Borovnica – Bohinjska Bistrica 2012

Vrhnika

Ever since my failed attempt to walk toTriglav, Slovenia's highest mountain, from my home in 2005 I itched to try again. Actually, I can hardly believe it has been 7 years already since then. I guess there just never was enough motivation or opportunity. But this summer, my daughter Martina is working in Bohinj and so it seemed like the perfect excuse to go and visit her – on foot. Thus the expedition Borovnica – Bohinjska Bistrica 2012 was born. The previous time I walked to Bohinjska Bistrica it took me four days and lots of lessons learned and so it seemed only reasonable that I should be able to make it in two days this time. I only planned to go as far as Bohinjska Bistrica, foregoing Triglav on this attempt, because I have a half marathon coming up in September and I don’t want to jeopardize my running training by doing something as crazy as overstraining myself.

First of all, before starting, I reviewed my lessons learned from my previous expedition:

• First lesson, make sure you know the way. Check: now I have GPS navigation (was GPS navigation even plausible 7 years ago?)
• Second lesson, get better hiking shoes. Check: new, lighter shoes, tested twice previously
• Third lesson, don’t go in a straight line. Check: allow GPS navigation to dictate the route (should I really allow technology to take over route planning?)

On my previous attempt I made it as far as Goropeke on the first day and to Cerkno on the second day. I figured that if I started early enough and did not get lost along the way (like I did the first time) I could make it all the way to Cerkno on the first day. And I did! It was a long day though, starting at 6:00 in the morning and hiking all day, making it to Cerkno just before it was completely dark at around 21:00 for a total walking time of 15 hours. I only got lost briefly about two times, using my GPS navigation to realize that I took a wrong turn and getting back on track promptly.

Sovodenj

I checked into the Cerkno hotel, the same one I stayed at 7 years ago. It was quite funny when the guy at reception asked me, “Where are you from?”

And I told him, “From Borovnica.”

He obviously noticed my backpack and deduced that I must have hiked there so he revised his question, “I mean, where did you come from today?”

“Yes, from Borovnica.”

OK, that sank in then. I was too tired to even consider the hotel swimming pool, I just went straight to bed. My shoes stood up reasonably well, although I had two blisters on my feet but I doubt they invented shoes that wouldn’t give you blisters after 15 hours of hiking.

The next morning I continued my journey to Bohinjska Bistrica. I decided against climbing the Porezen mountain because it would mean going back down into Petrovo Brdo and up onto Soriška planina again, as I did 7 years ago. Instead, I trusted my GPS navigation that a way around through Davča had less altitude changes and was shorter in total hiking time. The device calculated my route at 8 hours and I was already looking forward to reaching my destination in mid-afternoon. What did I mention at the beginning of this post regarding trusting navigation software? Actually, I wasn’t too surprised to find out that after 3 hours of hiking time the device calculated that I still had 6 hours to go. Now, where is the math in this equation? Of course, the navigation software didn’t consider altitude adjustments and so it calculates the time it takes to walk 3 kilometers on flat terrain the same as 3 kilometers going steeply uphill. Oh well, I was actually glad that it forecasted only 8 hours when I set out in the morning, had it been more, I might have been discouraged to even start walking.

Davča

There is another lesson learned regarding GPS navigation. I was aware that GPS positioning is not exact and I soon figured out that the software on my device has a built in algorithm that wants to position you on a road whenever you are at least X distance away from a known road (I didn’t quite manage to guess what X was, in hiking time it was too much if you ask me). So if I went off course, it would take more than distance X until my GPS started screaming “recalculating route”. Even worse, whenever there were two roads close together, such as for example a V shaped fork in a road, or one of those spaghetti crisscrossing types of junctions where several roads come together, I could never be quite sure which road I was following until I was more than X distance away from all other roads. But aside from this feature, I was really thankful for the GPS navigation because it guided me quite well most of the time, sometimes even along unmarked paths through the woods. And the few times that I did find myself lost, I was at least able to use the GPS navigation to figure out where I was and which way I was supposed to go. Yes, it’s good to have technology. How did we ever manage without it?

