WILL’S WALKS

A long way from Lincolnshire W I L L’S WA L K

There is one sure way to fall in love with Slovenia, as Will Hetherington discovered last summer on this ascent of the country’s highest mountain.

IN THIS TINY but beautiful country they say you are not a true Slovene if you haven’t been to the top of the 2,864m mighty Mount Triglav. It might be a bit of an old chestnut, but this mountain and the National Park surrounding it are intrinsic to the identity of this young nation, which was part of Yugoslavia until independence in 1992. In fact Triglav was the highest peak in the whole of that once vast state, and today the imposing lump of rock is so enshrined in the Slovenian psyche that it even features on the flag.

With a population of just two million in an almost identical area to Wales (more than three million people) this is not a densely populated country. Apart from Ljubljana, the pretty little capital with its fairytale castle, and drop dead gorgeous Piran down on the Adriatic coast, the main draw is the Triglav National Park in the north west. Up here in the Julian Alps the meadows are greener than England in May and the water in the rivers runs a mesmerising mix of topaz blue and iridescent turquoise. Here the twin lakes of Bled and Bohinj sit like precious jewels embedded in this green and pleasant land, as if it wasn’t easy enough on the eye already.

Bled is famous and popular and rightly so because it’s pretty, Hollywood pretty, with its clifftop castle and tiny island adorned with a suitably cute church. But Bled is also commercial and busy, so it’s worth a night or two but a 20-minute drive west to Bohinj opens up the real outdoor adventure playground.

W H E N I DYLLIC B ECOM E S GRUELLING The northern shore of Lake Bohinj was our starting point for the ascent of Triglav and it was here we were deposited by Life Adventures (a guiding company in Bled). We were given instruction on how to use the via ferrata equipment, a rudimentary map and told which direction to head. At this point we were at 0m above sea level and set off at 9.30am. We knew we had to make it to the Dom Planika mountain hut before nightfall.

In retrospect I think I blanked out the plain truth that this meant 1,850m of ascent in the one day. As we were to discover at 2,400m this hut is a very long way, in every sense, from the sleepy start point on the verdant shores of Lake Bohinj more than a mile below.

Apart from the two of us there were four younger Belgians also setting off from the same point. We wanted to get started so we bid them adieu (resisting the urge to crack any Hercule Poirot gags) and started strolling on a gentle incline through some low alpine woodland with a river to our right.

This is the Mostnica gorge and in itself is one of the must-see places in the National Park, so we made a quick detour to a lovely waterfall before returning to the most idyllic alpine meadow. Now anybody who has been up a few mountains will know that words like ‘idyllic,’ ‘meadow’ and ‘gentle gradient’ don’t normally spring to mind when you have to ascend more than one mile in one day. And so it proved here. Once we had cleared the last of the wildflower meadows and left behind the occasional stretch on the tarmac road, we were suddenly faced with an exhausting series of steep straight climbs divided by hairpins going up through the woodland. It felt a bit like rugby training 25 years ago to be honest, and was quite a long way removed from anything I would describe as fun these days. Bear in mind we were also carrying our own kit, water and lunches for three days and all the via ferrata equipment. This was hard going and, while the Slovenians may be weaned on these sort of gradients, us /incolnshire folk find them a long way from the flat fertile soil of The )ens.

J UST AROU N D TH E N E X T CORNER… However, perseverance and sheer determination got us through this first woodland assault. Apart from the odd person heading down the hill we were the only people in this peaceful corner of middle Europe, and if it didn’t hurt quite so much it would have been more wonderful. Of course in retrospect I can smile about it.

Our first target was the 9odnikov Dom, a mountain hut which had already taken on a sort of Elysian image in my mind long before it was a realistic prospect ‘just around the next corner.’ At 1,800m this is recommended as the place to eat your packed lunch on the way up to the Planika Dom, because it’s well over halfway and has running water and spectacular views.

But it’s not that simple is it? Yes it’s more than halfway so that makes sense, but equally you have to get there without completely running out of energy and temporarily mislaying that all important sense of humour. I will hold my hands up; after the initial onslaught uphill through the woods and then another couple of hours of intermittent ‘very steep’ and just ‘oldfashioned steep’ terrain I needed 9odnikov Dom badly.

And each time we thought it was ‘just around the corner’ it wasn’t, so eventually I caved in and found a lovely rock to rest my weary body on and enjoy some necessary sustenance. Don’t forget that once you get up to 1,500m and above the air gets noticeably thinner and it’s harder to get the oxygen into the lungs. There is a reason long distance runners train at altitude.

As we enjoyed our lunch purchased from the bakery in Bled that morning the four young Belgians from the start point emerged on the woodland track behind us and passed by with a cheery nod. It’s not a race you know«

Refreshed, nourished and invigorated we took up the trail again and what did we find around the next corner? You guessed it – 9odnikov Dom, perched on the side of a scree face with incredible views over the bowl below. It may be remote and high but here they have running water, facilities and plenty of food should you need it. So we took another  minutes before donning backpacks and striding out again.

