IDEA FOR A WEEKEND - Bieszczady

ROUTE 150 km

Nourished with a solid breakfast at our lovely hosts, we continue our journey. The further away from Krosno the snow flashes in places. We go to Rymanów, more specifically to Zdrój :), where winter shows its claws more and more. It seems to be in the plus of 8 degrees, but the snow and ice are at their best here - you have to be careful where and how you tread.

We cut to Komancza via Szczawne. A picturesque road on gentle hills, so we do not complain about the lack of views. We know Szczawne, Komańcza, Cisna from the summer season, now we are just passing through to find ourselves in real hills as soon as possible. This is not the case as soon as possible, because already in Komańcza, slush begins to accumulate on the roads, and the more you go to the east. Above 700 m, there is already regular snow with specific ruts on the road. It's good that we are on winter tires. We reach the first pass behind Cisna. We get to the parking lot, but not too deep, because there is practically no car traffic - we passed 3 from Cisna. We make a cup of coffee, something sweet, and here, as if from Marszałkowska, everyone broke off - every minute a car is squeezed into a currently small (not snow-free) parking lot. Okay, then we'll check what attracts them all here - a wonderful panorama :)

Now a bit down, but despite the fact that we are lowering, somehow the white does not give way. On the contrary, there are no ruts anymore, now there is already a dozen or so centimeters of regular snow on the road. Behind Wetlina, another pass, as if to say, let nothing come from the opposite direction, because if it does, we will not start. And here, as if out of spite, a car pulls down every now and then - it's good that we didn't have to pass each other on the corners, and the passenger cars were so intelligent that we were going to the sides. The last turn and we can already see the pass - hopefully nothing of the opposite, because there is a regular parking lot along the road. Phew, we're at the top. We were planning a walk, but the border guard said that when we stand, it will be too narrow for two cars to pass each other. Too bad, there will be no Hut of the Pooh in winter.

The next pass ( Wyżniańska ) is better accessible. Despite the fact that there is a lot of snow everywhere, and even more, it is easier to drive up, because there are no so many turns. One moment and we report to Połonina Caryńska. However, we choose a walk towards Wielka Rawka. There is complete silence around, mountains, mountains and mountains again :)

We saw her from afar. We will not miss this opportunity. We huddle down to Ustrzyki Górne. There is a large parking lot next to the hostel, opposite the border guard building. We have already spent the night there, but this time it is impossible. So, about half a meter of snow is lying on it. But there is also one plus - the asphalt is extremely black, as if someone suddenly swept all the snow. Okay, we have no choice. You have to hit Wołosate today. We were a bit worried because it is a side road. However, it is completely snowless. The only thing that may be worrying are the signs "attention bears", but at this time the bears should sleep? We pass the "last on the trail" parking lot in Wołosaty and continue across the bridge to the bus stop, around which there is still some parking space. And here civilization ends. A stop taken away only enough to make a few parking spaces, because nothing commutes here at this time of the year ...

Until the sun we go on the trail. Nice packed snow, sun in the world, Tarnica at your fingertips. What more do you need? Aaaaa time until sunset, because unfortunately today we will not be able to reach the top ...

The night passed us ... well, unfortunately I cannot say that it was calm. Yesterday we passed the signs on the road from Ustrzyki Górne to Wołosaty warning about the possibility of meeting bears, but it is probably not their time? :) As it gets dark early in winter - we closed the windows and sat at dinner when strange lights appeared. The bear and the lights don't seem to go together, so we assumed it wasn't that. The last lighthouse is located next to a large parking lot in Wołosate. Here we were standing 15-20 meters from the buildings on the other side of the road, but it was nevertheless dark as… So where did the lights come from, and in addition moving towards us, every now and then in a different one. It turned out to be border guards patrols. They walked several dozen meters away from each other and throwing a beam of light from side to side and forward with powerful flashlights. As if the attractions were not enough, a patrol passed us from time to time at night, and as at the stop near which we were standing, the road was finally cleared of snow, so as soon as the car pulled onto the ice we had an automatic wake up call :) Well, it was important that someone was watching.

So in the morning, when we got up at dawn, we looked at the mountains and… collapsed. It was supposed to be the weather, and here the sun did not come up for good as its first rays obscured the clouds. We are waiting. And the fork knife still shines. We're going for a short reconnaissance. It's already 9, and the temperature is still below minus 10 (and yesterday you could walk in the same sweater). The mountains are covered with feathers and do not think to let go ... In these conditions, however, we will let go - conquering mountains in fog and gusty winds in winter, in our opinion, is a bad idea. Although in the meantime the "parking lot" at the bus stop was filled with enthusiasts (I don't know where the bus will turn back when it brings the children from school in the afternoon), there was even one that packed a sleeping bag and mat for a huge backpack and disappeared in the cloud cover, but we choose a different direction. Though sorrow in the heart, reason prevailed.

We return to Ustrzyki Górne and heading north. As we had partially visited the Bieszczady Mountains a few months earlier (I promise to give you a report :)) Now we quickly ran to Czarna and there we turned to Solina. Way…. narrow, winding and snowy, and unfortunately getting darker. It blew snow a few times, which confirmed our belief that we did the right thing to let go of the mountains today.

We dropped out of coffee in Polańczyk. Temperature and wind do not let go, so we limit the walk to the necessary minimum. We were literally gone for a moment and here we have such a surprise :)

Direction to Sanok - where with Toeloop we drive to the parking lot at the Folk Architecture Museum. Holding on to what we can (so as not to win over another eagle) we enter the open-air museum and although the weather is not very encouraging, sightseeing takes us a good few hours. As it is winter, it is impossible to enter the buildings, but there is so much to see that even without it, our feet go in :) Although visiting the open-air museum / museum / gallery is not our fairy tale, from what we have seen so far this type of place is topped only by Rumszyszki in Lithuania.