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Slovenia #5: Two Lakes

After a rainy weekend in Ljubljana, our hiking trip started with three days of fine weather. Now as we were getting ready to leave our base in the Longarska Valley it looked like the weather was going to change. I've taken many trips to the Alps and you can be sure that you will never have perfect weather the entire time. Of course the converse is true and it's unlikely that it will always rain either. You always get a mix of weather so after three good hiking days we figured that we were due for some rain. Since we had a day that was mainly for travel coming up the timing was pretty good.

On the morning that we were going to leave we got good news and bad news. The good news was that the bad weather had held off and it looked like we would have another nice day. The bad news was that the bad weather had held off, which meant that it was still coming, now on days scheduled for hikes in Triglav National Park. In the end I decided not to try to plan too far ahead and to just be grateful for any nice day that we got.

We started with a drive over a high mountain pass. The highway crossed a small sliver of Austria, which we entered for a short time before crossing back into Slovenia. Roman told us to make sure we had our passports handy in case we needed them. There was a sign at the border and a hut for a border guard as we crossed into Austria but since both countries are in the EU there is often no border control. We couldn't even tell when we crossed back into Slovenia.

After about an hour and a half of driving we stopped at Stara Posta. It offered just about any kind of tourist service that you could want. It had a campground, a hostel, a hotel, a restaurant and a bar. It was set in a pretty green valley with forested mountains all around. We sat on the patio and had coffee and tea with pastries. After all, it had been almost two hours since we had eaten breakfast. You definitely won't starve on a Mountain Travel trip.

The real specialty at Stara Posta is herbal-flavored liqueurs. They make twenty three different varieties and we were able to sample as many as we wished. Sandy and I aren't usually big on liqueurs but we thought some of them were good. We ended up buying small bottles of four different kinds. We figured that we would keep one and the others woul make nice gifts. We'll see if we really stick to that or if we end up drinking them all ourselves.

On the patio I was a bit of a klutz. Some extra chairs were set against the tables at an angle and I didn't see that the legs were sticking out quite a ways. I was hurrying back to the van to get something from my pack when I smacked my shin really hard into an iron chair leg. I got a bad cut and a nasty bruise. Fortunately no one noticed my clumsiness and I was able to sneak off to the rest room with my pack, which had my first aid kit, and patch myself up. And no, I hadn't sampled too many liqueurs. I hurt my leg before, not after the tasting. It did mean that I could consider it as medicinal rather than as drinking before lunch.

Before we left I went across the road to take pictures of the scenery. In the field I found a single large purple flower that was quite striking. I tried hard to identify it on the internet after I came home but I didn't have any luck. It was the only one that I saw, at least until our very last hike when I saw a few more. I've included the picture so you are welcome to try to identify it yourself.

After another ride in the vans we reached our hike for the day - Vintgar Gorge. It's near Lake Bled and is a popular tourist attraction. That was obvious because there was a large parking lot and it was full of cars and buses. There is an admission fee and I was almost left behind as we walked to the ticket booth. We walked by some food and drink stands on the way and I saw that one had Pepsi. Since I got husband points the other day for getting Sandy a Pepsi, I thought I would get her another one and surprise her later. While everyone else walked ahead I hung back. Unfortunately just at that time some obnoxious tourist cut in front of me and started to ask the guy in the stand all kinds of dumb questions about what he could get. Finally he finished and I quickly bought the Pepsi, stashed it in my pack, and ran to catch up with the group. I made it without anyone noticing that I had been gone. That was good, since I was able to surprise Sandy later with the Pepsi. On the other hand maybe it was not so good, since obviously if I fell off the mountain somewhere (or on today's hike, into the river) it might be a very long time before anyone came looking for me.

After Roman bought tickets for all of us we entered the gorge. At first we just walked beside the river as it rushed through a narrow, wooded valley. The clean, clear water was a pretty green color that looked like it was chosen to match the surrounding forest. We crossed the river several times on wooden bridges. As we walked further the sides of the valley got higher and steeper, the river falling more rapidly in a series of cascads. Eventually the walls became limestone cliffs and the gorge became narrower until the forest was completely squeezed out and there was only room for the river.

That meant there was no room for the trail either. We hiked on a wooden walkway that in many places was attached directly to the rock walls of the gorge. That was why we needed to pay to get in. The cost didn't discourage people though. There were lots of people walking both directions and at times we had to wait at narrow spots because the walkway was jammed with people. It was very pretty but not exactly a wilderness experience.

For a long time the steep inner gorge was considered to be inaccessible. It wasn't explored until 1891. The first wooden walkway was built soon after and opened to tourists in 1893 when the area was set aside as a nature preserve and protected from further development. It has been a popular attraction ever since, so much so that the term vintgar in Slovenia has come to be used to refer to any scenic, protected gorge.

The heart of the gorge is quite impressive. It's over three hundred feet deep. The walkway is suspended over empty space, hanging from the side of the vertical limestone cliffs that confine the narrow, rushing water. The transluscent green river tumbles through a series of rapids, cascades and pools, producing a loud roar that echos off the walls. At one point there is a dam with a dual spillway, one on each side of the dam. Over two hundred feet above the river is the Bohinj Railway Bridge, the largest stone archway bridge in Slovenia. It was very pretty and I was taking lots of photos, although this video probably gives a better impression of the place.