I dragged myself up to Soriška planina, the highest point of my route, unfortunately during the hottest part of the day in early afternoon and under a scorching sun. But it was all forgotten after a cold beer at the hut and from where it was only a relatively short descent down into Bohinjska Bistrica. Yes, I managed to get lost one last time. When I had less than 20 minutes left to my destination according to the GPS, it started recalculating my route again, making it 35 more minutes. I have no idea where or how I managed to go off course, although I have a suspicion that it was somewhere in the fields where each farmer has their own road to their own field and I probably missed the correct one but the GPS didn’t notice it immediately because I was less than X distance away. In the end it added up to a total of 11 hours hiking time on the second day.

Overall, the trip was successful. I made it to Bohinjska Bistrica in two days as originally planned. If I were able to get up the next day (I admit, I was tired, my feet hurt, I had a new blister and I didn’t want to even think about hiking another step) I proved to myself that it would have been possible to reach Triglav in 3 days from my home if I really wanted to do it. Perhaps next time?

Rakitna

Rakitna lake

It takes about two hours to hike up to Rakitna from my home. Too long for a weekday afternoon and too short for a weekend when I want to do more serious hiking. So I rarely go there. This time Marko and I decided to go by bicycle. It took us about two hours, so I figured I might as well have hiked up there, it would have been easier than to drag the bicycle all the way up. When I hike I take a direct route straight up along a marked trail through the woods while with the bicycles we had to take a longer way around on a gravel road. But going down made up for all the effort. We breezed down along the asphalt road in twenty minutes! Too bad it takes so long to go up, I would have loved to do that again!

Rakitna is most known for a hospital that treats lung diseases because the air is supposed to be fresh there and good for the patients. There is also a lake, convenient for swimming in the summer and ice skating in the winter.

Snežnik

This was my first visit to Snežnik, a mountain in the southwest of Slovenia. It was a nice two hour hike to get to the top through mostly wooded areas. While I was glad that the weather wasn't too hot, it was unfortunately also quite cloudy so I didn't get any of the beautiful views that should have opened up in all directions. I did see the field where the Cerknica lake is supposed to be if it weren't underground at this time of the year. I was there last week, it is visible as the light green region in the photo below:

And here is where they tell me the Adriatic sea would have been visible if it weren't obscured by the clouds:

 

Cerknica

Cerknica is another of those places that is relatively well known as a day trip destination in Slovenia but is too close to our home to merit our attention. So when Marko and I looked for a place to go on a bicycling trip we discovered Cerknica on the map. It took us just under two hours to get there so it really is not that far away. The only issue with getting there is that there is a hill in between so it was a gruelling hour of cycling uphill in order to descend on the other side. Of course we could have gone around that hill, but who wants to take the longer route on a hot summer day?

The most famous sight in Cerknica is the lake which is actually of the sort that sometimes you see it and sometimes you don't because it disappears into underground channels during some parts of the year. We didn't see the lake this time although I can't say for sure whether it wasn't there or whether we just didn't cycle far enough.

There is a statue of Martin Krpan on the main square in the town of Cerknica. Martin Krpan is a Slovenian folk hero, a well known character in children's stories and poems and is extraordinarily strong. He is supposed to originate from nearby, at least the stories say so.

Lanišče

Marko made the discovery that there is a Roman ruins site at Lanišče, near where we live. It seems funny how after all these years when we visited so many Roman ruins sites in various countries around the world (Italy, Portugal, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Morocco) we discover something almost on our doorstep.

Lanišče is the remains of a fortress. There is another site with ruins close by, Hrušica, where only the remains of the walls are visible.

Planica

After visiting the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo I was determined to look at the Slovenian ski jump at Planica again to compare the two. I had been to Planica several times, the last time a few years ago in winter time to watch a competition (it was winter and cold and I only went because Marko was invited and we had tickets). Otherwise I used to go there in summer a few times as a child. I recall that there were wooden steps that lead all the way up and that it was very scary just to look down where the ski jumpers are supposed to jump.


