Slovenia - Mt. Triglav & Bled

Day 204 - Monday, August 13

I met up in Ljubljana with Corinne Johnson, who was a summer associate (i.e. overpaid summer intern) at Irell (my former law firm) in 2011, the summer that I quit. She was doing a bar trip through Croatia, Slovenia and Italy with her sister Adrea, and the dates worked out that it was convenient to meet up for a few days in Slovenia as I headed south and they headed north. (For those unfamiliar, many soon-to-be-lawyers take a well deserved vacation after completing the bar exam and before starting work, which is known as a "bar trip.") They were planning to climb Mt. Triglav, Slovenia's tallest peak, on the edge of the Alps. That sounded like fun to me, so I decided to invite myself along.

A bit of a warning, this blog is a long-winded one, even more so than normal, and much longer than it should be. I took way too many pictures (as anyone who clicks on the link to the Picasa album will discover), and now I feel the need to share a lot of them and include lots of rambling explanations about them. Apologies in advance. Those with short attention spans may want to just skim the pictures. Part of the problem is that I was back to using my old camera with the busted LCD screen, so I took even more pictures than normal, hoping that a few turned out okay since I couldn't see what they looked like at the time, and then I had a hard time deleting all the ones that I probably should've.

By the time we left Ljubljana, dropped off luggage in the town of Bled (where we were planning to return after 3 days on the mountain), and got to our planned starting point of Bohinj, it was already about 3pm - a bit late to be starting a hike up a mountain, but we were only planning to hike for about 4 hours to a hut that was about halfway up the mountain.

Bohinj is located on a beautiful lake on the southern side of Triglav:

From Slovenia

After walking the length of the lake, we finally started up the mountain. First stop, Savica falls:

From Slovenia

Apparently most of the snow had melted long ago and they hadn't had rain for a while, so the falls weren't as impressive as at other times in the year. Also, small problem, the 30 minute hike up to the falls led to a dead end, contrary to what we had assumed. Perhaps we should've bought the big detailed trail map at the info center, but Corinne insisted we'd be fine with a couple of very cursory maps that didn't really show the actual trails. Not a good start on that front. After walking back down and then heading back to the correct path, we climbed straight up a steep cliff face. A view of the valley from about half way up:

From Slovenia

After walking another couple of hours through the forest and past a lake or two, we made it to the "7 lakes" hut at about 7:15 (you can barely see it in photo below):

From Slovenia

We were then informed quite rudely that: if we wanted dinner we had to order it right then and all they had left were two types of soup; the water wasn't drinkable; we were too late to take a shower; and we couldn't take a shower in the morning either. I love hiking and all, but I wasn't quite prepared to be roughing it quite to this extent for 3 days, but I held out hope that the next night's hut would be better. Apparently bed time in mountain huts is like 8:30, because by the time we ate, everyone was pretty much in bed. It wasn't even dark out.

Day 205 - Tuesday, August 14

With everyone in bed so early, it made for an early morning. We were up before 7 and had started hiking by about 730. As more of a 2am to 10am sleeper, I started to question my affinity for this whole business of multi-day hikes up giant mountains. But it was a beautiful morning and the scenery through the valley along the first part of the hike did not disappoint:

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

We were fortunate enough to also come across some of the wildlife in the park:

From Slovenia

Sorry, with no way to see what I was taking a picture of, zooming in wasn't really a practical option, so you might have to search a bit for our furry little marmot friend in the photo above.

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

It seems to me that having giant antlers would make the ibex (ibexes?) a bit top heavy and wouldn't be very conducive to maintaining balance on the side of mountain.

