Today we start a two-day hike with the aim to climb the highest mountain in Slovenia, Triglav 2864 m above sea level.
Triglav National Park - Road to the Green Lake
You need to prepare for this trip in advance. First of all, you need to choose a route. The most famous is the route through the valley of the seven Triglav lakes. The shortest (one-day) route is from Trenta. However, it is physically very demanding in the one-day variant. We chose, given our itinerary, the route through the valley of seven Triglav lakes. Since it is not possible to reach Triglav in one day from most of the starting points, we need to spend the night in one of the many mountain huts. The most common places to stay are the Koca pri Dolicu hut (where we slept) and Planika Hut, which is directly below Triglav. You can stay overnight without a reservation, but reservations are recommended during the holidays due to the high occupancy. The important thing to remember is that your reservation is only officially held until 5pm, otherwise it is offered to others. In practice, this was completely not the case and reservations were held until about 19:00, at least as far as the Koča pri Doliču cottage was concerned. We used offline Mapy.cz for navigation. Count on the fact that there is no signal on the route.
In order to make it to the hut by 5:00 pm, we wake up at 6:30 am and start our journey at 7:00 am. We take only the essentials, leaving the rest in the tent. From the campsite we first go through the village of Ukanc, where we cross the Savica River.
Morning at Lake Bohinj
Ukanc - Savica River
After Ukanec, the asphalt road changes to a gravel road, which continues on a gentle climb for about a kilometre and a half to a signpost, where one path leads to the Koča pri Savici hut, where you can see the Savica waterfall. The second path leads to the Black Lake. This is the one you have to take if you go to Triglav. This section is a solid warm-up lap. You will climb 660 vertical metres in two kilometres. The starting altitude is 659 m above sea level. The finishing altitude is 1300 m above sea level. The ascent time is about an hour and forty. The Black Lake is quite small. We still take a break at it for about twenty minutes.
The road to the Black Lake
Black Lake
I recommend not to continue along the shores of the lake, because it connects badly to the marked trail, which is why we got a bit lost here. The correct way around the lake is more through the forest. Our next destination is Double Lake. As the name suggests, it is two small lakes, lying side by side. There is a Koca pri Triglavskih jezerih. This section of the route is four kilometres long and we climb 382 metres of elevation. It is the last section that goes through the forest.
As I mentioned the Twin Lakes, they are quite small. We reached them after twelve o'clock and had lunch there.
Cesta na Dvojno jezero, v pozadí Koča při Triglavskih jezerih
Dvojno lake
Dvojno lake
Lunch at the Dvojno Lake
Koca pri Triglavskih jezerih
At Koca pri Triglavskih jezerih we refilled the water and continued on. The hut is the last source of water up to Koca pri Dolicu. Now we will continue through the Valley of the Triglav Lakes to the Green Lake. Technically this is the easiest section of the route. It is also quite photogenic. On the way we will come across the lake Jezero v Ledvicach, which is the largest of all. At this lake the weather started to break down and sunny weather started to change to cloudy.
Valley of the Triglav Lakes
Jezero v Ledvicach
The climb to the Hribarica saddle is beginning to take shape
Green Lake
From the Green Lake, a demanding climb begins up to the Hribarica saddle between the Poprovec and Vršak peaks. On the 1.2 km long section you will climb 300 vertical metres. In the saddle, you continue on a plateau where there is quite a lot of unmelted snow. The path is poorly marked and hard to find. In some places you even have to climb on the rock to get further. The worst part is the end of the plateau. What you have climbed from the Green Lake, you have to descend again (the descent is about 220 vertical meters). This was devastating to morale. Especially when it's already four o'clock and you still can't see the hut.
Green Lake
Views of the Traglav Lakes Valley on the ascent to the Hribarica Saddle
Saddle Hribarica - Moon landscape
End of Hribarica Saddle - Critical moment
Fatigue combined with time stress was probably the worst thing now. Because time was running out and the hut was not visible. In addition, fog had fallen on the valley, so we could see almost nothing. However, you can't see the hut even in clear weather. It is built between two rocks and you first see it when you stand about three hundred meters in front of it. In our case, when it was foggy, we couldn't see it until we were almost there. We arrived at 16:45.
The last metres to the hut
Finally - Koca pri Dolicu
We're going straight to the reception to check in. It's nice and warm and there's a nice queue. Ahead of us is a Czech guy who doesn't have a reservation and learns that he has to come at seven to see if a bed has become available, otherwise they'll let him sleep on the floor. Fortunately they had our reservation, so we were sure of a bed. Our room was for 10 people and it was pretty cold. Once we checked in, we went to the bar where we rewarded ourselves with a can of beer and didn't even bother with the high altitude surcharge. We really deserved it for our performance today. I will add that the toilet is latrine and it is without toilet paper, which you must have your own. It was extra experience to go to the latrine with lightning flying around. If anyone asks about showers, there aren't any, but running water and at least one sink with cold water are available.
Koca pri Dolicu - Toilet in the clouds
We're going to bed early. Firstly because we are tired after today's hike and also we have to get up early tomorrow to catch everything. We already have roommates left and they'll put two more sleepers on the floor during the night. Tomorrow we continue to Triglav.
Useful links:
Camp Bohinj
Other accommodation in Bohinj
Detailed description of the routes to Triglav
Reservation of tourist huts
