I found out that winter in the Tatra Mountains can be magical during my first winter trip to the Tatra Mountains. It was supposed to be an ordinary autumn trip to the Western Tatras, but as it was the beginning of December, a few days before the departure, the first snow of the year began to fall, so the landscape looked a bit autumn-winter. Together with two friends, who, it must be admitted, were more experienced than me in mountain hiking, we planned to climb Starorobociański Wierch, called Klin by our southern neighbors. The peak is 2,176 meters above sea level, which makes it the highest mountain in the Polish part of the Western Tatras.

To get to the top, you first have to take about an hour's walk along the Chochołowska valley, and then it only gets more complicated because you have to turn into the Starorobociańska valley, which is not as flat as the Chochołowska valley. After covering a 300-meter ascent, the Starorobociańska Valley ends with Starorobociańska Równia and then begins a 500-meter ascent ending on the green trail to Siwa Przełęcz.

It's already good, there are beautiful views and the route becomes more bearable because you can feed yourself with picturesque landscapes. From Siwa Przełęcz to Starorobociański Wierch it is very close, only 1.5 kilometers and 300 meters of elevation gain. We didn't think too hard and descended following the same tracks

While climbing to the peak at Trzydniowiański Wierch, I managed to see the Brocken Specter for the first, and so far the last time in my life. This specter is an incredibly picturesque optical phenomenon consisting in the appearance of its own shadow on a cloud located below the observer. The shadow is surrounded by a rainbow border, which looks really very mystical. This phenomenon can most often be seen in an airplane during a flight, when the plane emerges from the clouds and flies into a clear sky.

When you are sitting on the right side of the plane and the sun is high in the sky, the shadow of the plane is also surrounded by a rainbow glow. In the mountain environment, it is said that a person who sees the specter of the Brocken will die in the mountains.

Only seeing this phenomenon three times, according to the legend, breaks the spell and ensures the mountain climber happiness and good luck on mountain trails forever. The story was invented in 1925 by Jan Alfred Szczepański, and my number of ghosts I have encountered is 1/3, so I still feel threatened.