My closest friends most likely felt sorry for my wife, and with her help, they gifted me a photo workshop with Filip Hrebenda for my birthday, hoping I'd finally stop bothering her about it.
Sony A7 IV, Tamron 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD, ISO100, 0.20s, f/9, VFFOTO magnetic UV GS adapter 67-82mm, ND 8x VFFOTO NANO-PRO 82 mm
Filip is one of my favorite photographers, and I've never been to the Tatras. After half a year of living in the restrictions “aquarium” (the beauty of year 2020), I really needed to get out, because to have a welcome from your wife, there must also be a farewell, right?! =)
Right at the beginning, there are a few complications, like Slovakia requiring an 8-day quarantine, no matter if you have a test… but it's April, I'm going in June… it will surely change...
Hmmm, well surely… It's already May, but I'm going in June, it will surely change…
And... finally, hooray, on May 31st, Slovakia announces the option to end the quarantine based on an antigen test performed locally there.
Just to be safe, I get one poke in the brain (PCR) here at home, as I don't intend to return because of a false positive antigen (paranoia) and finally set off to the Tatras. I google a testing center right in Považská Bystrica. It's in the local culture house... beautiful communists brutalism style… concrete walls (I mean the old, crumbling concrete walls), those horrible raw aluminum frames windows with poorly attached reflective foil on the glass, all shabby and from behind it sits a guy in a space suit... it reminds me a bit of those stories from Malaysia, where they used brushes that had been used several times... all this is enhanced by the sign “PRIOR” (for those who never lived in communism, that was the only chain of stores we had here in that era… which is about 35 years ago xD) on the neighboring building (like a “Back to the past” movie)…
However, the testing “astronaut” is friendly, they didn't touch my brain this time and they even did the test free of charge... and in addition... NEGATIVE, hooray, the trip begins!
Finally on my way to Cottage at the Green Lake (Chata pri Zelenom plese)
I enter "Biela Voda parking" into the gps and finally leave the “cosmodrome”. I haven't sorted out accommodation for tonight, so on my way, I call Cottage at the Green Lake (formerly known as Brncalova Cottage, Chata pri Zelenom plese in Slovak) to see if they could accommodate me a day earlier. I evidently don't catch the lady in the best mood, as she immediately fires at me, "What do you want? Hurry, hurry, we have a lot to do here..." However, after few hopeless minutes she finds a bed and books it for me (At the Green Lake cottage, you can't reserve a room, only a bed =)), hooray!
As usual, I arrive quite late (well, the drive from my town is about 8 hours to Tatra Mountains), and it's pouring rain outside. The touristic sign to Green Lake doesn't show the time I expected… 1 hour, but 2 and a quarter hours on foot... I don't know where I got this "hour" from, but in this downpour, with two stuffed backpacks (I need to "slightly" work on my packing efficiency, I'm no longer amused that someone always laughs at me that I look like an work horse… but you know, an electric toothbrush, change of shirts etc. you should have even in the woods in the 21st century, right?! Ha ha…) I won't make it up there... as we say, I’m made of sugar... well, so what... =)
Anyway, I call it off and I call the lady at the lake, telling her I'm not making it today, and if it would be a problem to cancel... when she "calms" me down, saying it's definitely not a problem since she didn't book anything for me since I hadn't confirmed it by email xD (though she didn't ask for it)... well damn it…
I have a sleeping bag in the car, but the idea of spending the next three nights on bunk beds, without showers and toilets in the room, I soften and turn to Tatranska Lomnica. On Booking.com, I take the first hotel performance/price, plus it stylishly is called “Tatry”… and apparently, it's as old as the Tatras themselves... but I don't want to complain, the price is OK, and it was clean inside, they had good beer, it is near the park with a view of the mountains... except for the unintentional “cold water hardening” it was actually great (hot water did not flow in the evening)... I close my eyes and am extremely looking forward to tomorrow...
And in the morning, they've stepped up their game... fresh rolls, excellent “ham and eggs,” and even the hot water is running...
We have a meeting at ten, and in the end, there are nine of us. My inability to remember names is fortunately somewhat masked since there are several Peters and several Branos, so there's always a good chance that I'll get it right... of course, the first teasing comes for having two backpacks, but the guys don't know I originally wanted to come with a travel suitcase (no, the journey was really not for that)...
But, who laughs last... we haven't even gone 200 meters when we come across a Unimog (I bet that car can drive even on Mars) and Filip arranges for the backpacks to be taken away! I'm really glad I got rid of them. It's quite hot, and dragging them all the way up wouldn't be entirely pleasant...
The journey is quite smooth, it's beautiful, little streams everywhere, yellow flowers, snow up top... like we're definitely not going to be bored...
Cottage by the Green Lake is another beautiful spot that my recent love for mountains and photography led me to. It is surrounded by several peaks - Kežmarský, Spišský, Pyšný, Černý, plus Beranie horns and Jastrabie tower lean over it… I love that feeling of smallness and humility that always overwhelms me in the mountains...
Sony A7 IV, Tamron 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD, ISO100, 1s, f/9, VFFOTO magnetic UV GS adapter 67-82mm, ND 8x VFFOTO NANO-PRO 82 mm
We quickly have coffee and a brutally good, yes, those who read my regular outbursts know - strudel... this time filled with poppy seeds, and they really packed it in! Maybe it was because of the strudel, or the mountains, but even the unpleasant lady from yesterday is smiling at me now... Now just quickly settle in (I'm sleeping in a bunk bed for the first time in about 30 years, memories of camps are enhanced by a 100-year-old worn-out bed linen, only slightly spoiled by those 30+ euros per night... but hey, mountain surcharge...) and off to the theory.
