Mędralowa

Mędralowa (Slovak Beskydok or Modrálová) is a 1169 m summit, the highest of the Mędralowa range (group) on the Polish–Slovak border. It lies on the ridge between the northern Jałowiec Pass (998 m), which separates it from the Babia Góra massif, and the Głuchaczki pass (830 m), beyond which the Pilsko group begins. The European main watershed follows this ridge: streams on the north flow into the Bystra and on to the Koszarawa (Baltic basin), those on the south into the Slovak Polhoranka (Black Sea basin). The Polish slopes belong to Przyborów (about 5.5 km) in the Silesian Voivodeship, the Slovak ones to Oravská Polhora (about 11 km); Zawoja and Korbielów are about 9 km away, Babia Góra less than 7 km.

460 m to the north-east is the lower top, Kolisty Groń (about 1150 m), with the Hala Mędralowa meadow between them. East of the summit, at 1086 m, lies the northernmost point of Slovakia.

How to get there / trails

• The red Main Beskid Trail, Korbielów – Babia Góra section, follows the border over the summit; it is part of the popular traverse from Babia Góra to Pilsko.
• The green trail: Hucisko pass – Czerniawa Sucha – Kolisty Groń – Mędralowa – Babia Góra.
• On the Slovak side, the blue ridge trail (from the Hliny saddle in the west or from Malá Babia hora in the south-east) and the yellow trail from Oravská Polhora via the Jalovecké sedlo.

The view from the top

The summit itself is wooded, but partly open spots give limited yet distant views: Mała Babia Góra (1515 m) and Babia Góra (1723 m) dominate the south-east, Pilsko (1557 m) the south-west. In good visibility you can see the Silesian Beskids, part of the Kriváň Fatra, the Orava Magura, the Choč Mountains, the Ďumbier ridge of the Low Tatras and the edge of the Western Tatras. From the Hala Mędralowa meadow there is a view of Jałowiec and the Little Beskids.

Nature and history

The name has a tangled history. State Geoportal maps call the summit Beskidek. According to the regional writer Aleksy Siemionow the oldest known name is Wielki Jałowiec (recorded by Andrzej Komoniecki, 1658–1728), while the form «Mondralowa» was introduced by Kummersberg's map of 1855; an Austrian map of 1870 garbled it into «Mądraława», and only Kazimierz Sosnowski fixed it as Mędralowa. Sosnowski himself derived the name from A. Mędrala of Przyborów, a former owner of the summit pasture.

On Kolisty Groń stands the historic boundary post III/90: until 1564 the borders of Hungary, Poland and the Silesian lands met here, and during the Second World War those of the General Government, the Third Reich and Slovakia. In 1938–1939 the whole summit was Polish. During the war the Germans built earthworks along the ridge, and remains of the trenches can still be seen. A well-kept shepherd's hut on the meadow offers shelter from rain. There is a triangulation point on the summit.

Safety, season and rules

The trails here are easy, but the weather near Babia Góra changes quickly; further east the trail enters Babia Góra National Park with its own rules. The Slovak slopes lie in the Horná Orava Protected Landscape Area. Rescue: in Poland GOPR (985 or +48 601 100 300), in Slovakia HZS (18 300 or +421 18 300); emergency number 112.

Photos: Adrian Tync, CC BY-SA 4.0; Niegodzisie, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Pudelek, CC BY 3.0; Adrian Tync, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.