exploring the julian alps

It's hard to believe we are almost in to September.... but what an incredible Summer it has been so far. In recent weeks Bohinj has been a hive of activity with holiday makers descending on the valley to enjoy the sunshine and the endless opportunities for adventure and relaxation. In between the arrival and departure of our guests we have continued our personal exploration of the surrounding mountains and after working our way through the lower Bohinj mountains south of the lake and the Komna Plateau to the west, we have now shifted our focus towards the heart of the Julian Alps and the high mountains south of Triglav.

While it's possible to walk from our front door, lately we've been parking the truck just below Uskovnica, which is a lovely alpine pasture located on the southern edge of the Pokljuka plateau. This short (8km) drive saves us about 90mins of walking in each direction (+500m of ascent) which allows us to venture further into the National Park exploring new areas.

Over the past 4 weeks these outings have included ascents of; Tosc (2273m), Veliki Draški vrh (2240m), Viševnik (2040m) and Jezerski Stog (2040) which all sounds impressive until you look at the map and realize you've barely scratched the surface on this hikers paradise. The good news is, we aren't about to run out of options any time soon... and we still have the Kamnik-Savinja Alps and the Karavanke Mountains that are "as yet" unexplored and all within a short drive of the valley.

In case you were wondering... we are still planning to climb Triglav (2864m) this year and will do this via the Valley of the Triglav Lakes as this route is apparently the most beautiful approach to Slovenia's highest summit, however, we're thinking of tackling it towards the end of the season once the crowds die down. We'll also make it a multi day trip as the guide book says "Triglav is finest of all when traversed in three days" so the plan is to stay overnight in a few mountain huts, soak up the mountain hospitality and really enjoy the experience. Who knows... we may even bag a few of the surrounding peaks if time allows.

In the meantime, we will continue to make the most of this fantastic Summer weather because I suspect the colder temperatures will be here before we know it.... the adventure continues.

In Search of "zlatorogs round".

I've long been a fan of the Bob Graham Round, which if you are not aware is a British fell running challenge in the English Lake District. The Round is aptly named after Bob Graham (1889-1966), a Keswick guest-house owner, who in June 1932 broke the Lakeland fell record by traversing 42 fells (or peaks) within a 24hr period. This remarkable feat of endurance has inspired countless athletes to follow in Bobs footsteps and 87 years on more than 2000 individuals have officially completed the Round with the objective being to cover the 66 miles (106km) and more than 26,900 feet (8200m) of ascent in under 24 hours.

The Bob Graham Round has inspired the creation of similar routes in other parts of the UK with the Paddy Buckley Round in Wales and the notoriously difficult Ramsay Round in Scotland, so after moving to Bohinj this past December, I spent some time during the Winter poring over maps and contemplating my own version of a round here in the valley.

Now in case you were wondering.... I wasn't thinking of calling it Carnie's Round... actually I thought a more fitting name might be Zlatorogs Round. In Slovene folklore, Zlatorog or Goldenhorn is a legendary white chamois buck, that had his realm in the mountains surrounding Triglav. The legend is well known throughout Slovenia and has been widely popularized even appearing on beer cans however, for those not familiar with the storyline; Zlatorog had golden horns which were the key to a treasure hidden high in the mountains around Triglav. Legend has it that a young, brave hunter fell in love with a beautiful girl and managed to win her heart by bringing her beautiful flowers. However, one day, a rich merchant from Venice enticed the girl away by giving her golden jewellery and promising her a life of luxury.

The hunter was desperate to win her back and so he decided to go in search of Goldenhorn in order to claim his treasure. He found the animal high in the mountains, shot it, and pursued it. After a lengthy pursuit the dying animal dragged itself onto a narrow, rocky ledge. Suddenly the hunter noticed on the ledge the most beautiful and healing of flowers. Recognizing the power of these flowers the hunter rushed to try and finish Goldenhorn, but it was too late.

The Goldenhorn had already eaten one and the flower gave it tremendous life power. Reinvigorated, it charged towards the hunter, who being blinded by the beauty of its golden horns, lost balance and fell from the mountain to his death. Now legend aside... please rest assured I have no intention of finding myself in a similar predicament to the hunter in this tale and will happily postpone any attempt at Zlatorogs Round or any other hike for that matter if an encounter with a charging chamois appears imminent.

