Triglav

August 17, 23 Koča pri Triglavskih Jezerin > Koča na Doliču

Up early this morning after a not so good night (narrow bed, bunk bed on top, blankets slipped onto the head of the person below me). The breakfast was good for that! Departure almost at dusk on slippery paths as it had rained the evening before. The day became increasingly brighter, past lakes and ever steeper uphill accompanied by 2 young ibexes. I reached the hut around midday, but then decided not to climb up because thunderstorms and storms were forecast. Koča na Doliču would have been fully booked, but because of the weather forecast people had canceled I had a bed. I shared the room with Poles and Czechoslovakians and was able to converse well in English, which was fun too!

August 18, 23 Koča na Doliču > Trenta

After a good night's sleep, we were up early and set off towards Triglav at 5:50 a.m. with others who had the same thing in mind. Beautiful morning atmosphere on the climb, wonderful air. Before the exposed and steep places began, I met an American with whom I had spoken two evenings before. (You see each other twice in your life). The mountain Triglav is only 2864m. high but can actually only be reached from all sides via exposed routes. But for the Slovenians, pride! I was told, "You're not a real Slovene until you've been to Triglav, gotten your ass spanked with a rope up there, and drank some schnapps out of a shoe"! I've been up there, the other things aren't necessary. When I was going up I often thought, how am I going to get back down? It was so steep! But once you get to the top, you don't think about the descent. First of all, you are happy and proud to be up there. Secondly, there are a lot of people up there and there is a lot of coming and going. Thirdly, there is someone up there who climbs every day with a backpack full of drinks and sells it up there. A can of Radler costs €8 and he also issues certificates for €1. Unfortunately the weather closed and obscured the view. The feared descent wasn't as bad as expected and, surprisingly, it seemed shorter to me than the ascent. At the hut we had lunch, packed everything up and continued down to Trenta. This path is very long and all just along the mountain sides and built by the military in World War I! It's impressive and crazy what was built during this war and a lot of it for free. The approximately 9 km. The long descent to Trenta demanded my thigh and knee muscles, which proved to be well trained!! A lot was going on in my head, because the view was always the same, the forest opposite and the stream in the valley, and when will this end! But the head also participated bravely and didn't let itself be distracted from the goal. When I arrived in Trenta I was able to stay in a guest room, take a proper shower and eat and sleep well. It was a long day.”