Wolf fur and bison poo at 900m!

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13 May

Conference on Bieszczady Narrow Gauge

We did our presentation during the morning, and there were also presentation by the Bieszczady Narrow Gauge Foundation and the Pioneer’s Railway from Košice, Slovakia. We heard from the Director of Slovak Railways that they were somewhat miffed about the cessation of services along the line from Poland via Łupków

14 May

We had a special train arranged on the Bieszczady Narrow Gauge line from Cisna to Wola Michowa. We got a lift to Cisna from our hotel in Bystre, and after a quick tour around the station and museum at Majdan, our train set off into the wilds. The section westwards to Balnica, on the border with Slovakia, is truly wild, with even the forest tracks disappearing in one section, just forest and mountains. The forest is almost primeval, with large tracts of native beech woodland. It is home to wolves, bears, lynx and eagles.

On the way Stanisław from the railway stopped the train to pick up some rusty old Russian bomb from the lineside above a stream! It wasn’t ticking, but it wasn’t something you’d want to drop! After a photo stop at Balnica (it literally overlooks Slovakia... well it would, but there are a lot of trees) the train curved round the mountainside and crept down into the headwaters of the Osława valley and Wola Michowa. Our train was met by a band of musicians and a folksy type of “wild west/east” welcome. We got transported by horse and cart to our picnic spot where a plentiful supply of sausages sandwiches and lard (Polish speciality) was on offer. We managed to give the impression we were stuffing ourselves - despite being vegetarian! Well we did, we just omitted the lard.

The weather was good, and we decided not to waste our opportunity. We bade our farewells to the group before heading off into the mountains. The track was on the map, but not waymarked. All was well as we crossed green meadows and the view opened up with the grandeur of the Bieszczady before us. Then in the next valley we hit a track that was a total mudbath, so that slowed us right down. A caterpillar bulldozer had churned everything up, so for the next mile or so we treaded cautiously along the edges. Then we struck off on an umwaymarked track, which was pretty faint, but took us straight up the mountainside and the Red trail. We steeply climbed through beautiful beechwoods.

We got to the 900m level and the summit ridge, which the red trail followed. It was here that Kasia spotted some bison poo and a bit of wolf fur. Something must have kicked off up there! The views were good because the trees were not yet in leaf at this height. Our turn off on the yellow trail did not appear, so we continued on to “Beggar’s Pass”. We then descended on a hard surfaced forest track, which was not churned up, but hard on the feet after a while. We passed some charcoal burners on the way down, a traditional, if smelly, industry of the Bieszczady region. Just before Bystre we passed a nature reserve and a hand pump for mineral water - a sign stated that the water was for good if you were dehydrated. So we had a few swigs of that, slighty salty, but it did the trick.

We got back to Bystre with 11 miles under our belt, so we were pretty hungry. Sadly, the restaurant’s main menu had finished an hour before we had arrived, so we made do with eggs and pancakes.

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Photos

The Bieszczady Forest Railway
This stretch of the line goes through some of the remotest countryside, close to the Slovak border.

Bieszczady Forest Railway
Through wild country - between Balnica and Wola Michowa

Wola Michowa welcome
A Wild West/East welcome!

Meadows and mountains, Bieszczady Mountains
The spring blossom was out and the wide open spaces beckoned us!

Spring in the mountain forest
Beechwoods below Jaworne, near Wola Michowa

The Bieszczady Forest Railway, Balnica
To your right - Slovakia.