Sunday we drove down to the Owl Mountain range, just about 80 miles south of Wrocław. At 1,014m (3,326ft) Big Owl is the highest peak in the aforementioned mountain range. The peak isn’t much of a hike if you take the easy route from the parking lot at the pass, which basically ends up being just a 2.5km walk up the mountain.

We drove down a bit further to the city of Walim (Valeem) from which we took a fairly steep yellow trail to the top. Once there I was really happy to find out the general store located in lighthouse looking tower sold sausage kits: two sausages, a plate, with ketchup and four slices of bread. The beer cost extra 🙂

It was pretty sweet to be able to sit down next to a fire to grill our lunch and have a cold one. Though after such a lunch it was nearly impossible to get the energy to walk down the mountain. The 25 meter tower at the top was built in 1906 and offers great views pretty much in any direction. It was interesting to see Ślęża, the holy mountain, from the tower. We don’t usually see Ślęża from the south side.

Taking a different trail back, we came across a memorial dedicated to two of Poland’s great rally car drivers who are no longer with us. Marian Bublewicz died from injuries sustained in a race taking place across the Lower Silesian region in 1993.

Janusz Kulig, however, died from injuries sustained after his private car collided with a train. The crash was a result of human error on the part of the railroad employee who did not lower the train crossing gates. Both of these drivers were Poland’s best, and the road we took back was named in Kulig’s honor.