Czarny Potok - Jaworzyna
Just behind the hotel the trail turns left. After 100 metres, behind the bridge, the trail departs from the dirt road to the right and leads you steeply into the forest. The road opposite also leads to Jaworzyna - a great route for cyclists and cross-country skiers.
After a short section through the forest, the trail leads to a large meadow where cross-country skiing trails are established in winter. After crossing the meadow we enter a beautiful beech forest. Walking through the forest we reach the road we left before. NOTE: after 200 m the trail diverges from the road to the left, which is not clearly marked, it is easy to miss the fork! After about 20 minutes you get to the main ski slope. Further on the trail goes up along the edge of the piste. You will reach the biggest fork in the ski tracks on Jaworzyna. From here you have a beautiful view of the Leluchów Mountains (to the south-east). Pass the gondola lift, behind it the trail joins the green trail and leaves the ski slope.
Slightly below the place where the trails join, in the forest, there is a cave called Zbojecka Jaskinia or Diabla Dziura[Devil's Pit]. According to legend, it was here that the brigands hid their booty and swore an oath to their hetman. They would all stand around, kneel down, put two fingers of their right hand on a heretical bible from Gdansk (translation into Polish in 1632 by the Czech and Calvin brothers), and two fingers of their left hand on crossed shotguns, and repeat the words of their oath:
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen! All of us gathered here, in the presence of the Eternal God, the Holy Mother of God, all the saints and Archangel Michael, the patron saint of bandits, swear together that we will be faithful to you as our bandit Hetman, that we will not betray you or our comrades, that we will be obedient to you and that we will not abandon you in times of need until your death and ours. And even if we are broken by a wheel, beheaded, quartered, impaled or hanged on gallows, we will be faithful to you and to the brigand's power, faithful, faithful, faithful, amen!
We have entered the most "mysterious" part of the trail. We have just passed the place around which robbers from the whole area used to gather, and the trail leads us to the Devil's Stone. This is a rocky outcrop that has ;survived; erosive processes that over hundreds of years have crushed and slid/washed away the surrounding soft rocks and soil. Well, the place is indeed bleak even on a sunny day, let alone at night.
A big jagged boulder, with old beech trees of unusual shapes all around.... No wonder that when some robbers had too much to drink at a "meeting" near the cave and accidentally wandered into this area at night, they saw devils... And the simple-minded shepherds added their own - the good - part of the legend. A brave and handsome knight from Muszyna fell in love with a shepherdess who grazed sheep on the top of Jaworzyna Krynicka. The young knight's wealthy father did not want his son to marry a peasant girl. He sent him to war so that there he would forget about the beautiful highlander. When the knight returned to his homeland, he was attacked by dangerous and ruthless robbers on Parkowa Mountain in Krynica. They severely beat the knight, who moaned and screamed in pain. A beautiful shepherdess heard those moans. She quickly ran to the place, and when she saw her beloved, she began to pray fervently to Our Lady, asking her to heal him. She was amazed when she saw that a spring had gushed out next to the wounded knight. She washed the injured knight with the water from the spring and he soon recovered. After this magical event the knight's father agreed to marry them. When the devils heard about the existence of a miraculous spring with life-giving water in Krynica, they decided to destroy it. The strongest of them flew to the Tatra Mountains from where he took the biggest possible boulder and threw it at the miraculous spring, which was a thorn in the flesh of the evil devils. When the devil flew over the top of Jaworzyna Krynicka, a hen crowed and the devil was terribly frightened by the approaching sunrise.
In the place where lovers met, on Góra Parkowa, there is now a beautiful statue of Our Lady Queen of Krynica Spas by the outstanding Romantic artist A. Grottger. Grottger, and nearby there is actually a mineral water spring. No later devilish attempts to collapse the spring with huge boulders have been reported, so for the time being it is safe. ;-) Behind the Devil's Stone the trail again heads towards the ski piste.
A little further the red and green trails diverge. The red trail takes the shortest way to the summit, while the green trail heads away from the ski piste towards the PTTK (Polish Tourist Country-Lovers' Association) mountain hostel, and only after it, taking a slightly detour, leads you to the summit. A magnificent panorama can be admired from the top - Jaworzyna is the highest mountain in the area. When the weather is good, you can see the Tatras to the south-west, the Leluchowskie Mountains to the east, and the Beskid Niski with its characteristic Lackowa massif towering over the surroundings.
