A Guide to Exploring the High Tatras of Slovakia.

On a cool spring day, under the warm blue sky, I set out hiking along jagged peaks, through forests of tall spruce and Scots pine trees. Along gushing rivers I walked, past waterfalls so intense that I couldn’t hear my own jumbled thoughts. A wild fox ran past me on the trail, stopped just a few feet away and turned to face me before darting off; my heart skipped a few beats as I thought: damn, I’m hiking alone in the High Tatras of Slovakia!

I’ve been lucky enough to hike through some incred...