Mount Triglav with a height of 2,863 metres (or 9,395 ft) is the highest mountain in Slovenia and in fact the highest in all of the Julian Alps. It is so famous in Slovenia that it even features on the countries flag! Milan Kučan, a former Slovene president, once said that every Slovenian person to climb Triglav at least once in their life. We were staying in Lake Bohinj and there was even a monument there for the first four courageous men that climbed the mountain!
Mount Triglav is a step up from our heighest ascent Rysy, the highest peak in Slovakia which sits at a magestic 2,503m. Another step up with Triglav is that it requires via ferrata. We decided to hire gear and do it ourselves. We reserved two sets of equipment from Pod Skalco a cafe and climbing place on the south side of lake Bohinj. They were really good and let me pick it up in the evening before we set off so we would have it ready first thing in the morning.
Following the river upstream out of Stara Fuzina, a small village next to Lake Bohinj, was really beautiful. There was a popular short trek along the river to some waterfalls so the path was well trodden. After leaving the woods we entered a plateau that continued straight for quite a while. At the end of plateau you could see a very steep and sheer ascent which we would have to tackle. It looked tiring…
Shortly before getting to the steep mountainside we entered a beautiful meadow. This meadow was chock full of wild flowers and fluttering butterflies. Gorgeous!
After we had walked through the meadow we started the daunting part of the first leg. The very steep, very long, very tiring zig zag. We walked back and forth up a very steep series of chicanes for over an hour.
It was probably my least favourite part of the entire walk. There is something quite depressing about zig zagging, you definitely don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere fast!
The only thing that made it pleasurable was the numerous encounters with beautiful wildflowers and wildlife that dotted around the forest.
We spotted frogs…
lizards…
and signs for Triglav which let us know we were still on the right track!
Emerging from the forest and the harsh, steep ascent was glorious. We were suddenly greeted by views of summits all around us. After the top of the view being topped with trees for the whole morning – it was night to see blue sky and mountain tops!
In the distance we could see the mountain hut where we were going to stop for lunch and to fill our water bottles up. Up in the sky an eagle cruised the sky. This was epic.
You couldn’t stare at the sky and the mountains too much though as snakes slithered around through the thick grass. I was really impressed by how natural and how much wildlife there was in Slovenia.
As we reached the end of the grassy plain we made our way up the hillside to the Vodnikov dom on Velo polje Mountain hut (1817m), which was guarded by some rather friendly (or protective) cattle.
I really liked this hut, it had a nice little bar, free mountain water outside and lots of seating with incredible views. We didn’t know yet but it also had the highest proper toilets and running water of the entire trip.
We were joined by some rather amorous cows for lunch which was a little different but fun all the same!
Not long after lunch time we left the hut and made our way beyond the treeline towards the mountain hut where we would be spending the night.
Read on in climbing Mount Triglav Part Two…
