Roztopy - the big melt

Weather during our stay in the Beskid Wyspowy was a patchwork of sunshine and overcast. The latter was accompanied by low cloud, mist or rain. Temperatures were above zero, so the heavy snowfalls of the previous week were starting to melt. On Thursday I went for a 17km walk from Dobra to catch the atmosphere of mountain roztopy. The Nikon D80 withstood five hours' exposure to drizzle, light rain and temperatures of +1C to +5C, the battery level fell from 50% to 36% in that time.

My journey took me to the mountain pass at Gruszowiec (height 660m), between Ćwiliń and Śnieżnica (below). On either side, the peaks were shrouded in mist.

By the time I started climbing Śnieżnica and gaining altitude, the drizzle turned to light snow, which made for nicer walk. It would be this snow that we'd be skiing on the next day when the clouds parted to reveal ideal skiing conditions once again.

The building on the right is a truckstop restaurant (Bar Pod Cyckiem, which I won't bother translating!) For 8 złotys (less than two quid) I had a large bowl of sour cabbage soup thick with potatoes and kiełbasa (sausage), several slices of bread and half a litre of mulled beer (piwo grzane) which set me up for the 12km walk ahead of me.

Above: The river Łososina in Dobra. The river, which was mostly covered with ice when we arrived last Saturday, was now fully melting, the last slithers of ice visible near its swollen banks.

This time last year:
The year's most depressing day - official