Second home: Soča valley

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Trip start
May 13, 2023
Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
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Jerebica - Cima del Lago
June 21, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
The two names given in the title - the first in Slovenian, the second in Italian - describe the peak of a mountain just above the village of Log Pod Mangartom. Our hike up there took a little over three hours, with some quite steep and balancy sections in between. Both Julia and I were surprised that she went all the way up, seeing as she has so far always refused to try a via ferrata (in my opinion, some of the sections up Jerebica were by far more sketchy). Maybe it was because Miha made it all look so easy that we called him mountain goat.
At the peak we met our friends Matej and Mare, who had first pretended to have other plans only to get up even earlier than us and surprise us when we got there (and yeah ok, the sunrise pictures they took also look pretty cool). We were really lucky to still get a good view of Predil lake and the surrounding mountains before everything was hidden in the clouds a few minutes later. Even so, we took our time, had a picnic, a little nap and only then started our way back down.Read more
Traveler sieht nach einer richtig, richtig geilen Wanderung aus
8/15/22Reply
annalovestraveling War es!
8/15/22Reply
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Back in town
May 13, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
We arrive to an almost empty village during heavy rainfall, creating a somewhat gloomy mood. Even wir the deep hanging clouds the valley looks simply beautiful. As a nice extra, the river finally has a little more water than during our last time here - which means more fun kayaking :)
The first day we don't do a lot. We need a little time to switch off our minds and get into vacation mood. The cold, rainy weather is another motivation to spend a lazy day at the hostel, except for the obligatory coffee at Kavarna and a little evening stroll.
We meet some old friends, but also a lot of new people. For instance there is a big group of kayaking and rafting guides, most of them from Patagonia. We'll end up spending most evenings with them, go paddling together and shuttling them to the harder river sections. We'll also learn that we're already known all over town, even by those we've never met. Apparently we "leave a little bit of chaos" every time we come to Bovec 🤷. We're even party of the gossip now.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Kayak school with Tin
May 17, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
It's still rather cold and rainy, bit we are lucky and get the perfect mix of fine water levels (around 30 m^3/s) and not too much rain while we are on the water. This year we do our lessons with Tin, a local guide who has his own company (Emerald timeouts), and who we met last year through our friend Matej.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Krnsko Jezero
May 19, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Morning hike with our friend Miha up the snowy Krn mountain to Krn kake. Temperature at the lake: 5°C
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Source of Boka Waterfall
May 21, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
A really steep hike with even some easy climbing, but incredibly rewarding!
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
River crew
May 22, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Making friends with the Chilean (+) group of kayaking, rafting and canyoning guides gave us the chance for some more individual time on the river. For example, we were invited to join a training session for aspiring rafting guide Josh, which was especially fun because that way we got to go with a group of friends. On some other days, I went kayaking on the "commercial section " Srpenica I - Trnovo (WW III) with Bruno, Tarzan and Harry (Julia could unfortunately not join due to a back injury). They even helped me to practice the eskimo roll and gave me lots of useful advice for my technique. Great crew ❤Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Being groupies
May 23, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Our kayaking might be improving, but we're still far from paddling WW class V or VI. Luckily, by now we know lots of people who have those skills. So why not be a groupie once in a while and watch them paddle the famous Katarakt section? In total we hiked down there three times, once helping the guys out and shuttling their cars to their exit point at Camp Korin. Just look at those moves!Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Source of Soča + Velika Korita
May 24, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ 🌧 17 °C
The downside to relying on your (guide) friends to join you for activities is: when they work, you lose. And: they usually work just at times when the water level is best and the rock is dry. For Julia and me that means there will be no kayaking nor climbing today.
Good thing that the Soča valley offers an incredible amount of beautiful things to see and that look different every time depending on the conditions. Together with our dorm mates Joseph and Janna, as well as our new friend "Bonney" (Andrew - he is a kayaking icon and Harry's mentor, who introduced us the evening before at dinner) we head out to visit the spring of our favorite river. Close to the village of Trenta we hike up just about 20 minutes before climbing down to the water. We can only see a hint of the spring from the sides, as the water level is too high to go any closer.