I examined the ski jump just after my trip to Jalovec, after all the starting point for that hike is the parking lot across from the ski jumps. The steps that lead up are now made of steel and there is no sign of the wooden steps that I remember from my childhood years. There is also a ski lift that carries ski jumpers so they don’t have to walk up there but it seems it only operates in winter. I wonder why they don’t operate the ski lift year round and charge admission to tourists to make some extra income, just like they do at the Holmenkollen where they charge admission for riding the elevator. For now, walking up there is free with a warning that people do so at their own risk.


The steps lead only up to the table where the ski jumpers take off into the air. The rest of the way to the top where they start accelerating for takeoff is closed for visitors. But even looking down from the table is totally scary, the landing area is so far away and behind the slope that it isn’t even completely visible and I can only imagine that from the top where the ski jumpers take off it is so much scarier. I have new respect for the ski jumpers who dare to take off from there.


The one thing that really surprised me is that the table is so low, it seems almost like just a large step. I guess in winter when it is all covered in snow it gives a different impression because I always thought that the jumpers fly so very high up in the sky. I realize now that comparison of Holmenkollen and Planica is not relevant since Planica is a much larger ski jump, to be precise it is not really a ski jump but a ski fly. Vikersund in Norway would be a comparable construction but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see it.

Jalovec

It was another of my home alone weekends and obviously I went hiking. Fortunately for me, Marko’s flight for a business trip was so early on Saturday morning that I was able to drop him off at the airport and park my car at my starting point and be ready to start hiking at 6:10 in the morning when it was just barely starting to dawn. So I had the whole day ahead of me and that is why I picked Jalovec, the 4th highest mountain in Slovenia at 2645m. Getting to the summit and back is just feasible in one day.

It was such a beautiful day and as I climbed higher up the rock wall I realized that it has been a long, long time since I last went somewhere that high. I also realized that I have to upgrade my equipment as nowadays it is almost mandatory to wear a helmet to protect the head from possible falling rocks. Years ago we never bothered with such stuff but this time I was almost the only person without a helmet. I saw only two other people without helmets and another two people with bicycle helmets which I am not sure is the best protection against falling rocks.

Some people also wore alpine harnesses which could be used to attach themselves to the fixed steel cables that run up the mountain. But they were not very useful on Jalovec because most of the route has only steel stakes but no cables so there is nothing to which one could attach the harness. There is only the steep cliff and those stakes to offer some safety. Climbing up there is definitely much scarier than a roller coaster ride. I don't have any photographs from those parts of the climb, I needed all my hands and feet on the wall.

It took me just over 10 hours to get back to my car, tired but exhilarated. This is the way to the summit:

Home alone II

Once again, just like in March this year, I was home alone because Marko was on a business trip and Matej went on a school trip. So I set out to finish what I started in March, that is to hike in the Kamnik Alps.

I think I made it just in the nick of time as it was probably the last day with nice weather before the rains start again tomorrow and the forecast is that it would snow above 1000 m altitude which means the Kamnik Alps will be under snow once again.

I was hoping for some sun which unfortunately did not happen, it was mostly cloudy and foggy. I was surprised to see that there was frost on the grasses when I approached the mountain hut on Kamniško sedlo. The frost didn’t go away even when I was leaving at around noon so this is definitely a sign that winter is just around the corner.

Despite the cloudy weather the scenery was still beautiful due to the rich autumn colors.

Planika

The original idea was to climb Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia (2864 m) with my co-workers. But we could not get accommodation in one of the mountain huts below the summit as on this particular weekend every bed was sold out weeks ago. So a two day trip was out of the question. While it is possible to do the Triglav climb in one day, we would have had to to start out much earlier than we did and go much faster. We made it as far as the Planika mountain hut at 2401 m elevation. There we decided to return and go back to be safely back at our car before dark and made plans to make another attempt next year.

It was a perfect September day, sunny and not too hot. The views were spectacular as always.

We were lucky to see an Edelweiss flower, a protected alpine flower.

And we also saw a groundhog, also a rare sighting so I was excited that I caught one on camera.

