We’ve been to the local Owl Mountains a few times in the past, but we’ve mostly hit the same trails since we simply didn’t know any better. So when the weather forecast called for a super sunny and warm day this past Saturday, we knew that we had to spend that day outdoors, but we just didn’t know where.

A coworker of mine introduced me to a website called mapyturystyczne.pl It’s basically a Google Maps rendition of all mountain trails in the Polish mountains. Very detailed, too. Knowing somewhat of where I wanted to go, I looked up the spot where we would begin our hike, clicked over to a “loop” option, and searched for system recommendations. What we got in return was a cool 13km / 4h31m hike that would create a loop by linking a few different color trails.

The online site is quite awesome and extremely helpful, but what really saved our day was the iOS app that’s also available, albeit for an $8 dollar fee. Money well spent though, as I used it on several occasions that very day to find our bearing in the forest.

Usually, the trails are fairly well marked. There’s always a big tree or a rock with the trail marker painted within eyesight. But we did manage to get ourselves not lost, but somewhat trail-confused, and the app came in handy to solve our directional dilemma.

One thing we did not anticipate was snow, or heavy snow I should say, pretty much all the way through the trail. It felt a bit weird walking with just a t-shirt on while getting my feet soaked with all the slush and snow underneath. The terrain was also somewhat challenging, with steep inclines, but then again, we were in the mountains.

We ended up cutting the hike short just a little and made 8.5km of the original 13km planned. It still made for a great 3h walk. We’ll definitely bring some food to grill next time around. As we were walking we came across a fire made by a couple of hikers, very bushcraft style. The smell of a fire-grilled sausage pierced the air to the point where I was ready to offer them any amount of money left in my wallet to get a piece of that action. We’ll come prepared next time for sure!

Fado had a blast, to say the least. Water holes, mud, or snow, it was all his for the taking. And the views, well, have a look for yourself.