Travel Tips

Zo72 - Zoran, as he is know to friends and family, and I have gotten acquainted through the interchanges of the VT community. When he learned that I was returning to Slovenia to once again do some mountain wlaking, he proposed accompanying me on one of my rambles. The main mountain chain Slovenia is the Julian Alps/Juliske Alpe, but they are not the only ones. A range closer and more visible to the bright lights of Ljubljana is the Kamnisko-Savinjske Alpe which rise about 40 km north of the capital to hieghts of over 2500 meters. The range is as rugged, though not as large, as the Julians, sporting many mountain huts and even a couple of mountain trams at the range's southern fringes. The range is well-know to Slovenes, but not so with people from outside of the country. This is where Zoran suggested we direct our efforts and wanting to experience more of Slovenia's geography, I heartily agreed.

We had several options, but chose one that would take us into the heart of the range and to its very top - a hike up a mountain called Grintovec, 2558 meters high. There are several routes up and we chose a route from the west, up the Suhi Dol to the Cojzova Koca na Korskem Sedlo - Cojzova Hut at the Korsko Saddle. From there, up slopes to the peak's top to the north, 1457 meters of vertical gain, in all - jsut under 5000 vertical feet.

At about 9 in the morning, we met at the end of a rough, steep gravel road - Zoran coming from Ljubljana and I from Dovje (VT Markoos' Apartma Triglav), in the NW area of Slovenia. The parking area was full with cars, this being a Saturday and moutain walking being somewhat of an obsession with Slovenes. I had been looking forward to talking with Zoran on the hike, but was fearful of how my poor body would react to two consecutive days of having gained over 1500 meters each day. The first couple of hours were hot as we slowly made our way up the Suhi Dol to the Cojzova Hut. I seriously gave thought to aborting the hike at the hut as my legs were hurting so much, but after resting at the hut for 20 minutes and being so near to the top (2 hours more away) - plus, the general lack of views on the path - even from the hut which is placed in a pass that is steeply wall in by peaks - I agreed to push on.

Slowly, we followed other groups of Slovenes as they, too, pushed upwards. Clouds swirled around us as we reached higher, threatening to obilterate any hopes we had of wide-ranging views. As we got closer to the top, sheep bleated at our physical efforts. Some Slovenes, who used a different kind of water to renew themselves - here, think alcoholic, in nature:-) - bleated back at the sheep, only louder.

Signs were everpresent that we were near the top. This was the first alpine peak that I had been up with signs announcing remaining distance: 3 km, 2 km, 1 km, 500 m, and finally 250 m.

And then, we had reached the summit. The clouds lifted, granting us a grand panorama over the range; views far into southern Austria and over half of Slovenia; the Karwanke range lined up to the NW; the Julians, with Triglav, far away in the west. Korska Kocna rises almost to our same height, next door to the west. Birds joinging us with hope of sharing our lunch.

Skuta doing the same, to our east. Mountain trams range up into the mountains to the south at both Velika Plannina and Kravec.

Then the long hike back down, to the hut where our beer - Lasko, of course - awaited us.

One last long look up to the top, visible and well-known to our exhausted legs by now.

A glorious day indeed spent in the comradeship of a grand Slovene with whose company I learned so much about Slovenia and being Slovene. An experience I can cherish and have to thank the VT experience for.