Hiking across the border of Poland and the Czech Republic offers panoramic views and granite sculptures in the Giant Mountains. Follow our route from summer 2019 in my pictures below.
The Giant Mountains with granite sculptures
The Giant Mountains (Riesengebirge) brought up vague childhood memories of a mountain spirit called Rübezahl and they definitely cast their spell on us. We didn’t meet Rübezahl – or at least we didn’t recognise him – but we are enchanted by the beautiful mountain panorama with alpine vegetation around the highest peak Śnieżka (Schneekoppe) and outstanding granite formation along the mountain pass towards Śnieżne Kotły (Schneegruben), deep, roundish pits formed by glaciers.
This mountain range stretches East to West along the Northern border of the Czech Republic and the Southwestern one of Poland. The beautiful scenery and landscapes remind me rather of Scotland or Scandinavia than the Alps. The harsh continental climate affects also the vegetation. The tree line is only at 1250-1350 meters and is followed by a sub-alpine vegetation zone with knee timber, mat-grass meadows and subarctic high moors. Along the ridges, there are many weathered blocks of granite which look like sculptures or even statues – very charming.
Gallery: Panoramic views in the Giant Mountains – for references and routes follow the numbers of the 36 pictures on the maps below.
1) Let’s get this party started! We are hiking into the Polish Nationalpark Karkonoski Park Narodowy (KPN). 
2) First level part since our start in Karkacz – and so pretty. 
3) Looking for Rübezahl in this fairytale landscape in the Giant Mountains. 
4) Last part of day 1 is laying ahead, but only after first refreshing beer in Karkonosze. 
5) Squeaky floor, short beds and mediocre food, but so quiet in Strzecha Akademicka! 
6) Morning of day 2: The peak is in view. 
7) Looking back on the way up mount Śnieżka. 
8) We are far from the only ones wanting to get to the top. Hiking seems to be rather popular in Poland. 
9) From the Czech side one can even take a lift to the top (1603 meters). 
10) View from mount Śnieżka to the valley of Jelenia Góra with the big ski resorts of Karpacz. The white and red stones mark the border between Poland and the Czech Republic which we are crossing many times during our trip. 
11) Not just weekend tourist madness as usual, but also an Ultra Marathon was going up and down on the 29th of June: three times in order to compare running up Mont Blanc (highest peak in Europe with 4810 meters). 
12) Walking along the plateau: As the climate is quiet extreme with harsh winters and hot summers (continental) the alpine zone starts at a lower altitude than in the Alps. 
13) Delicious lunch on the Czech side with a dubious, but tasty beer brand in Luční bouda. 
14) Break in the grass, watching billions of hover flies, but no bees (or even wasps) in sight … 
15) There are even bikers up here in the Giant Mountains. 
16) Looking down onto the stops from yesterday. 
17) Walking westwards, still the spruce are miniature. 
18) Stunning panorama views around every corner. 
19) Beautiful statues carved by nature into granite: Sunflower. 
20) Summiteer on way down to second accommodation where spruce are growing taller again. 
21) Sunset with beer and better food in busy Schronisko Odrodzenie. Summer weekends are booked out through the region quiet far in advance. 
22) Third day: Round trip to Śnieżne Kotły. 
23) Such a beautiful stone path to follow and by far not as busy as around mount Sněžka. 
24) Our peak of the day is covered in rocks: Wielki Szyszak (1509 meters). 
25) Endemic lichens form intriguing patterns. 
26) Later we learnt that you we were not supposed to hike up the top. 
27) Lichens are growing only very slowly and are highly sensitive to outside influences such as hiking shoes. 
28) Therefore whole areas like here, Łabski Szczyt, or Wielki Szyszak are closed off now. 
29) At Śnieżne Kotły the wind is always howling. 
30) Glaciers rounded these valleys. 
31) In the deep cuts of Śnieżne Kotły the snow stays the longest, it used to be all year round, but not anymore. 
32) On the way back we take the path around Wielki Szyszak, happy to be a little bit out of the wind blowing continuously from the South. 
33) Different light, different view – here I don’t mind to walk the same way back. 
34) Finally a break at Dvořákova bouda where they offer fantastic home-made lemonade and cheap delicious food (also vegetarian!) – no English, but German. 
35) Back home at Schronisko Odrodzenie where some speak English, but we are very happy to have Kati as our translator, tour guide and travel companion. 
36) Good night, Giant Mountains. We shall come again to search for mountain spirits and lift our spirits.
Hiking with friends
Yoeri and I enjoyed the luxury that our longtime friend Kati who grew up in Jelenia Góra in the valley below and has been hiking in Karkonosze (Giant Mountains) countless times organised everything from transport, to overnight stays, routes and great additional hiking company with Kerstin. If Kati ever starts a travel business I happily rate her 5* and send her all interested parties.
It took me more than 10 years to finally go hiking with Kati in Poland. Hopefully, we are able to put together another trip before another 10 years pass by. In any case, it was lovely to be out and about so much and it is very interesting to see how quickly even ocean creatures like us can build up a bit of stamina in the mountains; and not just any mountains „Giant Mountains“ after all (for German readers: Zwei Wasserratten in den Bergen).
Travel route: Train RE2 from Berlin Ostkreuz to Cottbus (Berlin-Brandenburg-Ticket) and train RB65 from Cottbus to Görlitz (Sachsen-Ticket), then we got picked up by a car which is the quickest option to get to Jelenia Gora and/or Karpacz where lots of the hiking trails start. Take a look at the map, search online, and go and look for Rübezahl (Polish: Liczyrzepa, Czech: Krakonoš) – be it on the Polish or the Czech side of this enchanting mountain range.
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