fairly warm in the shelter. I catch up on the blog while eating on rolls with ham, Jozef has with bacon. To drink we have black tea and coffee too. There’s a fancy outhouse here too, a modern one. I notice a Radegast 12 beer on the shelf below. I laugh at Jozef, since he’d genuinely have a beer last night given the chance. I go check out the second spring, which isn’t marked on the map. It flows just as slowly as yesterday’s, but at least I wash my face in it. Then I go pack everything and carry it downstairs. There’s good signal here, so I catch up on the blog. Jozef’s getting impatient and wants to go. He’d already changed into shorts, assuming we were leaving, so now he’s cold.

We set off at 9:30am, with the last 20 km of the route ahead of us. Today’s already typical autumn weather. Heavy grey clouds in the sky, with the sun occasionally peeking through, a strong cold wind, and colored leaves flying around us everywhere.

We cross the Sklenianske lúky and watch sunbeams filtering through the clouds onto the surrounding hills.

Then we climb Bralová skala above Remata. We’re a stone’s throw from home now. Beautifully colored hills stretch out below us.

We keep a brisk pace, ready to have this behind us. Now it’s just walking through forest, we finish off the last of our sweets, cross the highest hill of today’s stretch, Vysoká, and descend into Kunešov.

We get lost about three times, even though I have the route loaded on my watch. Eventually we reach an open meadow, where navigation gets simple.

In Kunešov a bus tempts us as it’s just about to leave, but it would bother us not to walk those last few kilometers. At the edge of the village we take a break, eat korbáčiky cheese and Asian jerky. We’ve only got 7 km left on asphalt to the end. Cows along the way make the road more pleasant.

The kilometers tick down and there’s just the last climb ahead, to Stred Európy (Center of Europe). We’ve both been there before, so we don’t stop. The end is close, just the last two kilometers.

We’re a bit anxious about what state we’ll find our car in. It’s there, in one piece, no wheel clamp, so that’s a relief. We change into somewhat cleaner shirts and swap into other shoes. It’s just starting to drizzle a bit, so we made it just in time. We sit down in the car with relief. After 9 days of walking, it feels like we’re driving unbelievably fast in that car, pretty funny. We stop at a farm shop and buy some head cheese and pork cracklings. We’re both starving, so Jozef munches on cracklings along the way, I’m not a big fan myself. We put on the Lajf podcast with Andrej Orogváni, a runner we met on the trail and whom Dávid identified based on the fact that he’d run the whole Koruna Turca and had a dark beard. Interesting guy, I recommend the podcast. We head toward Prievidza, to the Vietnamese bistro Phos. We order Pho, Bun nam bo and Bun cha. The woman there, who barely speaks Slovak, double-checks whether we really want three dishes, since the portions are huge.

We have no trouble finishing it all. We’d hoped for an open ice cream shop in Nováky, but sadly it was already closed for the season. I could’ve fit in some kind of dessert. Since we’ve got nothing at home, we put off the shower with a stop at Lidl. We shop, unpack everything at home, and it looks like a bomb went off in there. I go shower, washing my hair is a totally different experience at this point. I catch up on yesterday’s blog and Jozef’s already back at work. Our bedtime hasn’t budged, and properly exhausted, we go to sleep.

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Malá Fatra, Veľká Fatra Kremnické Vrchy a Žiar

3 nights in a tent, 4 nights in a shelter, 1 night in a hut

Well, this hike really went well for us! We started off unsure whether we’d even finish it, but the further we went, the better it got. It runs through my favorite mountain ranges in Slovakia, and yet it still manages to show new, unfamiliar stretches.

We got beautiful Indian-summer weather and only had thick fog on the hills for one day. The timing was perfect, since the clocks changed on the day we got back. I loved these autumn days, in the morning I only needed to get up at 6:30am to catch sunrise, and in the evening I didn’t have to wait long for the stars to come out for photos. On top of that I got a good night’s sleep every night and recovered well. On the other hand, these shorter days meant we had to fit our daily kilometers into a set time window, with fewer breaks and sometimes even running downhill. It was tougher than I’d expected, especially the second half of Veľká Fatra, which isn’t as popular and had a lot of fallen trees.

This isn’t a hike I’d recommend to a beginner. But if you’ve already got some experience and want to try something harder, or train for an alpine crossing, it’s the right choice. At a normal pace you can manage it in 10 days, faster in a week, slower in two weeks.

There are plenty of shelters and places to restock along the way. Whenever we passed through a village or a hut, we’d eat there, and cooked the rest ourselves on the gas stove. We used up one 230g canister and a bit of another, and that’s with fairly cold conditions where we made a lot of tea and coffee too. For our next autumn crossing we’ll probably bring an alcohol stove, so we don’t have to worry about low temperatures. Our down sleeping bags have a 4°C comfort rating and we managed fine even at -3°C, wearing an extra down layer and, of course, sleeping pads with high thermal resistance. As for clothing, we had the same gear as in summer, just layered as needed.

Costs

“Food” means ready meals bought at a hut or restaurant, and “groceries” were bought at a shop. “Drinks” includes beer, coffee, and soft drinks. Total: €377.30.

Closing thoughts

Thank you for being with us again, and I hope our hikes inspire you to get out into nature too. It’s amazing out there! And no, we really didn’t run into a bear.

I’d love it if you left a comment here or sent me a message, it would make my day. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. You can message me on Instagram or email info@stupky.com.

Take care, happy trails, and see you next time.

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