Getting ready

Ready? Actually, I'm not ready yet... even now that I'm on my way.... but hey what's new?
This is a test after all, a shake down, of the new gear, of (ultra)light backpacking and not least of myself.Lue lisää
Ljubljana... Wow!

Ok, yes, I can almost hear you... This indeed looks more like a pub crawl than a mountain trail. I'm still very much in realm of modern civilization. In fact I'm staying in a fantastic little airbnbLue lisää
Last minute

Day 2 really was about finishing my preparations. Thankfully Ljubljana has numerous outdoor sports shops so it was easy finding what was missing and replace what was broken. Since my Slovenian isLue lisää
And I'm off!

Prep done, packed and ready to go. I'm on the first train from Ljubljana to Maribor. Thankfully that means a gentle 7am start... nice and easy.
Oh... as it turns out it also means a but of railLue lisää
Day 1 on the trail - first half

Hiking! Finally! And uphill... what a start! 2 hours straight up up and upper. It's hot and I'm soaked. They say that long distance hiking means to get comfortable with being uncomfortable... so thisLue lisää
Day 1 - second half

It got a lot easier after that. A lot! After lunch the trail was a lot less scrambling up rain drainage paths and a lot more forest roads. Still, I finished my first hiking day after around 12km. LessLue lisää
Section 2 - before lunch

Two footprints for the same section? Again? Yes... it's been a loooong day.
But first things first.... getting up early sort of worked. I was back on the trail before 7. At 8.30am I stopped forLue lisää
Section 2 - after lunch

... and then the weather took a turn for the worse and we experienced what's known as a heavy thundery shower. Luckily I was still at the koča for lunch when this happened but it set the tone for theLue lisää
Ribinska to Slovenj Gradec - Morning

So after a day of playing cat and mouse with the next downpour.... what will the morning bring?? Well... FOG... lots of fog... great! Luckily the sun made it through eventually and turned the mistyLue lisää
Slovenj Gradec

Lunch, apart from being delicious, also brought on the wise decision not to do a crazy push for 30km today. Especially not with 13km pretty much uphill towards the very end.
So instead I went for aLue lisää
Good morning

After an early start and an hour of good hiking, it's time for breakfast. (also, I ran out of water over dinner last night so needed a refill)
Mostly the world is still asleep. I startled deer, a fewLue lisää
Mount St. Ursula

... or in Slovenian "Uršlja Gora". I hiked it for two reasons.
1. To honour my favourite aunt Uschi
2. It happened to be en-route ;)
It was a really nice hike up the 1680 meters. The trail was quiteLue lisää
The magic forest

Well the day went on after Mount St Ursula... no rest for the wicked ;)
The afternoon turned out to be magic forest time. I have taken a lot of pictures but none really come close to what is wasLue lisää
The weather

I am setting off early again. 5 o'clock waking up, 6 o'clock heading out. And the reason for this is the weather.... tomorrows weather to be precise... which is meant to be thunderstorms and rain.Lue lisää
Veliko Raduha

After pushing pretty hard for about 4h this morning (the signs indicate 5.5h for that section) I finally got to Koča na Loki. Isn't Loki the ancient norse god of mischief?? (Thank you Stargate forLue lisää
Fangorn forest to Solčava

The 3rd and final leg of the day was meant to be just 5km down to the valley to Solčava...
Well, nobody had thought to mention that the path would be the most narrow and gnarly so far on this trail.Lue lisää
Sitting, waiting, wishing

Not much happening today. I got up, packed everything and ventured to find a bus out of Solčava. It was 8.30am. Turns out the next bus is at 1pm.
So, nothing to do but to wait at the café acrossLue lisää
Re-supply

"Re-supply? What shopping does he need eating at mountain huts every day???" - I can almost feel your raised eyebrows through the internet! Yes, I admit, my re-supply is basically bying more gummyLue lisää
Back on track/trail

I'm hiking again! Yes! And what better way to start than with a 3.5h slog from 600 meters all the way up to 2067 meters.... up up up!
There were some great views again though. In the last but oneLue lisää
Valley of the Triglav lakes

As seems to be so often the case, after lunch was once again different than before lunch. Firstly, I had only about 2h to go to reach my destination for the day and secondly it was mainly downhill.Lue lisää
Krn

2244 meters. It's what's gonna be the highest point of this hike for me. Arriving here unfortunately wasn't that much of a highlight but rather more of a fog light (sorry, terrible joke that). ILue lisää
Krn again - and now you can even see it

After a very foggy evening, the early risers got rewarded with a beautiful sunrise. Enough said.
Enjoy the pictures.
Down, down, down

Another glorious day of hiking... mostly downhill as hinted on already. Two small oddities here....
1.) A mushroom picture - no hike is truly complete without one
2.) For those curious about myLue lisää
Hiking on top of the clouds

And just in case there was any doubt about how cool this place is... let's bring in some clouds. Wow... that was pretty spectacular! There were some moments that got the heart pumping and this againLue lisää
A walk in the woods

It ended the same way it began... with a walk in the woods. The last 8.5km of my trail today led from up in the clouds at Črna Prst all the way down to Petrovo Brdo and went along beautiful forestLue lisää
Der SchotteCOME OOOOOOONNNNN!!!!! YEEEEHHHAAAAA!!! (dancing and cheering while hopping on one leg)