Today we take the Mountain Tram from our lodging village to a very scenic hike in the mountains. In the map below we'll follow the route shown by the little arrows (except the part at the bottom lake).
Our tram arrives...
We start at the top of the blue line and head to the left to the corner dots. We start our hike at the second to last dot and complete our hiking loop getting back on the tram at the left corner dot.
The scenery begins immediately.
We're now at Stop #2 from the first map - Symbolic Cemetary.
(http://www.vysoketatry.com/ciele/scintorin/en.html)
The symbolic cemetery (1525 m above the sea) is situated close to the Popradské pleso (Popradské Mountain-lake) below the western slopes of Ostrva. It was built as a memorial devoted to people who worked and tragically died in the High Tatras, exceptionally even to some famous people.
Currently there are over 160 memorial-boards and 50 hand-carved wooden crosses. Originally all the memorial-boards were scattered all around the High Tatras, more or less at the places of tragedies. Otakar Štáfl (1884 - 1945), an academic artist, was the author of the idea to found a symbolic cemetery - his wife and some friends began it in 1936 finishing in 1940. It is open to public with the following motto: ”As a remembrance to the death and a warning to the living”.
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We continue towards the lake. That high stream valley feeds it.
The lake is in sight.
It's mid-July, but snow still clings to the slopes.
It's another "Bob Ross", the one where he creates miraculous brush-stroked mountains, and then covers them up with a big tree in the foreground.
After our lunch, which we brought from town, we continue our looping hike.
Polly wants a cracker...
Heading back "home" on the tram. A tiring, but satisfying day was had.
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