Home alone

Yesterday I drove Marko to the airport, he has gone on a business trip for two weeks. And this morning I dropped off Matej, he is off on a school trip for a week. So, I am home alone. What to do? Go hiking, of course! Which is easier said than done. The hills and mountains are still white with snow – and this includes the hill behind my house which got a fresh sprinkling a few days ago.

I set off towards the Kamnik Alps, a huge mountain range not too far to the north of Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia. I took my winter clothes, including hat and gloves and was prepared for the conditions so I figured I would just go up as far as I could before the snow devoured me. While driving to the foot of the mountains I had the radio on and they were discussing skiing conditions. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to grow up in this country where it seems that I am the only one who doesn’t ski.

It was actually very nice going up the trail at the beginning, the sun was shining and since I went up the southern slope the snow had mostly melted so it was easy for the first hour or so. After that there was more and more snow the further I went and I finally gave up when I started sinking knee-deep into the snow. I met skiers on the way (obviously, people don’t hike up mountains in the snow, they go there to ski off them!) and I decided it was really time to turn back when I reached a clearing that looked like the aftermath of an avalanche. Enough snow for me today, thank you.

Nanos

I finally gave up on waiting for the snow to melt and some nicer weather to come around to allow me to go hiking. So I had this idea that if I go hiking somewhere in the southwestern part of Slovenia which is closer to the Adriatic seacoast there might be less snow. Thus Marko and I set off towards Nanos, a well known mountain about half way between my home and the seacoast. Catching my first glimpse of Nanos while driving there on the highway and seeing it all white it became obvious that there was no chance that I would be able to avoid snow that day. But since we had already set out to climb the mountain we went forward anyway.

It turned out to be not so bad since the sun was shining most of the way up even though the temperature was close to freezing. As we climbed higher the snow was getting more and more frozen and slippery so it was dangerous going. And at the very top, the last 15 minutes or so it clouded over and a wind was blowing so hard that once again it made me wonder whatever it was that made me go up there in the cold, freezing weather. As usual on such trips, when I finally reached the summit and warmed up in the mountain hut, I was really glad that I made the effort. I got a good dose of the sun and some much overdue exercise.

Borovnica – Bohinjska Bistrica 2005

Zemljevid poti / Map of my route

V našem lokalnem časopisu je bil članek o tem, kako so člani Planinskega društva Vrhnika šli na Triglav. Pa kaj potem, sem pomislila, saj je vsak resen slovenski pohodnik že bil vsaj enkrat na Triglavu. A to je bilo vendarle malce drugače. Šli so na Triglav - peš iz Vrhnike. In takoj je pritegnilo mojo pozornost. V članku je pisalo, da so najhitrejši prišli na Triglav v 3 dneh, povprečni v 4 dneh in ženske v 5 dneh. Odločila sem se, da moram tudi jaz to poskusiti. Nabavila sem zemljevide, si začrtala smer in se podala na pot. Načrtovala sem, da bom hodila 4 dni in ne glede na to, ali pridem na Triglav, ali ne, se bom z avtobusom vrnila domov po tem času.

Our local newspaper ran a story about how members of the nearby Vrhnika mountaineering club climbed Triglav, Slovenia’s highest mountain. So what, I thought, every Slovenian hiker has been to Triglav at least once. But this story was different. They went to Triglav on foot from Vrhnika. Now, that caught my attention. The article stated that the fastest members reached Triglav in 3 days, the average ones in 4 days and women in 5 days. I immediately knew that I wanted to try it myself. So I got maps, charted out my route and decided to just go. I planned 4 hiking days and whether I made it to Triglav or not, I would return home by bus after the 4 days.