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Mount Triglav

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TH E I B E X AN D TH E G IANT ‘HUT’ By now we were above the treeline (more than 2,000m) and traversing the slopes along single paths with frequent evidence of landslides. Within a mile of 9odnikov Dom we met a different type of walker on the path as an ibex casually plodded along the trail and almost tipped his antlers to us as if to say: “From the sweat and the swearing I’d say you are British are you not? In that case you’ve done well to reach this point but don’t forget you are in Slovenia now. These are our mountains.” It was a lovely sight.

Eventually at about 6pm we arrived at the Planika Dom after another hour of walking through a moonscape. To me a mountain hut suggests a tiny wooden shack with a roaring fire and a hot stew cooking in a pot above. +ere the two of you take peaceful shelter during the hours of darkness, ready for the

assault on the summit in the morning. Maybe I’m deluded.

The Planika sleeps 0 people in two dormitories and a few other rooms, and on this night in late July it was full to brimming. Having seen very few people on the way up, this came as a surprise to us, but there is more than one route and clearly we had taken the toughest – at least I was happy to believe that. Having been shown our two top bunks in the dorm behind the main building, we found a corner in the foyer area and enjoyed two or three of the most expensive beers in Slovenia with a limited meal of meatless stew and bread. Most of the supplies are brought in by helicopter so I’m not complaining – it’s just not the idyllic mountain hut experience I naively had in mind. I’m not going to even describe the facilities, except to say with no running water they were best avoided.

The final 300m or so is along a very narrow ridgeway and if there had been more than a breath of wind or even a drop of rain I would have been terrified.

ALONG THE RIDGELINE One of the perks of uncomfortable accommodation is that it’s not di΀cult to get up in the morning. In fact the real challenge was waiting until am for breakfast a chunk of bread, ham and fried eggs. After that we were ready to take on the final 0m climb to the top. The sky was blue and there was almost no breeze which made it even easier to just get cracking. 0ost of the final ascent from Planika Dom involves using the via ferrata equipment which includes a waist harness, ropes, carabiner clips and a helmet. There are long sections of steel wires pegged into the rock on the way up, and for inexperienced climbers like me this safety measure provides welcome peace of mind. I saw two or three people on the way up who looked like they were out for a casual stroll, but I suppose to them they were. And as for the one person running up – I don’t know where to start.

The final 300m or so is along a very narrow ridgeway and if there had been more than a breath of wind or even a drop of rain I would have been terrified. But with stunning blue sky all around I was fairly confident and concentrated hard on not looking down until we reached the very summit with the famous Alja] Tower (constructed in ) proudly overlooking all of 6lovenia. On this perfect -uly day there were 30 people gathered around the summit, and the weather was so good it was all too easy to sit there for half an hour and enjoy the achievement, the view and the rest.

A RITE OF PASSAGE +owever we knew we had a long way to go, so at 0am we began the descent the opposite way from the ascent. As we cautiously made our way down from the summit we encountered a few people (not 6lovenians) who had given up which goes to show that, while it’s no (verest, it’s still not easy either. One thing we observed from our position in the slow lane on this national treasure was that 6lovenians are really good at going up

and down steep slopes. Apart from the four Belgians, we were generally the slowest movers on this mountain. And on occasion we were passed by families including children younger than 0yearsold. They were clearly earning their 6lovenian credentials early in life and evidently ascending the titanic Triglav really is a rite of passage.

About  minutes from the summit there is a section that involves traversing a small cliff face which is probably the trickiest bit of the whole climb because one slip and you would be hanging by the carabiner. But after that it’s pretty much walking all the way, with a lunch stop at the Dolic Hut, nestled into a panoramic pass.

After Dolic it’s a long, long walk via the +ribarice plateau (where we found some snow even on -uly ) and then a never ending valley path to the Triglav /akes 9alley mountain hut at ,00m. This place is a lot lower down the mountain and has the feel of a more established hostel than the bleak Planika +ut of the night before.

We arrived at .30pm after an  hour hike, so we were pleased to discover it has running water and flushing toilets inside the building. Although we missed the shower window it was a pleasant place to relax with the Belgian Tuartet – after all that is a nation that really appreciates their beer. I’m sure they loved my inevitable ¶little grey cells’ gag too.

The following day another five hours’ walking brought us most of the way back down to /ake Bohinj (via Dom na .omni) to the 6avica waterfall, restaurant and tourist spot which was our pickup spot and looked like a lovely place to spend the night. But a return to Bled awaited us, having scaled the highest peak in the magical little land of 6lovenia, even if we did do it at a British pace.

After  hours on foot, more than a mile up and more than a mile down, and two nights in the mountains I don’t Tualify as a 6lovenian but I’d like to keep trying.