Every time we want to escape, we go here. This very well known area in the Giant Mountains is one of my favorite places to get rid of stress and just admire beauty of nature, especially in winter.
Day 1 (December 17th, 2022)
Szklarska Poręba – Schronisko pod Łabskim Szczytem – Szrenica
We start our hike in Szklarska Poręba, usually leaving our car in the neighborhood of the „Ski Arena Szrenica” ski resort. The trail isn’t so crowded today, so we mostly walk alone.
Our first stop is one of the oldest mountain huts in the Giant Mountains – „Schronisko pod Łabskim Szczytem” (1168 m a.s.l.), situated above the Kukułcze Skały (Cuckoo Rocks), and under the peak of the Łabski Szczyt mountain.
Going further we reach our today’s destination – Szrenica (1362 m a.s.l.), where we stay overnight.
To this point you can also get by a chair lift from Szklarska Poręba. More info here: https://sudetylift.com.pl/zima/en/.
When visiting this place I recommend to try their excellent homemade food. Pancakes with blueberries is my favorite dish here and this is what we eat directly after checking-in today.
Get to know more about the Szrenica mountain hut and book your accommodation here: https://szrenica.pl/en/hostel/.
The first day of our trip comes to an end. At the evening the weather totally changed and we could watch an amazing performance of the setting sun.
After that we get hungry again, so we go for bigos (a Polish dish of chopped meat of various kinds stewed with sauerkraut and shredded fresh cabbage). There in the restaurant we meet many tourists. Everybody is excited about their today’s hike and sharing plans for tomorrow.
Day 2 (December 18th, 2022)
Szrenica – Śnieżne Kotły – Schronisko pod Łabskim Szczytem – Szklarska Poręba
The second day greets us with a beautiful sunrise and quite low temperature. We are happy and really grateful for this conditions, because we have never had such a weather being in Śnieżne Kotły – and this is our main destination of the trip.
Śnieżne Kotły, 1175 m a.s.l. (ger. Schneegruben, cz. Sněžné jámy) are two glacial cirques – Mały Śnieżny Kocioł and Wielki Śnieżny Kocioł. The walls of both of them are about 100 metres high and contain small tarn lakes.
The building that you see on the pictures is a (not working anymore) mountain hut – Schronisko nad Śnieżnymi Kotłami (Schneegrubenbaude), which is currently a radio and television tower. It is definitely a symbol of Śnieżne Kotły.
From this point we start going down to our car. This weekend I’ll definitely remember for a long time.
For polish speakers:
I totally recommend a book „Schronisko, które przestało istnieć”. Read about a young stomatologist, Maksymilian, and his adventure in this amazing place.
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