Izgubila sem se že takoj na začetku / Getting lost first thing in the morning

Zjutraj sem se odpravila iz Borovnice proti Vrhniki. Na Vrhniki sem sicer bila že neštetokrat z avtom in s kolesom zaradi različnih opravkov. Verjetno bi lahko prišla do tja miže, če bi bilo treba. Ampak ker sem bila peš, sem se odločila, da grem po markirani poti skozi gozd, kakor je bilo razvidno iz zemljevida. Našla sem začetek markacij in šla po poti, dokler markacije niso izginile. A pot se je nadaljevala in sem se odločila, da grem naprej, saj vem, da so markacije včasih slabo vzdrževane, gozdarji podrejo kakšno drevo z markacijo, zato oznake niso vedno najbolj natančne. Res je, da se mi je zdelo rahlo sumljivo, ker je pot zavila preveč na levo, a sem si rekla, da je morda pač malo bolj zavita pot in sem šla dalje. Ko se mi je že začelo dozdevati, da sem zgrešila pot, sem se odločila da najbolje, da grem naprej, saj pot verjetno nekam vodi in se bom potem odločila, kako naprej. Končno, pot se je končala, nad ogromnim kamnolomom. Ojoj, ne! Sem takoj vedela, kje sem, namreč kamnolom je dobro viden iz avtoceste, kadar se vozimo proti domu in ni niti približno blizu Vrhnike, kjer sem hotela biti! Preostalo mi je edino, da se obrnem in grem nazaj do začetka poti in grem raje po cesti. Bil pa je res žalosten začetek moje ekspedicije, saj sem porabila dragocen čas in energijo, da nisem prišla nikamor.

The first morning I set off from my home in Borovnica towards the next larger town of Vrhnika. I had been to Vrhnika by car or by bicycle countless times before for various reasons and I could probably get there with my eyes closed. But going on foot, I decided to take a hiking route through the woods which was supposed to be nicely marked according to my map. I found the markings for the start of the route and I followed them until they disappeared. But the path went on and I decided to follow it, knowing that markings along hiking routes are sometimes poorly maintained, trees that had markings on them sometimes get cut down but I went ahead nevertheless. I did find it suspicious that the path turned too much to the left, but I figured it was just a roundabout way of getting to the destination. Not sure any more whether I was on the right path or not, I figured it best to just go, because it had to end somewhere and I would then try to figure out how to continue. And the route ended, finally, above a giant rock quarry. Oh, no! I knew where I was, the quarry is a prominent landmark well visible from the highway when we drive by, but is nowhere near Vrhnika, where I wanted to be! The only option was to turn back, follow the path back to where it started and continue my journey along the road. It was such a poor start of the whole expedition, having spent precious time and energy to get nowhere.

Konec poti: kamnolom / Dead end: rock quarry

Takrat še nisem vedela, da bo taka usoda mojega celotnega pohoda, iskanje prave poti, vračanje nazaj, od koder sem zgrešila, spraševanje ljudi za pot, kadar sem seveda bila nekje, kjer so sploh bili ljudje. Napredovala sem počasi, mnogo počasneje, kakor sem predvidela in počasi sem začela ugotavljati, da tako ne bom nikoli prišla na Triglav. Postalo mi je jasno, da če bi resnično hotela priti na Triglav v 4 dneh, bi verjetno morala iti z nekom, ki pozna pot. Ampak sem vseeno šla naprej, saj sem imela za cilj hoditi 4 dni, pa kamor pridem, pridem. Vendarle mi je uspelo priti do mojega načrtovanega cilja prvega dne, na Goropeke tik pred temo, utrujena in precej brez volje. A sem vztrajala, prespala noč v udobju koče in se naslednje jutro odpravila dalje. Bolele so me noge, ker so me otiščali precej novi pohodni čevlji, težko sem jih zjutraj sploh obula, ker so mi noge zatekle. Vendar ko sem začela hoditi, sem se ogrela in me je manj bolelo in sem pač šla naprej.

Little did I know at the time that such was the destiny of my entire trek, finding the right way, backtracking, asking for directions if I was lucky enough to be somewhere inhabited where I could find someone to get directions from. So the going was slow, much slower than I anticipated and I soon realized that my destination of Triglav was doomed. It became clear that if I were to get to Triglav in 4 days I would have to go with someone who knew the way. But I decided to continue the trek anyway, keeping in mind my second goal of going for 4 days and seeing where it gets me. I made it to the end of my first day’s trek at Goropeke just in time before it became dark, tired and feeling quite hopeless. But I persevered, spent the night in relative comfort and continued the next morning. My feet were aching due to the un-broken in hiking boots that I wore and it was difficult to even put them on in the morning on my tired and swollen feet. But after a while walking I warmed up and just kept going.

