Canyon must be

Day #73

Sunday, July 12th

From Vrana to Ruka (Sveti Rok)

Country: Croatia

What a racket last night.

There was quite a storm with unbelievably loud thunder and a lot of rain pouring down on my tent.

Fortunately, it stopped by morning, allowing me to pack everything up calmly and have breakfast.

The tire feels good and is still well inflated.

Just need to pump in the last bar, but I didn't have the energy for that yesterday.

It's amazing how many cicadas are around here.

You can always hear them extremely well, and between the pine needles, I can see some and there are husks everywhere.

After the usual two hours plus, we start; today involves a lot of climbing.

And that into the headwind blowing in my face.

Although the wind will later turn out to be an advantage.

First, the route goes over a rocky path that could have easily been avoided.

Even though the actual road I will end up on later would have meant a detour, it definitely would have been faster over that route.

This way, I am definitely testing whether the tire holds up.

It does.

Via a moderately busy country road, I make my way to Obrovac, where I luckily find a supermarket that is open on Sundays.

At least I arrived in time to stock up on groceries that will last until tomorrow noon.

Always going by the principle that it's better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Better to carry a little extra weight than to be hungry.

I also revise my route again, and with the road bike category, which means paved roads, the distance to Tolmin is manageable and doable within the remaining time.

Possibly enough to even take a rest day.

True, I do have some unavoidable elevation gain ahead of me, which worries me a bit, but a small detour must still be possible.

Now I know I can allow that.

Nearby there's a canyon that has served as a backdrop for a movie from my childhood.

Well, I saw the movie back then, which is still quite a bit older.

If anyone wants, they can guess from the photos first whether they can figure it out.

The view is stunning, and the sight of the river in the gorge is unique.

One could almost feel a bit envious of the two people swimming down there in the turquoise water.

All that’s missing is for Winnetou and Old Shatterhand to come around the corner in a canoe.

After all, the last campground even had an Indian village with tipis and a totem pole.

But for me, it's up into the heights. Same as always, slow and steady.

And my current direction has the nice side effect that the wind gives me a little push.

So I have at least just one challenge to face.

And even that hurdle is eventually overcome with an extended break, and after a pleasant descent, I go smoothly through a winding landscape with a lot of agriculture.

And there are houses everywhere.

In various states, I examine an abandoned house a bit closer, but it's too littered and overgrown for me to find a spot for the night there.

And I don't see any other acceptable options, so I'll take another break and eat first.

In the meantime, I check my options.

There are fewer campgrounds inland, and none within reach, and the

accommodations are too expensive for me.

iOverlander is the solution, as there should be a spot by a lake a short distance back that I want to check out.

A camper is already there, and the view of the license plate reveals that someone from the Erzgebirge is merely visiting.

I briefly say hello to the older couple before pitching my hammock between two trees.

Then there's a quick dip in the lake to wash off the sweat of the day.

In the meantime, another camper arrives. A young family from the Harz mountains.

And as great as the app is, that’s one criticism of it, that a spot can naturally get crowded.

But there's enough space here, and the spot by the lake, there’s a spacious pebbly beach under the trees, very idyllic in the last light of the day.

A lantern provides sufficient light so that I can still cook my dinner calmly while I chat for a long time with Jenni on the phone.

It takes a while until my things are tidied up, but then I can finally swing into the hammock and fall asleep peacefully.

Song of the day:

Cari Cari - Mapache