Following Vidróczki through Nyikom

Itinerary:

• We start on the P+ trail from the bus stop towards the Nyikom saddle.
• Along the way, we take a short detour on an unmarked path to the Zsivány Cave and the Lower Waterfall, from where we continue on the PΩ trail.
• We reach the Upper Waterfall on the P▲ trail with a short round-trip detour.
• From the P trail at the Nyikom saddle, an unmarked cart road leads up to the lookout located at the Nyikom peak; we return by the same route to the saddle.
• From the Nyikom saddle, we descend to Pásztó on the Z+ trail, where the Z trail navigates from the main road to the train station.

Detailed description of the hike:

The Poor Men of Mátra

Starting from the lower end of Mátrakeresztes, from the bus stop at Pásztó, Ágasvári shelter, we begin on the path behind the restaurant on the P+ trail. The original village was located much higher, near the origin of the Csörgő stream, where a glassworks was established in the mid-18th century. Later, residents moved a few kilometers down here for better livelihood and transportation, to the confluence of the Kövecses and Csörgő streams behind today's restaurant, where spoon making remains a popular local craft. In April 2005, a flood swept through and destroyed several houses. Since then, a parking lot to serve tourism needs has been built on the arranged area, and the stream bed has been significantly reinforced.

Immediately behind the restaurant, crossing the typically babbling stream, we enter the dense forest of Mátra. The path joins a steadily ascending forestry road after barely 100 meters, on which we comfortably sidestep along the hillside. Be attentive here, because a narrower cart road branches off from the wide bulldozer track, continuing nearly level. Near the junction, the path bypasses a small valley on level ground, where it is worthwhile to take a short detour into the valley and to the rocks above on the PΩ trail.

We are at the eruption level of Mátra's formation, mixed with ash fall, where a solidified, harder lava bench wedges into the quickly eroding soft tuff layer. The stream carving into the tuff leaps at the harder andesite step, creating a spectacular waterfall. The upper part of the waterfall lies a bit more than 100 meters above the P+ tourist mark at Lyukas-kő, in a similar setting. The andesite layer widening towards the ridge breaks into small towers on the sunlit slope, as lava rock cracked by cooling planes and structural movements is exposed by erosion from the hillside. Between such towers in a sheltered crevice lies the Zsivány Cave, which by its name was a hideout for the poor men of the mountains in past centuries. In the second half of the 19th century, the famous outlaw of the region, Márton Vidrócky, may have hidden here, close to the helpful local population yet free from authorities under the protection of the mountains. Although Vidrócky was an outlaw here for barely two years, the poor men who clashed with the law were endless inhabitants of the Mátra forests.

The Andesite Tower of Nyikom

Returning to the P+ trail, we have the opportunity to view the upper part of the Lower Waterfall with a short few-hundred-meter detour on the P▲ trail. Afterwards, we continue sidestepping on the cart road that reaches the edge of a clearing on the rocky hillside. Here, we sharply turn left up to the steep, clearing-covered ridge of Mocsár-bükk. Climbing the Forester's Meadow, the inner valleys of Mátra open up increasingly clearly, densely forested and sculpted terrain. The wonderful panorama is crowned by two characteristic heights in the area: Óvár and Hegyes Mountain, both over 700 meters, with distinct andesite rock bands running along their sides. On the side of Hegyes Mountain stands the smaller but striking group of towers, Bárány-kő, popular among rock climbers in the mountains. On the southern side of Óvár darkens the larger Csóka-kő, with its façade exceeding 100 meters and notable for its ledges and bushes; it is Mátra's largest elevation difference rock formation. At the top of the charming ridge section, flattening out and walking level, we reach the P trail, which we then follow to Nyikom saddle.

On the comfortable bulldozer road, our path waves through old beech forest, giving a small break after the previous climb. The atmospheric forest walk leads to a large clearing below Nyikom Spring, from where peaks towering north and east open up again. The spring is unclaimed, just marked by a big muddy spot indicating a favored drinking and cooling place for forest game. Above the spring, in shady pine forest, we climb shortly to the watershed ridge; from here, for a short stretch, we can see the southern foot of Mátra. The southwestern slopes of the range, less visited by tourists, are very rich in wildlife – this is best experienced during the autumn deer rutting, when the hillside echoes with stags' calls.

After a brief leveling, we reach Nyikom saddle, the junction of hiking marks and forestry roads. Already in the mid-century Mátra guide it was suggested that this strategic point would be worth building a shelter house. If not a house, a lookout was built on the Nyikom peak above the saddle, accessible by an unmarked but unmistakable cart road starting north of the saddle. Uniquely on private land in our country, the owner built a lookout tower, furnished and offering an excellent panorama, open to tourists for the public good. Let us appreciate this noble attitude and respectfully enjoy and preserve the stone tower's protection and panorama offered to everyone! Nyikom is also one of the best lookouts in Western Mátra, with its steep, conical shape providing a perfect overview including major peaks marked on inner Mátra from Muzsla to Ágasvár, as well as the western foot of Mátra and Cserhát region.

Descent to Pásztó

Returning to Nyikom saddle, we continue down on the Z+ trail from the summit area, on an increasingly deeply cut, stony, old cart road. In part, the amount of rounded stones rolled down from the hillside and deposited on the roadbed becomes unpleasant. The dense bushes do not allow detours, so we must carefully pick our steps to manage, but we soon pass the difficult section. The extremely steep hillside softens a bit along the distinctive ridge of Köves-bérc, used by the tourist path, and fortunately, the forest is absent along the ridge. Among groves of trees and shrubs, increasing clearings open up offering great views of the western foreland of Mátra, the Zagyva valley, and the rolling landscape of Nógrád behind it. The sloping steppe meadow houses a special animal and plant community, covered with a colorful carpet of flowers from spring to autumn, and even the rare houseleek grows on the rocky surfaces.

The increasingly gentle ridge eventually blends into foothill forests, where we walk through a forest secondarily replanted after being disturbed by the once flourishing vineyard culture above Pásztó. Sadly, acacia has become more common, but the bushy forest interspersed with clearings provides excellent habitat for grazing game. The flat ridge, now on cart roads, is sometimes hard to follow with zigzag markings. Vineyards line up on the border of Pásztó, from where we visibly and decidedly approach the town.

Vine growing, once popular throughout Nógrád county, was a key source of livelihood for the people of Pásztó, but the phylloxera plague causing serious destruction across Europe completely wiped out the vines of Nógrád by the late 19th century. Only in a few places, including the hillside above Pásztó, were the old vines regrafted onto resistant American rootstocks.

The Z+ trail crossing between vineyards flows into Táncsics Mihály Street, where, along rows of houses at the end of the street, we reach the Kövecses stream bridge. Crossing the stream and passing by the mill along Galamb and Szentlélek streets, we reach the main road. From there, the Z trail leads to the town center and train station.