The main peak that everyone does is Mt. Triglav, but I had noticed on a couple of maps that there was a slightly smaller peak that was sort of on the way to Triglav. Corinne and Adrea ("C&A") decided that 7-8 hours of hiking and one peak was enough for them, so we split ways and I headed up to the top of Kanjavec. The views from the summit were amazing:

From Slovenia

360 panoramic video here if you're really curious. And for the first time since starting the hike, I could see the ultimate goal - Triglav, just off to the right in the pic below:

From Slovenia

Unfortunately, getting there required descending back down a good bit to another hut where I reunited with C&A, and then we headed for Triglav. It was a pretty easy climb for a little while, with nice views of the Alps, like this one:

From Slovenia

But then we got to sort of the base of the summit, and things changed a bit. Whereas most of the way from the hut to that point we were hiking/walking, for the last hour or so of the climb to the summit, we were full-on rock climbing, but without safety harnesses. It was pretty crazy. A few photos as we made our way up and into the clouds:

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

Whatever you do, don't look down...

From Slovenia

Finally we made it to the top:

From Slovenia

Where I had my 4th chicken and mustard sandwich of the hike:

From Slovenia

This was because the only food I brought was a loaf of bread, a metallic tube of mustard, and a pile of sliced chicken. I was quite jealous of C&A, who had brought all sorts of chocolate goodies. I guess that's something you learn with experience; they've clearly done this sort of thing more than me. After a little bit of food, C&A decided to take a nap and hope the clouds passed:

From Slovenia

The clouds never really passed, but they sort of cleared enough on the north side to take a few pictures:

From Slovenia

At the top we realized that we had chosen the more difficult way to come up, not that the other way was all that much easier, as it required coming down a very narrow ridge, once again with the assistance of cables and pegs virtually the entire way.

From Slovenia

I thought I told you not to look down! ... Finally, we made it to the "base camp" hut at about 4pm, at which point we were informed that the hut was full, as were all the other huts in the area because the following day was a national holiday. Perhaps we should've done a little more planning/research. We were told to return at 7 to see if there were any no-shows, otherwise we could sleep on the benches in the dining area. Not good. And not only did this hut not have showers, they didn't even have running water. So much for any hope of getting clean. C&A decided their naps at the summit were too short and they wanted to get a preview of what sleeping on the benches was like:

From Slovenia

It was quite cold in the hut, so I dug into my bag looking for the shirt I had worn up the mountain the previous day. But it was nowhere to be found. Apparently I had left it at the previous hut, along with a pair of socks. I think it's about time for an updated list of stuff that I've lost. Maybe it'll get it's own blog soon. Luckily there were some no shows and we got beds.

Day 206 - Wednesday, August 15

I think we all wanted to get down the mountain and to a shower ASAP, so we were up in time to catch the sunrise:

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

And started down the mountain shortly thereafter:

From Slovenia

On the way up, we had been debating which way to head down. Supposedly the quickest and prettiest way to the bottom was through the Vrata Valley (the opposite side from where we'd come up), so we went with that, even though that wasn't the original plan and we weren't quite sure what the deal was with the buses from that side. There were two routes through the Vrata Valley, one was especially dangerous but more direct and the other was a bit more roundabout. It took some convincing to get Adrea to agree, but finally we decided to head down the "dangerous" trail, which was really quite an awesome hike. For the most part, we were either going straight down steep rock faces or shimmying across narrow ledges. It looked something like this:

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

Apparently in hiking lingo, this is known as "exposure." Turns out I'm a big fan of "exposure," because I thought it was really awesome, and despite being sore, tired, and dirty I really enjoyed it. I think the altitude was affecting my sense because I decided that wasn't life-threatening enough so I ventured out to a couple of precarious ledges, though I was a little too scared to try to stand up:

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

During the moments when we weren't concentrating on each footstep and avoiding a fatal misstep, the views of the valley were amazing:

From Slovenia

From Slovenia

When we finally got to the bottom and inquired about buses to Bled, we were told that no buses come to that hut and that the only buses stopped 13 km away on the main road in Mojstrana. My immediate thought: "You're kidding right?! Please tell me you're kidding!" I kind of wanted to cry a little bit at that point -- I was so sore and tired and in desperate need of a shower that I think I would've rather wrestled a bear than walk another 13km. I guess we should've done a little more research before picking that way to descend.

