Hiking - Day 7

Today was our last day of hiking. We left the Juliana Trail and got a ride to the national park where we hiked part way into Krajska Gora, our final stop in Slovenia. The trail was marked to be 3.5 miles uphill and then 8 miles downhill and expected to take 8 hours which means at least 9 for us. We knew we didn't want to hike that long so we chose to just hike up and then take the free shuttle down. Saved a lot of wear on the knees.

Our driver was our luggage transport person, Matea. Her and her husband run a transport and tour company. They were so easy to work with. She picked us up and drove us to the park and then took our backpacks to our lodgings in town .

The weather was the best we had since arriving in Europe, bright and clear but cool - perfect day to be outside. We hiked with day packs. Our starting point was at a hut where we enjoyed breakfast before we started walking. The hut was near the source of the Soci river, meaning all of the waters run off of the mountain to start the river we had been following the last couple of days. Given the recent rain, the water cascading down the mountains was pretty forceful, bouncing over the rocks, adding to the beauty of the hike. We had to cross tributaries a few times, sometimes on boards, but mostly rock hopping. The hike started a little steep but then with switchbacks, it became a steady upgrade mostly through forests. We reached the summit pass, one mile high, in about 2 hrs and 45 min.

The summit top is a very beautiful and very touristic point. Cars were parked everywhere, bikers rode to this point, and there are many trails to hike on from this point. There is a Harley Davidson, week long, meet up taking place around the area lakes. Today there were so many bikers at the summit. At the summit there also was a hut where we enjoyed lunch while taking in the view. There was also a wedding couple having pictures taken there. We saw the wedding party later while we were having dinner. After soaking up the views, we walked a short piece down the road to catch the shuttle down the hill to the town of Kranjska Gora. Our knees thanked us for riding.

The town is a cute well kept town near the borders of Slovenia, Austria and Italy. The people here were the least fluent in English (though we had no problem getting what we needed) but many spoke Italian and German. They have a large summer tourist season with many, many ebikers and hikers, and then a slower winter season. There is a ski resort here but winter snow weather is hit or miss. We went to dinner at a restaurant at the base of the ski lift where they roasted meats. We had a meat platter for two that could have served 4 at least. It was delicious but too much and should be reserved for very hungry hiker or biker dudes. We followed dinner with a locally made after dinner drink to celebrate our hiking week. Tomorrow Brianne will head back to Lujbiana and then to Munich, and then home, while Jeff and I head to Austria.

Notes on Slovenia: everything seemed very well maintained. The number of bicycles was surprising - some tourists but an expanding part of their culture with the availability of e-bikes. Good food, wine, and liqueurs. Very impressive landscapes. A country approximately the size of New Jersey and a population of ~2.2 million.Read more