Nagrada drugega dne: bazen in točen Heineken / Second day reward: swimming pool and Heineken on tap

Naslednji dan je bil podoben prejšnjemu v smislu, da je bila glavnina hoje posvečena iskanju prave poti, vračanju nazaj in spraševanju za smer. Načrt je bil, da pridem na Porezen, kjer bi prespala v koči. A sem prispela v Cerkno, kjer se začne pot na Porezen prepozno in me je skrbelo, da ne bi prišla do vrha pred temo. Sicer sem bila utrujena in noge so me še vedno bolele zaradi čevljev in sem se odločila prespati v Cerknem. Šla sem v hotel, kjer imajo tudi bazen in ko sem podpisala formularje, da grem na lastno odgovornost, ker niso imeli čuvaja, sem lahko šla plavat. Kako je bilo prijetno, skočiti v vodo po dveh dneh nenehne hoje! Potem sem še odkrila pizzerijo, kjer sem se najedla in zraven dobila točen Heineken, moje najljubše pivo, ki ga je sicer redko najti v lokalih v Sloveniji. Ker je bila ravno sobota, se je v kraju dogajala še veselica, tako da sem večer preživela kar tam, malo posedala, poslušala glasbo, počivala in nabirala moči za hojo v naslednjih dneh.

The second day was similar to the first in that the main focus of my trek was finding the right route to go, backtracking and asking for directions. The day’s plan was to reach the peak of Porezen where I would spend the night in a mountain hut. But I arrived in Cerkno, the town below Porezen a bit late and was worried that I wouldn’t get up there before dark and my feet hurt and I was tired so I decided to spend the night in Cerkno. There was a nice hotel with a swimming pool and after I signed consent forms because the lifeguard wasn’t on duty I was allowed to use the pool. It felt so wonderful to swim after two days of constant hiking! I found a pizzeria where I had dinner and they even had Heineken, one of my favorite beers, on tap which is rare in Slovenia. Since it was Saturday, there was a town party going on so I sat around some more, listened to music, relaxed and gathered my strength for the following days.

Milijon malin / Unlimited supply of raspberries

Gor in dol in gor in dol / Up and down and up and down

Naslednje jutro sem se odpravila na Porezen, kar sploh ni bilo prehudo, saj sem bila spočita, le noge so me bolele zaradi neumnih čevljev, a sem morala naprej. Poti so mnogo bolje markirane v hribih in zato se nisem niti enkrat izgubila. Če sem hotela naprej v smeri proti Triglavu, sem se morala iz Porezna spustiti v Petrovo brdo in se ponovno povzpeti na Soriško planino. Prišla sem na greben, od koder sem videla kočo na planini, a sem se morala še spustiti dol po smučišču. Ko sem prišla do koče na Soriški planini, se je že delala tema, saj sem ves dan hodila gor in dol in gor in dol, zato sem vedela, da bom morala tam prenočiti. A kakšno presenečenje, kočo na Soriški planini so ravno renovirali! Vse skupaj je bilo eno samo gradbišče, vsepovsod stroji in gradbeni material in nikjer žive duše. No, pravzaprav nisem bila čisto sama, čreda krav se je pasla tam, glasno so se oglašali zvonci in krepko smrdeli kravjeki.

The next morning I had to get up to Porezen which wasn’t too bad as I was rested, only my feet hurt because of the stupid shoes but I had to keep going. The routes were much better marked now that I was in the mountainous region and I didn’t get lost even once. But to move in the general direction of Triglav, after Porezen I had to descend to Petrovo brdo and climb up again, towards Soriška planina. I came above the ridge where I could see the hut but I still had to get all the way down there. It was already getting dark after having spent all day going up and down and up and down so I knew I would have to spend the night there. But what a surprise when I finally reached the hut on Soriška planina, it was being renovated! There was obviously some reconstruction going on, there was lots of machinery and building materials, and not a soul in sight. I wasn’t alone though, there was a herd of cows grazing, their bells noisy and their dung smelly.

