The path
To start your adventure with Beauty and enjoy it, it is worth planning an overnight stay in the Tatras and set off from the shelter before dawn.
Usually, the Orla Perć hike is divided into two or three one-day trips, using the approach and descent routes. You can also try to walk the entire trail in one day, but then you should expect a 10-hour effort, taking into account that the starting and ending point is a shelter in the Tatra Mountains.
The best place for such a base is a shelter in the Valley of Five Polish Ponds. This is the shortest way to get to the Zawrat peak. It is also worth remembering that there is a one-way trail from Zawrat to Kozi Wierch.
The ridge trail itself is 4,160 meters long, but taking into account the large number of ascents and descents along the entire ridge, the time to cover this section is estimated at about 6.5 hours. Of course, the approach to the Zawrat Pass, where Orla Perć has its beginning, and the descent from the Krzyżne Pass, where “Grań Orłów” ends, should be added. The ascent to Zawrat and the descent to the shelter takes another 1.5 hour for each of these sections. For people who often hike in the mountains, it is not too much effort, but for those who hike occasionally, it is good to be fit. Starting from the shelter, we begin at an altitude of 1672 m above sea level. and the highest point is Kozi Wierch at 2,291 m a.s.l. However, if we start the climb in Kuźnice, we will set off from below 1000 m above sea level.
The trail was mapped out and marked in the years 1903-1906 thanks to the involvement of the Tatra Society and the great enthusiast of the Tatra Mountains, priest Walenty Gadowski, who was supported by Jakub Gąsienica Wawrytko, Klimek Bachleda and several other highlanders. In 1904 and 1911, connecting routes were marked out, which allow the route to be hiked, dividing it into shorter sections.
Beauty and the Beast is worth every effort and will reward us with beautiful views.