Once more at Czarny Staw

Once again I have been in Poland. And once again in the High Tatras. And again, I was really suprised how these mountains and the people visiting it are so different.
First, you have to know that Poland is a big country with almost 40 million inhabitants. But the only mountain ranges are in the south of Poland (Beskidy, High Tatras, Western Tatras, Babia Góra...). Therefore, the choice for Polish citizens to hike or climb is not broad. As a matter of consequence, there are quite a lot of visitors, even off season.
Another reason (and maybe a consequence from the above) is that the mountain huts are all open throughout the year. Thus, even in November, you can find shelter, food and drinks in the Schronisko (difficult to pronounce).
The starting point for the High Tatras is Zakopane. This city (28'000 inhabitants) is close to Kraków (110Km). There is a regular bus service from the Kraków train station and Zakopane: one bus every 1/2 - 1 hour. The trip lasts 2 hours (except if there are some jams).
From Zakopane, there is also regular bus service to Kuźnice (the starting point of the cable car to Kasprowy Wierch.
Then, you have to enter the National Park... and for that, pay a small fee (5 Złoty, e.g. roughly 1,5CHF). This is also a way to get some statistics on the visits to the National Park... during nice summer days, it can be about 30'000 visitors a day.
After having passed by the checkpoint, you can either go up Dolina Jaworzynka or on the ridge above it. I choose to go up the valley (Dolina). At a given point, the path leaves the bottom of the valley and one can further have a view on the bottom of it. It is at this place that iron ore was got from some mines. Further up, at the Przelęcz między Kopami pass, was, at mining times, an inn.. where workers could go to drink and enjoy after having worked hard in the mines. The owner of the inn was also... the owner of the mines...
Shortly after the pass, one arrives at Hala Gąsienicowa which means the meadow of Gąsienica. Gąsienica means caterpillar... but is also a quite common family name in Poland.
Further, there is the Schronisko Murowaniec where you can have... beer... but also some nourishing dishes (pierogy, bigos, żurek...).
Since going to the hut is only a short hike, it is worth to climb to Czarny Staw Gąsienicowy. Why is this name so long? Actually, it means the black lake... but since there are several black lakes, it is precised that it is the one in Gąsienicowa.
Actually, I planned to do a longer tour. But several days before, and on the same morning, the Halne was blowing (Föhn). And later in the morning, the sky became overcast and it started to rain...
In Zakopane, it is worth to by some special cheese from that region. The cheese is smoked (one have to like it, of course). The best one is certainly Oscypek, made from sheep milk. I also like Faruki, some smoked cheese sticks.