We start at 6 am from our accommodation in Mlynky. Today we have in plan Dobšinský kopec, Voniarky, Čuntava and we finish in Telgárt.
My legs haven’t fully recovered from Thursday’s run in the Veľká Fatra, running downhill really hurts. But we have to take advantage of the fact that we are already here, we’ll at least do a shorter stage.
From our accommodation, we need to go to the Kruhové saddle, to join red SNP path. It takes one kilometer and 170 vertical metres. It’s fresh morning and we’re making our way through a little wet raspeberries from the morning dew. We sometimes shout a little, after all, we saw warning signs about the increased incidence of bears yesterday.
We descend through the meadows to the Dobšiná hill, cross the asphalt and head towards Voniarky among a herd of cows. Yesterday we were here on bicycles, today on our own feet. I get water at the Gápel cottage. The path meanders through the trees, sometimes taking us to flowery meadows. It is beautiful here. Lucka and I agree that this is the most beautiful section for us so far.
From the Čuntava spot, the route continues only on a gravel road, less interesting to us than the joyful forest paths. As if to excuse it, a view of the Tatras opens up and we admire it. We are guessing it is Lomnický štít.
Around the last curve, Kráľova hoľa is now visible to us. But it will wait for us next time, during the Low Tatras ridge, we end today in Telgárt.
We’re already craving coffee, the route is taking us to asphalt, we don’t really like it, but whatever, there’s no getting off the red path:)
We run along the source of the Hron River and opposite of the Chmarošský Viaduct we take a break in the famous Depo Kafe. We have to admit, their coffee is good, but the ice cream could be much better. The bridge dates back to 1933 and is the first articulated arch structure made of reinforced concrete in Czechoslovakia. The Telgártska loop is one of the most demanding railway engineering structures in Slovakia, because thanks to the Telgárt tunnel, the Telgárt and Chmarošský Viaducts, it overcomes a difficult climb of up to 31 meters and a gradient of 12.5 %. The viaduct consists of 9 arches. It is 18 m high, 113 meters long and passes over the Gregorova dolina valley, called Chmaroška. This unique viaduct was built during the economic crisis in the 1930s and more than 7,000 people participated in its construction. Men and women, mostly local residents, worked on the construction site.
We reach Telgárt, where we meet Ľubka by the church, who very willingly brought our car from Mlynky and thus allowed us to run this stage. It was a truly beautiful stage, and a great morning in the mountains.