Jaworzyna Krynicka - Runek - Bacówka over Wierchomla
From Jaworzyna we continue along the Main Beskid Track (red mark) towards the Market Square and Łabowska Hala. This is one of the most beautiful Beskid trails, leading through the entire range of Jaworzyna Krynicka to Rytro and further along the Radziejowa range towards the Gorce Mountains. Traversing the section of the GSB leading through the Beskid Sądecki allows you to see everything that is most beautiful in this part of the Beskids: The Jaworzyna Krynicka Range (a shorter, one-day trip), the Jaworzyna and Radziejowa Range (a longer, two-day trip). These are beautiful, but quite demanding trips. Our route leads only on the 4-kilometre peak section and near the Runku it diverges in the direction of Połoniny Słotwińskie. However, it is enough to taste the charms of this beautiful trail.
About 200 metres past the top of Jaworzyna, we enter the oldest local ski slope. In ancient times, when no one even dreamed of a gondola lift, there was a small "GOPR" lift here. I remember from my childhood how to get to this lift by a special tractor with a "passenger" trailer, which ran from Czarny Potok in winter. ;-) That was back in the early 90's, some things have changed in Jaworzyna since then... Further on we have to walk mainly through the forest. Two kilometers of gentle ascents and descents in the beech forest scenery. On the top of Czubakowska our trail is joined by the blue trail. Further, we have 0.5 km of a relatively flat section and we reach Runek, called by some (especially AGH students) Trunk. Do not count on vast panoramas, the beauty of this area is rather intimate. The trail leads through a magnificent beech forest, in autumn it is fabulous here (I attach photos to prove it), but there is not even a tiny clearing or even a slight thinning of the trees, and the peak itself is so poorly outlined that if it were not for a signpost, you might unknowingly miss it. Behind the peak there is a fork: the red trail goes gently right towards Łabowska Hala, while the blue trail goes left towards the Wierchomla Mountain Hostel. We follow, of course, the blue trail. To the hostel awaits us 30 minutes of walking almost all the time down. NOTE: After about 15 minutes the trail suddenly goes away from the road to the right, the sign is poorly visible, so be careful not to miss the turn. A little further the trail leads you to a large clearing called Baranówka. Behind the clearing there is still a short section through a forest and you reach a shelter. From the shelter there is a magnificent view of the Wierchomla valley and the Radziejowa mountain range, and on a clear day the Tatras can be seen. The mountain hostel itself is one of the "mosque huts". - 11 shelters which were built on the initiative of the outstanding visionary-dreamer and activist of PTTK, Edward Moskała. Originally, they were supposed to be simple, cosy and almost identical shepherd's huts, built on less frequented trails, intended for "qualified tourists", i.e. those who do not expect anything from a shepherd's hut apart from a roof over their heads, a place to dry their clothes, a meagre pea soup and a piece of floor to sleep on. As you can see from this hostel, a lot has changed since then. Thanks to various EU programmes, Bacówka nad Wierchomlą has gained electricity, hot water, heating, solar panels and even a sauna, so it is increasingly commonly referred to as a "hostel" instead of a "shepherd's hut". Fortunately, the cosy, "mountain" atmosphere has remained, and in combination with good food and comfortable conditions, "bacówka" is a great option for a few days' stay in the mountains.
Shelter over Wierchomla - Szczawnik
It is worth to have a rest and eat something in the hostel - there is still more than 1.30 h left to Szczawnik. Behind the hostel, follow the blue trail signs. For the next 40 minutes you will be walking through beautiful mountain pastures called Długie Młakami. On the way you pass ski lifts of the ski centre Dwa Doliny. You get to the characteristic Lemko chapel of St. Wendelin, patron of shepherds. The blue trail leads straight ahead to Jaworzynka, Pusta Wielka and to the centre of Żegiestów-Zdrój (1.45 h), the yellow trail goes left to Szczawnik (1 h). The option to descend to ¯egiestów is a bit more interesting, by the way you can visit the spa part of this village and return by train through the picturesque Poprad valley and one of the oldest tunnels in Poland. The descent to Szczawnik is twice as short but also abounds in interesting landscapes.
The yellow trail initially leads through meadows along the ski run. After 20 minutes you get to the upper chairlift station. The trail leaves the ski slope, passes the hunting chapel and we enter the forest. A 20-minute hike through the forest awaits, after which the trail leads you to meadows surrounding Szczawnik. Last 15 min. go along a stony road through meadows and you will reach an asphalt road leading from Szczawnik to Muszyna. At the crossroads, there is a bus stop, from where we can take a bus to Muszyna (and from there to any place in the neighbourhood). If you go 200 m. to the right, you can visit the former Greek Catholic Church of St. Dmitri from 1841. Inside there is a 17th century icon of Christ Pantocrator and an 18th century iconostasis, and on one of the towers hangs a bell from 1707. In 1947, after Operation Vistula, the church was converted into a Roman Catholic church. Behind the church there is a year-round mineral water spring.
