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The Trail to the Groń of John Paul II – the Beskid Mały

The trek starts at the Kocierska Pass, which you can reach from Żywiec or Andrychów. The granite red trail leads through the most interesting part of the Beskid Maly. Along the way, you can find numerous rock formations, mainly in the area of the Łamana Skała peak. The first stage of the trek leads from the pass to the west, to the Potrójna Peak and a bit further to the "Chatka pod Potrójną" student mountain hostel. It is worth to rest there a moment, however, the conditions are rather modest, e.g. you won’t buy a meal there but you can prepare your own one. Further on, the trail leads through the Łamana Skała peak to the Leskowiec and the hostel on Leskowiec (despite its name it is situated at the summit of Groń of John Paul II). There, you can have a meal in the cafeteria and, after a well-earned rest, go down (still following the red trail) to Krzeszów Górny. From there you can take a bus to Sucha Beskidzka.

 

The Groń of John Paul II (formerly Jaworzyna, 890 m a.s.l.) - a mountain in the eastern part of the Beskid Mały.
It forms, together with the nearby Leskowiec, an important tourist area. In 1932 a PTTK hostel "Leskowiec” was established here thanks to the efforts of the Polish Tatra Society in Wadowice.
In 1995, at the initiative of a PTTK activist, Stefan Jakubowski of Andrychów, a chapel was erected near its summit. There is also a cross of 1991, dedicated to the "people of the mountains". In the chapel there is a chair on which John Paul II sat during his visit to Skoczów in 1995, and an altar with the following inscription: “There are the three of us: God, the mountains and me.” During his childhood and youth, the Pope frequently approached the summit - also as a bishop. In summer he trekked  along the trails, in winter he skied there. The last time he approached the Leskowiec and the Jaworzyna peaks was as a bishop in 1970 after Mass, which was celebrated on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of priesthood in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska.
The change of the mountain name was officially introduced in the Regulation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration of 1st January 2004, although the decision to change the name had been made earlier by the Mountain Tourism Commission of the Wadowice PTTK branch on 9th December 1981.
Source: Wikipedia, Photo: Ukasiu

Time required to cover the whole route: 5h 15m
Length of the entire route: 18km