Koruna Turca – day 4
Monday, 21.10.2024
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.
