Picking up where I left off yesterday. Yes, this is still my hike from yesterday, and I've come a long way today, but that's for another post. Sometimes it's hard to catch up with myself!
The theme for a while is geology, with a bit of history thrown in.
There is only a 2 km section between Somoskő and Eresztvény. I could have taken the longer route to see the remains of the quarries in the area and a quarry pond, but I skipped that because it would have taken too much time and it's less spectacular.
There are no houses in Eresztvény, because the ones that once existed have long since been demolished.Miners used to live here, extracting stone from the surrounding mines and coal from deep in the forest.
Now there is only a Geopark visitor centre with a playground and a bird park.
In the bird park I saw no birds this time, only a big bear, luckily not a live one, but a wooden one.
Leaving the small park I came to a nice path surrounded by pine and beech trees.
Close to me, a large bird of prey flew up and landed in a tree. Unfortunately the low light made the picture blurry.
The beech trees here are at least 100 years old. On the trunk of one of the trees someone carved the Hungarian holy crown years ago. As beautiful as this symbol is, it was not a good idea to scratch it into wood, because it can cause a lot of damage to the tree!
I mentioned geology at the beginning of my post, and you will not be disappointed! You can see the remnants of volcanic activity from 5 million years ago on the Witch Stone (Boszorkánykő). There is a legend that naked witches once danced on the rocks during a full moon.
Now, let's see the rock! The basalt here is in flat layers and cracks in the sun, rain and frost. That's why it's quite easy for small stones to move under your boots!
The view is stunningly beautiful, but it's best to go up at sunset or dawn. The lights are completely different then than in the early afternoon! This picture shows the houses of Salgóbánya.
The view from another angle is also beautiful, with the tall buildings (see right) in the distance, the blockhouses of Salgótarján.
In a short time, dark clouds gathered and created a dramatic atmosphere.
This is the high ground from which I photographed the Witch's Stone.
Hills and mountains across the border in Slovakia
The basaltic rocks are interspersed with diverse lichen beds.
The castle of Somoskő - taken with 40x zoom
The Bükk mountains in the distance
The Medves plateau
Fragile wild flower. All plants on the rocks are protected!
A very old oak tree
After this detour I descended from the Witch's Stone and climbed the nearby castle hill, Salgó Castle. Want to know more about its history? See this wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salg%C3%B3_Castle
From this view, not much of the structure is visible, except the sack-shaped basalt rocks, which are very different in shape from the basalt outpouring seen at the base of Somos Castle.
This castle is also multi-storey, like Somoskő Castle, but smaller. In the past, people didn't live in castles for the beautiful view, but for military protection. It was quite uncomfortable living here!
The arched entrance frames the landscape. So low that even I had to be careful not to hit my head!
I took these pictures from the tower of the castle, and you can see Mount Karancs, also called "Palóc Olimpos".
Small plants find their habitat everywhere among the rocks.
Somoskő castle. The photos were taken from the tower, then lower.
From the castle, I headed towards Erestvény to catch the bus. I didn't walk fast, enjoying the silence of the forest. I only met a few tourists in the castle and on the Witch's Stone. On weekends there are usually a lot of people.
Atalanta butterfly in the forest
A rather familiar, gentle bird at the bus stop
The day is not over yet. Back home, I had a lot of photos to process and my first post about Somosko to write. I was glad to be able to go to bed around midnight.