Returning to the original theme of this post; the most obvious route in my mind would traverse the lower Bohinj mountains situated to the south of the lake before crossing the Komna plateau high above Ukanc to the west and then returning in the shadow of Triglav taking in as many peaks as practical along the way.

In early June with the snow finally clearing in the high peaks I decided to head out on the first of what I envisage will be multiple trips to run/hike sections of the trail in order to determine viable routes, assess timings and determine the general feasibility of this personal project.

For my initial attempt I decided to start from the house (Stara Fužina) and ascend from Ribčev Laz via Suha to the ridge-line connecting the lower Bohinj mountain range, a route I have done many times in the past. Leaving the house around 5.00am the day was overcast and the cool morning weather was perfect for the long climb ahead. I'll be honest..... the climb from Ribčev Laz to Suha is not one of my favorites as it is steep with lots of loose rock and good views are few and far between as you are in the treeline for much of it however, once you arrive in the meadow, which is just shy of 1000m above the valley floor the trees thin out and the walking becomes more scenic and interesting.

I continued my ascent through the meadow, eventually arriving on the ridge-line around 7.20am then started my traverse west towards Šija situated high above Vogel Ski Resort. Heading westward from Šija I found myself entering new territory, which is always exciting and while there was still quite a bit of wind and cloud around, the weather seemed to be holding. The trail between Vogel and Dom na Komna is undulating and exposed but also beautiful as you traverse a series of steep scree slopes with the stark grey mountains looming high on your left.

As I pushed on it quickly became apparent that there was still plenty of snow on the higher peaks and without any form of crampons or micro-spikes the next hour or two was a more challenging undertaking than it needed to be. Despite the tricky conditions I managed to negotiate the snow and ice along the route and began my descent towards Komna at the western end of the lake and despite damp feet I was in high spirits. Descending quickly I left the grey moonscape of the high peaks behind and found myself back among the dwarf pine just as the morning clouds began to clear revealing a clear blue sky.

Arriving at Dom na Komna just after 10.30am it was still a little early for lunch, however this would be my primary re-supply stop for the day so I ordered a hearty bowl of barley soup, a side of buckwheat porridge and chased it down with a mid-morning Radler (a combination of beer and grapefruit juice) to top up the energy stores for the miles that lay ahead. I also took the opportunity to top up my water as I'd drunk 2.5 liters in the first 5hrs and with the clouds clearing the afternoon looked like it was going to be a warm one.

Feeling recharged and ready to continue I set off towards Črno Jezero (Black Lake) and within 45mins I had rounded the small lake and was making my way up the steep climb towards Planini Viševnik. By this time the temperatures were starting to heat up and the cool, cloud covered conditions from the morning were a distant memory. From Viševnik I took the trail towards Prisvec winding my way upwards through the forest and eventually arriving on top of the peak around an hour later. It was a lovely afternoon and there was a number of groups relaxing on the exposed summit taking in the lovely views of the lake and the valley below so I took a minute to sit and take on some more fuel for the final leg home. By this stage it was about 2pm in the afternoon, I had been moving for about 7hrs and had covered about 27km with a further 9km of steep descent still to come.

It was strange to be sitting on top of Prisvec and feeling like I was on the home leg but that is exactly how it felt. As I descended the summit ridge into the trees below I was back in familiar territory and after getting through the initial steep section the trail levels out becoming much gentler as it drops down towards Vogar. I was tempted to stop at Kosijev dom na Vogarju (1054 m) for a cleansing ale and a bit of strudel which is something of a tradition as this is our local hut but by this time I had been on my feet for the better part of 8hrs and had I sat down it may have taken a very determined effort to get back up. Instead, I continued, descending the final steep section down into Stara Fužina to complete the day.

To quickly summarize the day in numbers; I managed to circle the lake covering approximately 37km in 9hrs 30mins (8hrs 6mins in motion) with around 2370m of ascent and descent along the way. Now admittedly, this is a far cry from the Bob Graham Round with its 106km and 8200m of ascent but having reflected on this effort I have a few ideas on where we can go from here to extend the route and close the gap, especially given we have an additional 13hrs to play with. Be sure to keep an eye on the Blog as I continue the search for "Zlatorogs Round".