After about a mile we reached the end of the gorge where the valley suddenly opens up and in a last hurrah the river plunges down a fifty foot cliff at Sum Falls. There's a bridge that crosses the top of the waterfall so you can look straight down at the water going over the falls. There are some picnic benches and a stand that sells ice cream. Although that sounded like a good idea, we continued on a trail that headed away from the gorge. Rather than retrace our steps, we took a longer route back, hiking up and around Hom Hill.

The first part of the way back was a pleasant walk through the forest. We came out of the woods at the church of St. Catherine, where there was also a pizza restaurant. I would have been fine with lunch there but we continued to hike through some meadows, contouring along the side of the hill. We were only about a mile from Lake Bled but it was hidden behind a ridge. We did have a nice view of the town of Bled and above it Bled Castle on the top of a hill (which is what blocked our view of the lake).

It was a good spot to stop for another picnic lunch. There were clouds over the mountains but we were in the warm sun. Although there were a few benches, most of us just stretched out on the grass and rested (napped?) while Roman and Jan got lunch ready.

Once again they prepared an excellent lunch. We had a lot to choose from. There were several sliced meats, fresh cheese and bread, fruit salad, apple strudel, cheese-filled pastries, and more. My favorite was a big bowl of green olives although no one seemed to like them except me. As he was packing up, Roman kept going around and offering olives to everyone because he didn't want to carry them back. Since I was the only one who would take any, the third time around he gave up and just handed the whole bowl to me and told me to finish all of them. Which I did because I'm a good trip member and always follow the guides instructions in the mountains. And I really like olives too.

From our lunch stop it was just a short walk back to the vans. According to the itinerary we were supposed to drive to our hotel at Lake Bohinj. We were very close to Lake Bled but we weren't scheduled to go there unitl later in the week. Since the weather was still good and the forecast uncertain, Roman decided that we would make a short stop there now. That way we would be sure to see the lake with the sun out and be able to take some pictures.

Lake Bled is the most famous tourist attraction in Slovenia. It's a pretty lake surrounded by heavily wooded hills with a backdrop of big mountains in the distance. A medieval castle, the oldest in Slovenia, sits atop one of the hills several hundred feet above the lake. The most distinctive feature though is a small island in the middle of the lake, the only island in the entire country of Slovenia. The Church of the Assumption, built in the late seventeenth century, stands on the island.

The lake with the church on the island is very picturesque. Tourists can ride a pletna, a traditional rowboat, over to the island. There are ninety nine steps that lead up from the lake to the doors of the church. It's a popular place to be married and the groom is expected to carry the bride up the steps to the church. I'm a mountaineer but I think that would be quite a challenge.

Since we only had a short time we went to Vila Bled. It used to be the private summer residence of Marshall Tito, the ruler of Yugoslavia from the end of World War II until his death in 1980. (Clearly being an absolute dictator has its perks.) It has been renovated and today is a luxury hotel. In the lobby there were photos on the wall of Tito entertaining various world leaders here at Lake Bled. We went to the cafe where we had the classic, picture perfect view of Lake Bled, Bled Island with the Church of the Assumption, and the hills with Castle Bled beyond. We watched the pletna ferrying tourists to and from the island. We even saw some people swim back from the island. While we sat there we shared a piece of Bled Creme Cake, the local specialty.

After our short visit to Lake Bled it took us less than an hour to drive to our final destination at Lake Bohinj, which is in Triglav National Park. The only national park in Slovenia, it provides protection for the Julian Alps, the most impressive mountain range in the country. The park is named for Slovenia's highest peak, 9,395 foot Mt. Triglav. It's an impressive mountain and not easy to climb. I was anxious to get a good look at it.

We stopped at the Hotel Jezero, located across the road from the shore of Lake Bohinj. We would be staying there for the next three nights, using it as our base for hikes in the national park. The hotel was nice but definitely not as cool as the Hotel Plesnik. We did have a balcony but it overlooked the back of the building - not quite the mountain view that we had from our last room. We were also over the restaurant so there was a strong fishy smell in the hallway. Fortunately we didn't notice it when we were inside our room.

It had been a long busy day. Roman set dinner for late that evening so we would have a little time to ourselves. He mentioned that it would be a great time to take a swim in Lake Bohinj. I thought that he was just joking - nobody would be crazy enough to go swimming in a cold mountain lake. I was wrong. Some of the people in our group took up the challenge. They even tried to convince me to go along but instead I volunteered to be the official photographer and record the event.

I wasn't sure that they would go through with it but Flo, Katherine, Kingsley and Sarah all took the polar bear plunge in the lake and I got the pictures to prove it. They're some tough ladies

Later that night we had dinner at the hotel. The weather had definitely changed. It had started to rain and there was more in the forecast for the next several days. We had a long, hard hike to some high lakes planned for tomorrow. Roman said we would just check the forecast again at breakfast and decide what we would do.