From Noah’s Vineyard to the Apostles’ Church

Itinerary

• From Istenmezeje, we follow the K mark down to the bottom of Hosszú Valley.
• In the Hosszú Valley, we walk down an unmarked paved road to Váraszó (together with the K+ mark on the last section).

Detailed description of the route

Cursed boots

It is not worth leaving the streets of the village of Istenmezeje, located along the Tarna that borders the territory, immediately - better to take a few minutes detour to the north to the geological attraction of the settlement, Noah’s Vineyard. The long winding rock formation is associated with various legends, all sharing the theme that the shape resembling petrified grapevines was formed as a result of a curse when the owners of the vineyard (according to one version a landlord named Noah) refused the plea of those in need. The scientific explanation is more concrete but equally colorful: the sand deposited in a marine tidal zone turned into rock as the materials secreted from the fossilized dead calcareous animals cemented it into a hard sandstone, later exposed by erosion from a softer, faster-eroding marl-clayey environment. The soft-curved projections (“boots”) sticking out of the cliff are harder than the surroundings due to accumulation of more calcareous binding material. At the base of the cliff, there is an artificially closed cavity with a grate, which was part of a 19th-century wooden church.

The route starts on the K mark towards the depths of the low hill area Vajdavár region, initially passing through the houses lining the valley. According to tradition, residents fleeing the Turkish raids took refuge in the marshy valley of Tarna, and having survived the devastation, named the new settlement with the pleasing-sounding name of Istenmezeje. The reality is though more prosaic: the village inherited its name from the former land-owning Istenmezey family.

On untrodden paths among a sea of hills

The sandy-clayey soil makes the dirt road muddy and sticky after rains, leading past a rainwater reservoir into a forest thicket that is not completely closed: the valley is decorated with clearings and wooded patches characteristic of near-natural forests, allowing walking in a bright pasture despite the steep walls. The creek bed winds deeply incised into the soft sandy bedrock, sometimes between chasm-like sides, but significant water mostly flows only after heavy rains. The sand retains little precipitation, so the suddenly rushing water can quickly flow off on the surface, etching large ditches. Besides, the landscape was also shaped by mass movements occurring on the occasionally slippery clay, wet landslide areas. The finely detailed terrain creates a feeling of isolation with its intricacy, excluding the noises from outside the mountain range - although we have barely moved from the village. At a clearing, we look into a broad basin, then reach the side of Keskeny-bérc with a short but strenuous ascent. Hiking through colorful mixed woods, beside native species there are also pine groves and especially widespread acacia stands. Mainly the latter species was “invited” to the area by the residents and the centuries-long battle of clay-sandy layers: to fix the rapidly forming, suddenly changing direction gullies and protect the easily erodible soil, they were planted from the end of the 19th century. The aggressively spreading species sometimes displaces competitors, impoverishes undergrowth, and is very difficult to push back.

The magnificent forestscape becomes a mixed oak forest upon reaching the ridge, and the marking follows an almost undulating, comfortable path. Nearby place names, VÉrcse-láz Peak and Nyúlsütő Peak, perhaps bear the marks of ancient hunting, and as over the centuries, even nowadays few people walk on these trails. Yet we are on the long-distance hiking route known as Kohász blue, connecting important industrial towns of northern Hungary, Salgótarján and Diósgyőr, showing the natural conditions of the region. The true nomadic forest hiking experience is given, but unfortunately there is no outlook - however, after passing a conspicuously wide track and turning right, the basalt plateau of Medves appears through the foliage (to the left), and to the north the Low Tatras are visible. We climb along a fence on the edge of a wild pine woodland to the peak of the hike, Szederkény, which other maps mark as Lóhullás Peak - as on the steep slope forming its side horses once fell.

Valley moods above Váraszó

We start a gentle descent. The road winds in a shady, sometimes almost ominous forest, and the eastern side of the ridge is covered by older beech woods, into which dark forest pines are planted here and there. At the end of the winding road, it bends into the deep Gemeruta Valley - whose name originates from the old road leading to Gömör county - thus indicating that we are walking in an old, important depression. Along the cool beech valley floor, the road runs parallel to a straight ditch, and finally we arrive at a meadow with an idyllic setting, the really elongated pasture of Hosszú Valley, whose direction was determined by a structural line and further deepened by the creek. At its bottom runs a concrete road on which we continue to the right. On the left a wooded marsh accompanies us, and often we pass by occupied springs or incoming streams. The Hosszú Valley creek covers a considerable length of about 13 km, but usually only collects small, drought-drying streams from the surrounding wide ridges. The water of the Boczátori spring is reliable and drinkable, and although it is hidden at the bottom of the road among plants, a rain shelter nearby draws attention to it.

We still trudge on for a good while on patched asphalt stretching in the mountain squeeze until we reach one of the three ponds dammed on the creek. The standing waters, created at the end of the 20th century, are privately owned, and their names were given by their owners - the name Hibás denotes a surname, and the enigmatically inspired Ngoro goron pond resembles the name of a Tanzanian crater and nature protection area but is not the same. Indeed, the pier at the end, built from wood, also suggests African inspiration. The first and second water surfaces attract attention with their peaceful forest surroundings, and before the lowest "brother" flows water under a marshy forest floor noisy with frog croaks. This last one, the Forrás pond, is the best developed: covered resting places are inside the fence, next to it is a spacious wooden house and a buffet building. (The numerous tree stumps protruding from the central pond indicate that the valley bottom was once inhabited.)

The last act of the route is a hearty walk through the valley bottom lined with meadow pasture. After about half an hour, we arrive at Váraszó, the long Palóc village. “Waiting in the drought valley” - its name was formed by merging the nearby earth fortress and the sometimes dry-bottomed depression, but tradition says that the sentries stationed on the hilltops shouted to alert each other of the invaders approaching until the message reached the village, where the last team member "waits for the word". It is worth taking a detour to the former St. Peter and Paul Apostle Church, now the Church of Our Lady of the Hungarians, a small building adorning the hilltop since the beginning of the 13th century. The route passes by the pub and ends in the village center, at today's St. Peter and Paul Apostle Church, where buses also turn around.