PTTK Mountain Hut in the Valley of the Five Polish Ponds

The PTTK (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society) mountain hut in the Valley of the Five Polish Ponds, known as the Pięciostawiańskie Hut, stands by Przedni Staw in the High Tatras at 1,671 metres above sea level. Wikipedia describes it as the highest-lying mountain hut in Poland. It is run by PTTK, and its patron is Leopold Świerz.

Earlier huts in the valley

A succession of buildings has stood on this spot. In 1876 a stone hut named after Ludwik Zejszner was built, simple and uncomfortable. In 1898 a second, wooden one was erected, with beds and heating, and in 1932 a third, larger one. It burned down in May 1945. In 1947 a small temporary wooden building was put up, which today serves as a ranger station of the Tatra National Park.

The present building

The present building was constructed from 1949 to 1953 and officially opened in March 1956. It was designed by Anna Górska, Jan Olaf Chmielewski, Jędrzej Czarniak, Gerard Ciołek and Jerzy Mokrzyński. The building of rough stone has a volume of 3,900 cubic metres and, according to Wikipedia, is considered one of the best architectural solutions among tourist huts.

The hut has 67 beds in 13 rooms with different numbers of beds and operates all year round. Electricity is produced by a small hydroelectric plant: a Pelton turbine fed with water from Wielki Staw gives a power of 50 kW, and in 2010 a new sewage treatment plant was built.

How to get there

According to Wikipedia the green trail leads from Wodogrzmoty Mickiewicza through the Roztoka Valley to Wielki Staw Polski (about 2 hours 5 minutes), and from there another ten minutes to the hut. The black trail from Wodogrzmoty is a shorter variant: 1 hour 20 minutes to the junction and 40 minutes to the hut. The blue trail leads from Morskie Oko over Zawrat, in about two hours. The times are given by Wikipedia and depend on fitness and weather.

Nearby

Right by the hut lies the Valley of the Five Polish Ponds, and not far away, about three hundred metres, you can see the Siklawa waterfall. Further on stands the hut at Morskie Oko, and on the trail down the hut in the Roztoka Valley.

Practical information

• Location: the Valley of the Five Polish Ponds, Tatra National Park; the hut's postal address: 34-530 Bukowina Tatrzańska.
• Accommodation bookings and information on facilities: the website piecstawow.pl.
• The hut cooperates with the Tatra National Park and TOPR (Tatra Volunteer Rescue Service). National park rules apply in the mountains, and before setting out it is worth checking the weather and the condition of the trails.
• On site it is worth trying the baking for which the hut is known: Wikipedia mentions apple cake.