On our way back to Bovec we stop at the "Great Gorge" (Velika Gorita), an incredibly peaceful place to just sit and enjoy our penultimate day in Slovenia.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Ending with SUP tryouts
May 25, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
And again, our time in the valley is coming to an end. As Julia is still struggling with lower back pain, Bonney suggests for her to try stand up paddling to relax her back muscles. He even takes us to lake Predil in Italy right after visiting the Soca source and the Great Gorge (see last footprint).
Having two SUPs in his van, he lends us one to share and accompanies us on the lake in the second one. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of that outing, but it sure was a lot of fun, especially being complete beginners and wobbling our way across Predil, which especially after the rain offered stunning views. However, it was also damn cold and even with our wetsuits we were freezing when we got back to the van.
The next day (our last one 😥) Bonney offered us to paddle with him once more, this time on white water. I left the paddle board to Julia and borrowed Bonneys fun half-slice 😍 kayak (according to him "the best kayak ever built"), having myself a nice little training session for technique and eskimo roll.
In the evening, we invited everyone to join us for a farewell party. Although our plan to have this party with a bonfire at the river bank was a little too ambitious, we at least got to see our friends one last time in our typical watering holes before leaving. The final stargazing session down in Čezsoča was reserved to just a few people.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
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High water
September 23, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
The last days' heavy rains that led us to push this falls visit to Bovec have created the highest water level Julia and I have seen so far in the valley (though by far not the highest that are usual for late fall to early spring). See for example the comparison between the Virje waterfall (just a few drips) last spring vs. now (you can't even walk towards the pond without getting soaked).
Since it's not allowed to kayak with this water level, we take the next best option - rafting. This time we get to do the upper section, starting from Camp Kovač, which is not usually possible with rafts. However, we will of course also go kayaking in the following days.Read more
Traveler Typische Herrmann Pose 😜
9/23/24ReplyTranslate
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Love Love Love this place
September 24, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Mangart foto shoot
September 25, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
One of our traditions - next to kayaking, hot chocolate and croissants at Prijon - is to watch the sunset on top of Mangart. This time we took Matej (and his camera) with us and it kind of turned into a photo shoot. Thanks to Matej for the great pictures!Read more
TravelerSuperschöne Bilder
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Sudden winter
September 14, 2024 in Austria ⋅ 🌫 0 °C
We've been to Bovec several times around (exactly) this time of the year. The difference is that this time, winter came early in Austria (it went down from 30 to 0 in less than a week) and we drive through heavy rains and snow. Also the Slovenian mountains are slightly covered in snow, Mangart is closed for the same reason. Let's see if this brings us some nice water levels on the river :)Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Kobarid - Trnovo - Kozjak
September 15, 2024 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Even after so many times in the valley, we still get to discover new places every time. Some pictures from our little (not as little as we thought) hike along the Otona and Katarakt sections of Soča river to (what we thought was) Kozjak waterfall (no idea which one it was after all 😅).
As usual, I am sharing my beautiful stay in the valley with Julia.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
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Surfing& boofing
September 18, 2024 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Great days on the river with Stefan of Soca Kajakschule and an amazing group of ladies :)
Traveler Sieht gefährlich aus 😱
9/23/24ReplyTranslate
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Favorite section: Lepena - Bunkeri
September 20, 2024 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Two things make this section special: starting in the Velika Korita gorge (with the current water level you could paddle pretty far upstream into the gorge) and the Bunker rapid. Moreover, if you are a better kayaker than me, you can paddle the Bunker canyon.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Kresnička sunday
May 25, 2025 in Slovenia
Our 2025 trip to the valley starts with me driving to Julia's on Friday after work - for the first time by car, as finally I have my own kayak that I want to bring with me. So no more hauling all my kayak and climbing gear on the train, yey 🥳.
After a long drive down to Slovenia that took us the entire Saturday, we're happy to use the Sunday for resting before an intense week of kayak school. We also plan to go on a little activation hike, but when we pump into our friend Matej, that plan quickly falls victim to an entire day of just eating tasty food and chilling all day.
Matej is in Bovec for just 24 hours after having spent the past month working on film productions somewhere between Austria and Croatia. We meet him for a morning coffee, then go check out his property just outside Bovec, which we plan to keep for ourselves and open a campsite called "Kresnička" (engl. firefly / dt. Glühwürmchen).
