'I have been engaged in shepherding since 1972, and I am 52 years old. Even as a little boy I was a novice shepherd in Maniowy', he confesses. In total, he has been shepherding for about 30 years, and since 2007 on Rusiński Wierch in Bukowina Tatrzańska. For 15 years he shepherded on Kotelnica, and even earlier on Siwa Polana at the mouth of Chochołowska Valley. He has also been looking after the sheep in Lower Silesia and the Low Beskids. Tadeusz Barnaś lives in Bańska Wyżna. His summer flock amounts to over 500 sheep, which are entrusted to him by farmers from Bańska and Leśnica. He breeds 50 sheep himself, but ensures that he treats each member of the flock with the same care. He does not complain about a lack of visitors, as the fame of his sheep milk cheeses reaches far and wide, and the location of the shepherd's hut means that many tourists visit his hut. It is a where he not only makes his products, i.e., 'puca' oscypki, but he also sometimes provides tourist information or educates people about highlanders' culture and traditions. Some questions from tourists can surprise even such an experienced senior shepherd as Tadeusz Barnaś, who believes that the mountains are the only place where he can live and work.