Blue Triglav 2019

Upon disembarking the plane in the early afternoon, the first thing that hit us was the heat.  Ljubljana Airport was basking in the middle of an Adriatic summer, thirty-two degrees and glorious sunshine.  Quite the change from the cloudy, overcast Cambridge we’d left only a few hours earlier.  Standing on the staircase at the back of the plane each of us looked up at the shadow of the Julian Alps in the distance and eagerly anticipated what the next eleven days would bring.  For some this was a first, hiking expeditions with the University Officer’s Training Corps were usually reserved to Snowdonia or the Peak District, the alpine slopes of Eastern Europe provided a chance to explore new territory.  Others had just finished two weeks of hiking in Morocco the day before and looked forward to continuing to challenge themselves in Slovenia.  For all of us there was a sense of cautious excitement and a desire to begin the expedition.

After a short bus journey from Ljubljana we found ourselves walking through the centre of Ljubljana in an effort to find our accommodation for the night.  A brisk, ten-minute walk later we were at our hostel.  Sitting in the shadow of Ljubljanski Grad, the ancient fortress that dominates the city’s skyline and nestled on a meander of the Ljubljanica river, the hostel was to be our base for the evening.  Once our luggage had been sorted amongst the different rooms and some of us had changed clothes, we crowded into one of the bedrooms to receive the Expedition Brief from the expedition leader.  A map of the Julian Alps was laid out on the floor in front of us and our proposed route had been marked out in yellow highlighter for all to see.  The expedition leader broke down the route into its various stages; we would be hiking from the Kranjska Gora region in a South-Westerly direction, crossing the boundary into Triglav National Park from where we would ascend in an attempt to summit the highest peak in the country, Mount Triglav.  After this we would descend via the Vrsic Pass into the Trenta Valley, whereby we would continue the descent until we reached Lake Bohinj and eventually, Lake Bled.  The chosen route featured a variety of terrain: alpine forests, sparse mountainside meadows, steep boulder fields accompanied by harsh ascents and descents.  Both of the Mountain Leaders (senior army mountaineering instructors) agreed with the route and mentioned that we could change it at a later stage if the need arose.   We then all headed to buy two days’ worth of food for the group at a local supermarket and headed to bed, anticipating the challenge that was to come.

The next morning, we woke and ate a hasty breakfast.  Pre-packed bags were hoisted onto our backs and we set off to the bus station and caught the first bus to Trzic, a small town near the Austrian border where the hiking phase of the expedition would begin.  Over the course of the forty-minute bus journey the accompanying scenery gradually changed.  The cosmopolitan centre of Ljubljana gave way to the open fields and quaint villages of the countryside which in turn turned to lush green foothills of the Julian alps.  By the time we arrived in Trzic, we were flanked on all sides by densely forested mountains that towered over the town.  We filled our water bottles at a local spring and consulted the map once more before setting off for our first waypoint, the mountain hut at Roblekov Dom.  The flat gravel paths at the edge of the village rapidly gave way to rocky tracks that snaked upwards, hugging the steep incline.  As the heat reached its peak in the mid-afternoon, we stopped for lunch at another spring.  Over the previous five hours we’d covered just over two thirds of the proposed route for the day, as we once again replenished our water we noticed dark clouds on the horizon.  At the same time that somebody commented about the seemingly poor weather approaching a rumble of thunder echoed across the valley.  We decided to cut our lunch break short and press on in an effort to reach Roblekov before the impending thunderstorm.  A brisk hike later we reached the same altitude as Roblekov however, we were still a few kilometres from reaching our destination.  As hunger and fatigue gradually began to set in and with stormy weather on the horizon, the call was made for us to make camp for the night and make up the distance the following day.  We demolished a dinner of pasta and Slovenian sausage with cheese and tomato sauce and headed to bed.

The next few days all blended into a continuous routine of early rising; quick breakfast followed by a brisk morning hike with the intent of covering the most distance before the hottest part of the day.  In the afternoons the pace slowed somewhat until we reached either a place to camp, or a mountain hut with free bed space and on the odd occasion, a shower.

This routine was broken once we stood at the foot of Triglav, staring up at the summits that stood three thousand metres above our heads.  A steep boulder field and a two-thousand-and-seven-hundred metre ascent stood between us and our goal for the day, the mountain hut at Kredarici only three hundred metres below Triglav’s summit.  As the steep climb from the valley snaked through a boulder field on the south side of Triglav, the thunder and rain started.  Due to the fact that our selected route was aided by metal wires and the threat from the severe thunderstorm, the decision was made to alter our route in order to ensure our safety.  We climbed through the cloud layer and the rain intensified. After a short rest at the start of the afternoon, we pressed on in an effort to reach our new destination for the night, Koca na Dolicu.  Drenched an exhausted, we arrived at the hut in the early evening, after a two thousand metre ascent.

After a deep sleep, we rose early as we had been advised by the local guides to attempt a summit before the crowds arrived.  We continued the climb from Dolicu, covering the remaining six hundred metres until we would reach the summit.  Four-hundred metres into the hike, the route became increasingly treacherous with exposed scree fields and high winds.  We quickly realised that perhaps we didn’t have the correct equipment, as all the other groups we saw were wearing harnesses and Via Ferata apparatus.  We attempted to summit without the adequate equipment however reluctantly we were turned back by high winds and treacherous conditions.  The group returned, dejected, to Koca na Dolicu.  We planned our next move, which was to press on to Lake Bohinj via the Seven Lakes Valley.  After a brisk descent throughout the afternoon, we arrived at a mountain hut we planned to use for the night.  However, due to the fact we hadn’t booked we were informed that there was no space at the hut.  We were, therefore, forced to continue to the next available hut: Salvici Dom.  Disheartened and demoralised due to our failure to summit and the lack of space at the previous hut, we pressed on to Salvici, down a near-vertical cliff face, aided by guide wires and footholds.  The morale of the group was further drained as the rain started and the sun began to set.  Luckily our graft paid off and we arrived at Salvici in the evening.  A warm meal was demolished, and we bedded down for the night in a hayloft.

The next two days were spent in Bohinj and Bled respectively, some group members were suffering with Diarrhoea and Vomiting whilst others had their feet wrecked by blisters.  Those that were struggling used the time by the lakes as valuable rest and recuperation time.  Others swam the width of lake Bohinj and hiked a circular route around the lake, some ventured to Vintgar Gorge and spent the day exploring.  After the days at the lakes, we returned to Ljubljana and began to pack our kit for our journey home.

After a morning exploring the sights in Ljubljana including the castle, market and riverside we travelled to the airport and made the journey back to Cambridge.  Although we didn’t achieve our main effort of summiting Mount Triglav, we felt emboldened and proud that we had all pushed ourselves and endured some quite arduous conditions- some of us for the first time.  Slovenia was a beautiful country and the experience of trekking a part of the Slovene mountain trail had been widely rewarding for all of us.