Orla Perć (Skrajny Granat → Krzyżne) - second stage of Poland's most difficult mountain trail

Second stage of Orla Perć - the section with no way out

Orla Perć (Eagle's Path) is the most difficult and demanding waymarked trail in the Polish Tatras. The full traverse (Zawrat → Krzyżne) is long enough that few people complete it in one day - so we split it into two stages. This trip is stage two: from Skrajny Granat along Orla Perć, across the traverse of the Buczynowe Turnie, to Krzyżne pass, and from there down into the Five Polish Lakes Valley.

We schedule the dates so that the whole of Orla Perć can be done in a single weekend: stage one on Saturday, stage two on Sunday. You can book both and close out the entire trail in two days - or space them further apart. Each stage is a full-day high-mountain trip in its own right.

We start exactly like on stage one: from Kuźnice through Hala Gąsienicowa meadow and past Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy lake. From there we climb the yellow trail up to Skrajny Granat - the same trail we descend on stage one. Same trail, opposite direction, second half of Orla Perć. If you've been with us on stage one, you'll recognise every metre of this climb - except this time it's in front of you in the morning, on fresh legs, not after eight hours on Orla Perć.

And this is the key thing to know about this route: the yellow trail up to Skrajny Granat is the last possible way down. Between Skrajny Granat and Krzyżne pass there is no path that lets you leave Orla Perć. No side trail into the valley, no shortcut, no "I'll walk down a bit further on". Once you're on Orla Perć, the only way out leads across the whole section to Krzyżne. This isn't scaremongering - it's the information you need in order to honestly assess your own fitness before you book a date.

Note: there are no true via ferratas on the Polish side of the Tatras - only trails secured with fixed chains and metal staples, with long unsecured sections in between. On Orla Perć especially, the chain is not everywhere. You have to actually move on rock.

From Krzyżne we descend into the Five Polish Lakes Valley - one of the most beautiful places in the Polish Tatras. We pass Wielki Staw Polski, the highest-situated mountain hut in the Polish Tatras and Siklawa waterfall, then walk down the Roztoka Valley past the Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza cascades to Palenica Białczańska. The route is linear - we start in Kuźnice and finish in Palenica Białczańska.

What you'll experience on the trail

• Hala Gąsienicowa meadow and Murowaniec mountain hut (1500 m) - classic gateway to the High Tatras. Last coffee, last water refill, last toilet before a full day on the trail.
• Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy lake (1620 m) - we skirt the lake and only then turn onto the yellow trail towards Skrajny Granat. Your safety gear is already in your backpack, but we put it on higher up.
• Yellow-trail climb up to Skrajny Granat (2225 m) - steep ground with chains, the highest point of the whole trip. On the summit we stand exactly where stage one of Orla Perć ends, and step into stage two.
• Gearing up and the briefing on the summit of Skrajny Granat - helmet, harness, lanyard. This is where we step onto Orla Perć, and where we say the line we say every single time: "Now we start what we came here for!"
• The last point you can walk down from - on Skrajny Granat we make the call whether we step onto Orla Perć. Beyond it, for several hours, there is no way down into the valley.
• Orla Perć beyond Skrajny Granat - chains, metal staples, a ladder and traverses in exposed terrain. Several hours of continuous work with hands and feet, with no easy stretch in between.
• The traverse of the Buczynowe Turnie - the trail doesn't go over their summits, it crosses their flanks. This is the last significant work on the section.
• Krzyżne pass (2112 m) - the end of Orla Perć. There's no sign saying "congratulations", but this is the moment.
• The descent from Krzyżne into the Five Polish Lakes Valley - a long way down after a full day on the trail. Not technically hard, but still several hundred metres of descent on tired legs.
• The Five Polish Lakes Valley and the highest-situated hut in the Polish Tatras - one of the most beautiful places in the Tatras and the first spot in many hours where you can properly sit down.
• Wielki Staw Polski (1665 m) - the deepest and longest lake in the Tatras. We pass it on the way down the valley.
• Siklawa - the highest waterfall in Poland (65 m) - we pass it close by on the way down into the Roztoka Valley.
• Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza and Palenica Białczańska - cascades on the Roztoka stream, and then just the walk out to Palenica. You hand the safety gear back to us in the car park at Palenica Białczańska.
• The journey back to Zakopane is included - we don't leave you in a car park after fourteen hours on the trail, we head back together. No other trip of ours includes this, because no other trip finishes this late and this far from where it started.

Gearing up on Skrajny Granat

Safety gear (climbing helmet, harness, lanyard with energy absorber) we hand to you at the start of the trip, in Kuźnice - you carry it in your backpack for the whole climb. We only put it on once we reach Skrajny Granat, right before we step onto Orla Perć. The reason is simple: you don't need a harness on the yellow-trail climb, and carried in a backpack it neither gets in the way nor wears you down. We put it on where it actually starts doing its job.

On the summit we run the briefing: how to switch carabiners, how to move along a chain, and how to pass people coming the other way. It's also the last moment for a decision - Skrajny Granat is the last point you can walk down from. Once the gear is on and we step onto Orla Perć, you start what you came here for.

Who this trip is for

Ideal for you if you've completed stage one of Orla Perć (Zawrat → Skrajny Granat) or have equivalent experience on a long, exposed section in a harness and lanyard. You have excellent fitness for 12-14 hours on the trail with a backpack, you're confident that in the eighth hour of the day you'll still be placing your feet deliberately, and you want to complete Orla Perć in full.

Choose a different route if this is your first or second outing in a harness and lanyard, if you have a strong fear of heights, or if you have any doubts about your fitness for 12-14 hours. This is not a route for a first time in safety gear - start with our Kościelec, Zawrat or Świnica, then do stage one of Orla Perć. On this section there is no point where you can say "thanks, I'll walk down from here".

Why go with a guide

• The decision to step onto Orla Perć is made on Skrajny Granat - and we make it. That's the last point you can walk down from. We assess concrete things there: how long your climb actually took, how you look after the first hours, what the rock and the visibility are doing. If we judge that committing to a section with no way out is a bad idea that day, we descend the yellow trail and the trip ends on Skrajny Granat. On your own, you make that call under the pressure of "I drove across the country to be here" - the worst possible adviser in that spot.
• The journey back to Zakopane is on us. The route finishes in Palenica Białczańska, tens of kilometres from where we started, in the late afternoon or evening. No other trip of ours includes the ride back - this one does, because after fourteen hours on your feet, hunting for transport in a car park is the last thing you want to be doing. You hand back the gear, get in, and travel back with us.
• Traffic here runs both ways - someone will be coming towards you. Unlike the Zawrat - Kozi Wierch section, which is one-way, here you meet people coming from the opposite direction. In exposed terrain on a chain, passing someone is a skill in itself: knowing where you can safely wait, who yields to whom, and when it's better to step back two metres than to pass in the wrong place. We see it coming and position the group before it gets tight.
• The whole day is planned backwards from the finish, not forwards from the start. After the descent from Krzyżne there are still several hours to Palenica - on legs that already have a full day on the trail behind them. That's why we manage pace, breaks, food and water from the first kilometre: not to reach Orla Perć as fast as possible, but so that you still have the reserves to place your feet deliberately on the descent from Krzyżne. The biggest risk on this route isn't on the chains - it's fatigue in the second half of the day.