Afterwards, he invites us for homemade Gnocchi and shows us the new bike park and a beautiful view point from which you can see the entire valley, followed by a "sweet appetizer" before our dinner with the kayak school.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Sapzarapp und Schubidu
May 30, 2025 in Slovenia
A week of kayak school comes to an end. Just as last year, we take a full 5-day course at the German kayak school in Čezsoča, this time with Tin as a teacher. He is a local and we have known him for many years, we even did a kayak course with him a few years ago, but through his own company.
Unfortunately, he seems a bit stressed, both because he has afternoon classes on some days, leaving him with time pressure, but also because he's had an incident with a class the week before when one of the participants instead of listening to him swam straight into the siphon. Therefore, we don't practice as much and effectively as we would have wanted to, but instead stick to the easy lines. Still, the week is a highlight for me, as for the first time I get to paddle Koritnica, a side arm of Soča river that is a bit harder than the commercial section and can only be paddled with a sufficiently high water level. As it is rather narrow, paddling here is a bit more technical.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
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Weekends in Soča valley
June 1, 2025 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
On Saturday we take a very needed rest day. No kayaking, just taking it slow, chilling by the river and hiking a bit along Koritnica, in hope of checking out the section we paddeld in the past week. Though we can only really see the small canyon that we had already scouted before, we still enjoy the gorgeous landscapes.
On Sunday, we start with a relaxing coffee at Mare's property. Mare is a friend from Log Pod Mangartom, just a short drive from Bovec. We had visited his property already a few years ago, but the house was then still under construction. Now everything is ready and he has completely moved in. The house sits amidst a fairytale forest with views at the Jerebica peak, the walls of Mangart and the sound of Koritnica river in the background. Mare and his father built everything themselves, from the foundation to the furniture.
We can't stay long: a friend has offered to take us to Otona, a section of the Soča that we haven't paddeld before and that is more demanding than the sections we have done here so far. As my own boat is not ideal on pushy water, I rent a different one and we decide to paddle two known sections (Srepenica & Trnovo, WW II-III) first, such that I can get used to the new boat. After a short shuttle in between, we then carry the boats down to the entry point of the main section - a steep 10 minute hike, that leaves us entirely out of breath with today's heat and in all our gear. At that point, I might have given up on the idea of paddling Otona, had I had a different alternative than carrying the boat back up. But all of that turns out to be absolutely worth it. The section is just perfect, beautiful and exciting. We end up completely high on adrenaline and can't wait to go again.Read more
Traveler Tolles Video
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Climbing day
June 2, 2025 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Convinced Julia and a crew of mostly Argentinians to join me for a day on the rock in Pri Plajerju. At the beginning we advance slowly, as I am the only one with proper gear, so we take turns using my harness for climbing, belaying with a canyoning harness. Luckily, Tute knows how to belay me so I can set up some routes also for Julia and Dani to climb, while Manu prefers to just chill and watch. Later on, Tincho and Reka join us and I get to try a harder project with Tincho, who has a harness for proper dynamic belaying.Read more
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Second home: Soča valley annalovestraveling
Adventures and friends
June 7, 2025 in Slovenia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
The remaining days are all about kayaking, by ourselves and with friends.
We are feeling a lot more confident on the water and play around just the two of us or with friends. Our first solo trip of the year stretches three river sections, from Golobar to Srepenica 1. It takes up almost the entire day not only due to the length of the section, but also because I have to hitchhike twice to get back to put-in after leaving the car at the put-out. When I get there, Julia realizes that she didn't bring her helmet, so we have to wait until we find somebody to lend her one. In the middle of the trip, we have to interrupt because of the thunderstorm, so we get out of the boats and wait in a sheltered place. The atmosphere on the river afterwards however is incredible, paddling through thick mist and looking at the mountains that are covered in clouds.
Another day we do the commercial section with Alex from Julia's kayaking club in the morning, followed by an afternoon girl's lap up on Golobar. Yet another Nico (Julia's kayak instructor from the prior season) and his girlfriend Maria take us to Otona again.
In between, we finally make it to the top of Svinjak mountain (1653m), a must hike here in the valley, as it is the most prominent mountain you see from below and offers unbeatable panoramic views. The hike up there is steep and turns into scrambling towards the end. At the top, we are welcomed by a swarm of golden eagles (dt. Steinadler), hovering over us with there wings that span about 2 meters.Read more
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