EXPLORING THE KOMNA PLATEAU

I had the best of intentions to make this Blog a useful resource for guests by documenting our hiking and biking adventures however, I must admit in recent months I have embraced the exploration part while my efforts at recording our adventures has been a bit lacklustre. By early June, Summer had finally arrived in the valley and with the last of the snow melting in the high peaks we had a long list of routes we were keen to check out. While we manage to fit in a range of activities during the week including swimming in the lake, trail running and biking, our weekend hikes have turned into a bit of a ritual where we rise early on either Saturday or Sunday and head out the door for a long day in the mountains.

These adventures can last anywhere from 7-12hrs and usually include; a stop at a mountain hut (Koča), lots of vertical ascent and descent, a bit of deviation from the planned route.... sometimes by choice and other times by accident, and they often (if not always) end with beer and pizza because cooking at the end of a long day in the mountains is normally out of the question.

On a recent outing we decided to explore the Komna Plateau at the western end of the valley high above Ukanc, so we departed the house around 6am and headed off along the northern edge of the lake towards Slap Savica. The approach to the foot of the climb is about 8km from Stara Fužina and took around 90mins with the cool morning air making the conditions quite pleasant for walking.

From Kôca Pri Savici (650m) we followed an old WW1 supply route ascending via a series of hairpins in the shade of a lovely beech forest. After 60mins of steady climbing the valley opens up to the west and we continued our ascent on a fairly gentle gradient for a further 30mins before arriving at the turn-off for Dom na Komna (1520m), around 9am. Instead of taking the short detour to Komna we opted to push on for another 15mins to Kôca pod Bogatinom where we stopped for the mandatory strudel and enjoyed a bit of friendly banter with the hut staff.

After leaving the hut we continued westward following a beautiful scenic path above the Gracija Valley which eventually delivered us to the foot of Bogatin. At the head of the valley the route becomes slightly steeper as you make the final ascent onto the saddle of Bogantinska vracta (1803m). Here the trail turns left and climbs a fairly steep ridge towards the summit of Bogatin (1977m). There is a little bit of scrambling just below the summit but the route is well marked and the view from the top is well worth the effort. The summit is narrow and exposed but provides sweeping views in every direction.

At this point it was just after 11am and the weather was perfect so we decided to descend the south ridge and climb the neighboring peak of Mahavšček (2008m) as it seemed enticingly close. The descent down the other side of Bogatin was steep and loose under foot but within 30mins we managed to descend and had climbed the opposite ridge to Mahavšček, which provided equally spectacular view but this time to the south towards Tolmin and the upper Soča valley.

From the top we decided to descend via a different route and explore a bit of uncharted territory on our way back to Dom na Komna so we followed the SE ridge down off the peak before descending via a series of switchbacks into the valley below. By this time the temps in the valley below were starting to climb but the scenery was lovely with wild flowers in bloom and WW1 military ruins scattered along our path. Arriving at Dom na Komna around 2pm, some 8hrs after leaving the house we were both hot and hungry so we ordered a cold beer and some hearty Koča fare to give us a bit of a lift for the final push.

With energy stores topped up it was time to bring this adventure to a close, so we descended via our original route to the valley below. I won't lie it felt pretty good to finish the descent to Savica and after buying a couple of icecreams we set off at a leisurely pace along the path towards the lake. Our final stop of the day was for a swim at Ukanc and after more than 10hrs on our feet the cool refreshing waters of Lake Bohinj had never felt so good. Feeling refreshed we changed back into our sweaty clothing and walked the final few kilometers back along the lakes edge to the house.

To summarize the day in numbers; we walked approximately 40 odd kilometers with 1790m of ascent. Total time for this adventure was around 11hrs 30mins with about 10hrs of that in motion. If you're looking for a fantastic hike to do I cannot recommend this one enough as the views are amazing, the route out of the valley is relatively gentle compared to some of the other options available (Suha) and if you wanted to shorten it you can easily start from Savica, which will make it a more manageable 20+km.