Hiking - day 1

Today we started our 7 day hike through Slovenia. We got a shuttle bus to our starting point which turned out to be in Triglov National Park, We didn't realize we would be starting there. It is Slovenia's only national park. We hiked a trail through the park that should have taken us to the Juliana Trail that we will be hiking all week. It started on a road that went past an alpine skiing training course. There was a teenage biathlon competition taking place. A girl from New York, Sidney, approached us and asked us if we were headed toward the hut, which we were. She had lost a red jacket that she was willing to pay to have shipped (must have some special meaning). She gave Eileen her phone number.

We traveled past some nice Alpine pastures where cows and horses graze. Some of the cows wear bells around their necks. They are fun to listen to. While near the main part of the park we encountered lots of locals out for a Sunday walk or bike ride. We then saw several people gathering mushrooms.

The Julian trail had a number of "mountain guys", typical with food, beverages, and hostel type sleeping arrangements. We stopped at one named koca Na Uskovnici. It appeared to be in the middle of a farm, We had a light lunch and something do drink. As we hadn't found Sidney's jacket, we left her name and number with the staff at the hut, and Eileen later notified hey we hadn't found it.

Eventually the trail turned to the forest and went down hill very steeply. While it is easier on the heart to go downhill, it is very demanding in the knees. The trail was full of roots, rocks, and lose stones making slipping easy to do. At one point our friend's pack started to roll down the hill. She had taken it off to go over or under a log blocking the trail. Fortunately it didn't go to far before being stopped by trees and we were able to retrieve it. We ended up somehow losing the trail and walking the road which, while the road was longer, we moved faster. We managed to turn an 8.5 mile day into 11 miles!

We ended the hike in Bohinj. It is a small resort town around a lake. We checked into our apartment and then went for a swim in the lake. Afterwards we had burgers at Froksner.Read more