Route: Carpathian Mountains Traverse

Location
Romania
Ukraine
Poland
Czechia
Slovakia
Description

Also known as the Carpathian Arch, this is a 2000 km route that runs the length of the Carpathian Mountains, between Orszów (Romania) and Bratislava (Slovakia).  The route & previous crossings are listed here:  http://lukaszsupergan.com/kto-kiedy-jak-dlugo-statystyka-lista-przejsc-luku-karpat/

Map:  http://event.trackcourse.com/view/biegiem-przez-luk-karpat-2019?fbclid=IwAR3Xq86dpAX7cMqbZDqPF7tihOktrB3Z246WR3A3z_cfzbLWiRGLPJF0cC8

Lukasz Supergan submitted the route:

"Carpathians are 1300-km long mountain range in Middle & Eastern Europe. No single, uninterrupted trail crosses them all, however, since 1980, some hikers engage themselves in thru-hike of Carpathian Mountains. There is no set route and each team or person is responsible to find her/his own way across 4 countries and more than 30 mountain groups. Two points, which mark Carpathians' ends are: Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, and Danube river near Orsova town, in southern Romania. Typical hiking distance is 2000 km and 2-3 months. Since 1980 less than 20 expeditions (about 35 people) succeed."

Supergan has thru-hiked the Carpathians twice, as described on his website:

"In summer 2001 I walked, with help from local transport, 450 km across the Polish Carpathian Mountains. After finishing that road I asked myself: how these mountains look outside of Poland? Do they continue? How far? The answer to this question changed my life.

Three years later, in June 2004, I found myself in front of Almaj mountains in south Romania. From there I’ve started lonely traverse of the entire chain of Carpathian Mountains. Despite the lack of experience, problems with equipment and bad weather, which has accompanied me for weeks, I marched along the main ridge of the Carpathians in Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia – 2 200 km in 93 days. It was my first long distance thru-hike, during which I reached to my deepest resources of persistence, strength and motivation. Extremely profound experience, which became the beginning and cornerstone of my passion for long-distance hiking. It was also the fifth traverse of the Carpathian Mountain in history and the first one made solo.

I’ve descriped this trip in my first book “Pustka wielkich cisz” (“The emptiness of great silence”), by “Sorus” publishing house.

After 9 years, much more experienced, I returned to southern Romania to walk whole Carpathian Mountains again. Why? Perhaps I felt that first trip, almost unbearable and full of dramatic moments, was somehow unresolved issue. I needed to get even with it, so I returned to Carpathians in the summer and autumn of 2013. The route, mostly modified, done with a lot more of experience and with lightweight equipment, allowed me to cross this mountain range for second time. This time in 65 days, which is it’s fastest known time without support."

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