We gather at the lake, gaze at the peaks, ducks are running around us, occasionally, we catch sight of a beaver, and we start playing around. However, the weather isn't being understanding; it slowly turns from sunny to dark, and the first raindrops fall... in the past, I would have packed up, but today, I know that the best photos will be in this Mordor, so we decide to stay and snap like crazy.
After an hour of soaking we pack up, it's almost dark and we go to warm up with a great lentil soup (the ideal meal for 9 guys in one room, eh eh)… someone even reaches for a slightly spicier warmer (read plum brandy, slivovitz, with 50% and more alcohol), because, after all, we're in Slovakia, right...
There's no signal here, the group is great, so digital detox and long talks... we quickly start making jokes about which nation wears socks with sandals, and since there's always a joker on every proper hiking trip, there's one here too... and it all starts rolling... "the commander of the intervention unit says to the subordinates, let's synchronize our watches, it's precisely 11 hours, 48 minutes, for those with digital watches - baton, baton, chair, snowman"... I silently pray that it won't go on like this all evening, but in the end, it's really fun (I wrote this a year ago, and since then, we've become friends, so don't be mad, Vlado, I really enjoy your jokes xD)...
We start yawning, so let's quickly check tomorrow's weather and then head to bed because we have a wake-up call at 3 AM and a quick transfer to White Lake (Bílé pleso)… tough life of a photographer...
Wake-up call... it's not raining! Hooray! Filip was telling us yesterday how he got frostbites on the last trip, so I pack up properly and we slowly head out in a half-comatose state. There's snow all around, but it's quite warm (of course, considering the five layers I'm wearing), so after 50 meters, I quickly take off some clothes... I'll have to figure that out a bit better... a city boy trying to be a mountaineer, hehe...
From the chalet, a black cat as dark as the night runs with us like a dog... but he's a cunning one, halfway through he turns back, because they reportedly didn't feed him last time, so he suspects that nothing will fall from us either... And the joker is on again "three buddies are having fun, when…”.
The White Lake (Bílé pleso) is stunning, and the weather is unbelievably perfect... clear skies, the occasional cloud hovering around the peaks, the light is incredible.
Sony A7 IV, Tamron 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD, ISO100, 1/13s, f/9, VFFOTO magnetic UV GS adapter 67-82mm - composed of 5 shots
The show ends in half an hour, and hungry as wolves, we turn back to the chalet for breakfast. It's beautiful, we enjoy the sun and feast our eyes on the surroundings. Everything here lives in a peculiar symbiosis... a pigeon is constantly puffing up here, but the black cat doesn't want to eat him, and a shepherd dog is playing with a black cat, but also doesn't want to eat the it… the mountains simply bring peace to everyone, hehe…
Satisfied and stuffed, we’re getting back to our room and after about 10 years, I fall asleep at 8 AM and snore until lunchtime...
Oh, for a change, it's pouring again, so we give up on climbing and go for more theory, plus editing our morning catches... and again it comes: “So a guy walks into the WC…”, I really love these walking joke fountains... =)
In the end, it's pouring even in the evening, so we give up on shooting and slowly head to bed, as tomorrow is also a day... this time the mountains are not cooperating and it's raining, and raining, and raining even in the morning...
During breakfast, I'm thinking about what next... I need to be in Budapest for work on Monday and staying for the whole Sunday in the Tatras would not bother me at all... however, it's raining, and raining, and raining, so I give up on the idea to stay at the chalet for one more day and retreat with Filip and our group back to the cars... and of course, it’s still raining and raining…
Filip comes up with photo spots - go to the village of High Tatras (Vysoké Tatry)… you can park here, you will have waterfalls here... fantastic, I could not wish for more…
In the meantime, the sky starts to break open in places and the sun comes out. It almost looks like a calm, great day... but only until we get to the cars, totally wet…
I throw my wet bags and rags into the trunk, slam the trunk and... oh well... I just locked the keys in there... however, no need to panic, I have keyless entry, the car will recognize the key and as always it will open immediately, right? Well damn, when you're 750km from home, it simply doesn't...
So a bit of panic... but the parking lot guard assures me that it's okay, that he will call a locksmith... but the locksmith says he will break the lock... like sorry, but it's the 21st century, the car isn't completely stupid, so there must be another way, right?… I mean, right?
So I call the assistance service, the lady is very helpful and advises trying to shake the car a bit, because the keys might be shielded by something (I had them in my camera bag) and if they move a bit, the car will register them and it will be okay...
So we're rocking the car with one of the Peters, I'm almost afraid that the Octavia will flip over, but the car doesn't react... so the lady calls... a locksmith... sigh... well, I'll have to wait, but the guys are nice and suffer here with me...
One of the Peters keeps fiddling with the trunk (there was a bit of play, as if it wasn't fully closed...), and suddenly, click, the trunk opens... hurray, victory, I'm back in the game! More luck than wisdom...
Hugs, thanks, farewells... plus Vlado's inevitable punchline in the style of "Chuck doesn't have to go to church because he believes in himself...", I hold back a tear and finally head towards High Tatras…
Next time!
MS
GEAR:
Camera: Sony A7 IV
Tripod: 3 Legged Thing Mike Legends Mike
Drone: Mavic Air 2s
Backpack: Shimoda Action x70