I'm thinking about doing the Orla Perc (Eagles Trail) in the Tatra mountains in Poland but I'm struggling to find out sufficient details to organise a trip.
My wife is Polish (but a non walker). I'm wondering if it's possible for me to do a day/two day/three day trip from Zakopane (or another town) whilst she enjoys the valley?
What books/maps/websites should we be reading? (Polish ones are ok as my wife can translate!).
I didn't find any particulalry good High Tatra guide books in English for the Polish side. The Cicerone guide has a page of text on Orla Perc (it's waymarked as route 009B).
My preferred guide to the High Tatras was the Knapsacked Travel one, but it only covers the Slovakian side and is hard to obtain in English
Buses were pretty good from Zakopane, including into Slovakia, so day walks would be feasible if you manage to walk to their timetables.
The huts are great, but you should pre-book (not that they'll leave you outside to nourish the bears and wolves). Loved the Roztoki Hut (Schronisko w Roztocé).
The Murowaniec Hut is the best place to start from to do the Orla Perc. It will take about 2 hours to hike up to Zawrat (where the Orla Perc starts). 5 hours to do the ridge, and 2 hours to walk back to Murowaniec from Krzyzne, or you could descend from Krzyzne to the hut in the 5 Lakes valley.
When I did this (July 2005), I was turned away by the Murowaniec hut (at 7pm), as they said they were full, and told me to go back to Zakopane. It is a very popular hut and therefore reservation is stongly recommended. On the trail I met a Polish chap who had started early that morning from Kuznice, and he went all the way back to Zakopane. That would be a very long day though, best to start from Murowaniec, at least.
