QuinTree

Tatras Mountains, Winter Edition

After our last big snow storm we went into the Tatras mountains with friends Doug and Sylwia for the weekend. The snow was piled high, the icicles were several feet long, and we each wore a half dozen layers of clothing. It was the middle of February.

We spent an afternoon in Zakopane. In the winter, it’s easier to cart your kids around by sled than by stroller.

A view of the mountains from Zakopane.

Welcome to Zakopane!

We chose a lodge-style restaurant for lunch. Check out the icicles growing from the eaves!

After a hearty lunch and warming up, we walked through Zakopane town, doing a bit of shopping.

Here’s Melinda with a statue commemorating the huge number of Zakopane villagers who emigrated to Chicago.

We set off for the main crafts market in search of classic hand-knit Zakopane sweaters and gloves. We might have gone a little overboard on the shopping, but we each got a new sweater that was essential to keeping us warm over the weekend.

From the market we drove to a trailhead that leads into the mountains. Check out our video of the drive here. Once we’d parked the car, we hired a horse and driver to take us up to the nearest mountain lodge for the night. This was our one horse open sleigh ride.

The view from the sleigh.

Us packed into the sleigh.

Check out our video of the ride here and here. It was so much fun to glide over the snow and feel the pull of the horse. The setting was positively idyllic.

The route took us along a mountain trail that we had hiked in the summer. You can compare our winter photos with our summer photos from a previous blog post. See the photos at the end of this post from September.

Our sleigh ride ended right at a special spot on the trail that we loved during that summer hike. At that time, we’d enjoyed a long restful nap in the sun on the grass by a small stream. In the winter, snow blanketed the ground. 

Sean had a surprise in store. He knew that the sleigh ride would end at this favorite spot of ours. So he suggested we have our picture taken there. As Melinda walked over to get in position for the photo he walked over and got down on one knee to ask her to marry him — again. 

Just like the original proposal, this one came as a total shock. Sean had bought an engagement ring in Krakow days before our trip to the Tatras. He told Doug and Sylwia about his plans and everyone kept it a secret from Melinda. That weekend was our 1 year anniversary of traveling together. Of course, she said yes. It was a beautiful way to mark the occasion! 

After the shock of the proposal wore off, we all set off down the trail together to the lodge. 

We’d stayed in the lodge before in September. At that time though, the lodge was so crowded that we had to sleep on the floor. This time, we got bunk beds.

Here’s Sean in his new Zakopane sweater in the lodge.

We spent the evening talking, playing games, eating, drinking tea, and relaxing in the lodge. In the morning, we noticed these massive ice sculptures hanging from the lodge’s roof.

Here’s the view from the lodge in the morning.

A stream dotted with frozen stones.

It was a beautiful clear day in the mountains. Here we are again at the proposal spot.

The temperature was 

A sled going through the forest.

A view back to the mountains on our way out of the park.

We walked back to our car, which had been parked precariously close to these massive icicles.

That was one of the last very cold weeks in Krakow. We were so glad we got to see the beautiful mountains covered in pure snow. We can’t wait to head back out in the spring time!