Report on the Guided Winter Tour around Jósvafő on January 21, 2017
Twenty-one people braved the hard cold on this beautiful sunny morning. Jósvafő was covered with a sparkling new 30 cm blanket of snow. The never-freezing stream steamed (it emerges from the cave at 10C) and babbled along the Tohonya Valley as we walked beside it past the entrance to the Kossuth Cave and continued towards the Imre Vass Cave and the hucul horse herd pasture. Animal tracks were easy to spot criss-crossing the fresh snow. While we did not see any wolf tracks, there was plenty of evidence of wild boar, deer, birds, foxes and rabbits.
At the entrance to the Imre Vass Cave, the group split into two – one half explored the impressive dripstones of the cave as the other hiked up to the hucul pasture for the amazing view of the karst plateau. Then the groups switched. On the return, the group again split – one half taking the longer route through the Horsehead Valley and the Gergés crags, while the other headed back to Jósvafő. The full group enjoyed hot tea and scones back at the Local Museum after an eventful and pleasant 4 hour hike.
Two more winter hikes are scheduled for February: a weekend Equinox programme including a 20 km route and the Baradla Cave Long Tour, and a rare hike around Esztramos Hill and through the Aladar Földi Cave. See our webpage for details.
(Pictures and text by Krisztina Litkei)