We debated for a bit and decided that hitchhiking was our best bet, which would not be a first for me this trip. Corinne found the first ride after only 5 or 10 minutes, but they only had room for two. Bummer. She told me they were heading to Mojstrana (where the bus picked up, as opposed to all the way to Bled, our ultimate destination).

As soon as as they were gone I realized that I had no money (I had been borrowing from Corinne after I ran out on the mountain.) I counted my coins and realized I had 3.40 euros -- I was really regretting that last beer at the top of the mountain right about then. I figured it was probably more like 5 euros to get from Mojstrana to Bled, and resigned myself to the fact that it could be a very long time before I got to Bled and got a shower. Only about 10 minutes later, I also got a ride to the Mojstrana bus station, but C&A were nowhere to be found. I tried hitchhiking for a while with no success. When a bus finally stopped, I got on it with my fingers crossed and asked how much it would cost to get to Bled. He said he didn't go there, but I could go to Lesce (about 5km from Bled) and switch to a different bus to Bled from there. And how much would it cost to get to Lesce?....... 3.20 euros. Sweet Jesus! I actually have that much! It's a miracle (a festivus miracle?).

So I'm cruising along on my bus and I get to a bus stop about halfway to Lesce and who do I see sitting there but C&A. They convince me to get off my bus because they're waiting on one that goes to Bled from there and will be there soon. This seems appealing because I had no idea how long I would have to wait for the transfer bus in Lesce and they have money..

I asked them how they knew about this bus to Bled and they say that some random dude told them that on national holidays, as that day was, they use the Saturday schedule. Hmmm, that's funny, because I was told they use the Sunday schedule. And according to the schedule posted, there was a bus coming soon on the Saturday schedule but no bus for several hours on the Sunday schedule. The time for the bus we were hoping for came and went, but we sat there a bit longer hoping to ask the next bus driver that came by how we could get to Bled. Before that could happen, an Italian couple drove up and asked Corinne if she knew how to get to Bled. Corinne pointed them in the right direction and then started to walk back towards us on the bus station bench, but, perhaps based on the WTF expression I had on my face, she quickly turned back around and ran to the car and asked if we could ride with them to Bled. We later learned that their English wasn't very good, so they may not have even understood what she was asking, but the three of us piled into their tiny little car. It wasn't until that moment that I really noticed that we smelled pretty terrible after 3 days hiking up and down a mountain without a shower. Upon reflection, we decided that we probably shouldn't have identified ourselves as American because we were probably giving Americans a bad reputation in our current state.

We finally got to Bled, and I took a much needed shower. Then swam in the lake.

From Slovenia

Then took another shower. Then walked up to the castle overlooking the lake:

From Slovenia

I couldn't think of any time in the last 25+ years that I went that long without a shower, so I took one more shower before bed just for good measure.

Wow that might be a record for longest single day blog so far. Congrats to those of you who made it all the way through. Double congrats if you've read straight through from the start of the blog entry/hike; you must be really bored, or one of my parents (or maybe both).

Day 207 - Thursday, August 16

So. Incredibly. Sore. Anything requiring movement of my legs the next day was painful. There's not a ton to do in Bled other than hiking, and I was in no condition to be doing any of that for a while, so we decided to rent a row boat and head out to the island in the middle of the lake and check out the really old church there.

From Slovenia

I rowed us out there, and on the way back I turned over the oars to Corinne.....and then hilarity ensued. To be fair, it wasn't the easiest task, but Corinne seemed to be particularly bad, as we got turned completely sideways over and over again. Even boats of complete strangers passing by us burst out laughing. A couple of photos:

From Slovenia

C&A inspecting the paddle thinking that surely there must be something wrong with the paddle; Corinne can't actually be this bad right? At least we were generally facing in the right direction at this point. However, in this next photo, somehow Corinne had managed to get us facing in the total opposite direction of where we were supposed to be going, which I apparently found quite amusing; Corinne seems less amused...

From Slovenia

I'm probably exaggerating a bit, and there was marked improvement towards the end, but it was definitely the most I've laughed in a while. Sadly after our boat excursion, C&A said farewell, but it was a great several days. Thanks for letting me tag along!