Porezen

Spanje z vrečo cementa / Sleeping with a bag of cement

Ko sem se pripravljala na pot, sem vzela s seboj tudi spalno vrečo, za vsak slučaj, če mi ne bi uspelo priti pravočasno v kočo ali najti primernega kraja za prenočitev, tako bi lahko prespala tudi zunaj, če bi bilo treba. In ker so se krave sprehajale naokoli, si nisem ravno najbolj želela prespati tam zunaj. Preverila sem gradbišče in ugotovila, da je možno vstopiti in čeprav je bilo vse en sam beton, je bilo pokrito in varno pred kravami.Ob steno so bila prislonjena stara lesena vrata z napisom "Kuhinja". Izgleda, da se je nekdo odločil obdržati stara vrata, kar mi je prišlo zelo prav, saj sem položila vrata na tla, razprostrla spalno vrečo in tako sem lahko spala na lesu namesto na betonu. Ko sem se ulegla, sem opazila vreče gradbenega materiala z napisi Kema Puconci in to se mi je še najbolj vtisnilo v spomin, namreč da sem spala med vrečami cementa ali karkoli že je bilo v njih. Spala pa sem kar dobro.

When packing for my trip I decided to take a sleeping bag just in case I wouldn’t make it to a suitable hut or place where I could spend the night and so I had the sleeping bag in which I could sleep outside in case of emergency. I didn’t really want to sleep outside, what with the cows strolling around so I checked the construction site and noticed that I was able to go inside. It was mostly concrete but at least it was sheltered and safe from the cows. There was an old wooden door with a sign saying “Kitchen” so I guess they decided to keep the old kitchen door. I lay the door on the floor so I could sleep on wood rather than on cement and spread my sleeping bag over that. As I lay down I noticed lots of bags of building materials labeled Kema Puconci and that is what I remember most about this night, that I slept among bags of cement or whatever was in those bags. But I slept reasonably well.

Soriška planina

Naslednje jutro sem se spustila proti Bohinjski Bistrici, kjer se je moja pot končala. Bil je že četrti dan in ni imelo smisla iti dalje na Triglav, saj bi trajalo vsaj še en dan, česar nisem načrtovala, razen tega sem bila izčrpana in se nisem mogla upreti oditi naravnost na avtobusno postajo, ko se mi je ravno ponudila priložnost.

The next morning I descended towards Bohinjska Bistrica where I decided my trek would end. It was my fourth day, there was no point in going further on Triglav because I would have needed at least another day which I hadn’t planned and I just couldn’t resist heading straight towards the bus station when I had the opportunity.

Ugotovitve / Lessons learned

Torej, uspelo mi je, vsaj delno in vsekakor sem se mnogo naučila iz te izkušnje. Če bi želela tak podvig še kdaj poskusiti, sem spoznala da: Morala bi oditi na pot z nekom, ki dobro pozna pot, ali pa sama raziskovati pot po kosih, tako da bi vedno vedela točno, kje je treba iti Morala bi imeti boljše čevlje ali vsaj take, ki so bolj uhojeni Morala bi premisliti, ali je res najbolj učinkovito iti na pot v ravni črti; morda bi bilo bolje iti malo bolj naokrog, ampak z manj hoje gor in dol in gor in dol Ali bom poskusila še enkrat? Priti na Triglav? Kdo ve, resnično me jezi, ker tokrat nisem uspela. Morda se bom nekoč v prihodnosti včlanila v Planinsko društvo Vrhnika in odšla na pot vsaj enkrat z njimi, da vidim, kje je najprimernejša pot.

So I made it, at least partially and at least I learned valuable lessons if I were to ever attempt such a feat again. Here are the lessons: Go with someone who knows the way or explore the route partially to make sure that there would never be a question as to which way to go Get better walking shoes or use shoes that were more broken-in Rethink the idea that going in a straight line is the most efficient way to get there; it might be faster to go the longer way around without having to go up and down and up and down Will I attempt to do it again? To reach Triglav? Who knows, I hate leaving it uncompleted but I think I might join the Vrhnika mountaineering club in the future and go with them at least once to take advantage of a guided trek.