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Journal: |
I woke to the sound of the predicted rain falling steadily
outside and had some decisions to make. I couldn't afford to
take a day off and still get to Trieste in time for my plane, but I
was reluctant to try the alpine route to Crna Prst in bad weather,
firstly because it's known to be risky, even in good weather, and
secondly because there will be no views today. There was no
obvious alternative route, and I went down to breakfast at 7am still
undecided. At breakfast, I met a French woman, who I would
guess to be in her late 60s, who is hiking the Via Alpina in the
other direction. I had seen her arrive around dinner time
yesterday, a small figure with a huge backpack. Anyway,
although she had managed to negotiate the alpine route yesterday in
good weather, she was adamant that it would be foolhardy to try it
in bad weather with slippery rocks. The hut crew were also
keen that I not try. As I packed up to leave around 8:15am, I
took one last look at the map and decided that my best chance would
be to descend from the hut down to the lake Bohinjsko Jezero, a
descent of 1000m, and then walk about 10km at low elevation parallel
to the alpine ridge the Via Alpina followed, before ascending 1300m
back up to the ridge and Crna Prst Hut. I didn't know how far
it was, but hoped it was doable in a day.
I set off in steady
rain which was soon accompanied by thunder and lightning. The
trail was well-maintained, but it was pretty much under water,
running or still, for the whole 2 hour descent. It was almost
dark enough in the forest and mist to justify wearing a headlamp
but, if you had to be walking in the rain, then the saturated and
dripping forest wasn't a bad place to be. At the base of the
mountain were some forlorn-looking tourist kiosks and hotels.
I think this summer weekend looks like being a wash-out. My
route then followed a back road near the Savica River past several
nice looking holiday homes and guest-houses before I reached the
holiday village of Ukanc, which just seemed to have accommodation
and no shops. There were a few people out walking with
umbrellas, but most were inside and warm and dry.
I found a
large tourist map and identified a path that would follow the lake
shore around to the bigger village of Ribcev Laz. It was
almost 11am and the sign said 1.25 hours walk, so I set off at a
brisk pace in case any shops closed at noon. It took me 50
minutes to get there, much of it in torrential rain, and I passed
two sad campgrounds along the way. The path was a lake.
Ribcev Laz was very much a resort town with a number of hotels and
cafes, along with a small supermarket and an ATM. It was busy
with holiday-makers trying to stay out of the rain and I went into
the supermarket to get a few lunch snacks to see me through the next
few days. I noticed at one point, that a young employee of the
supermarket was following me around with a mop, trying to dry the
floor! I was dripping a lot. I found what I wanted,
along with some filled rolls for lunch, and sat outside on a bench
under cover and ate lunch and watched everybody scurrying between
shops and from cars in the continuing rain. There was plenty
of thunder and lightning as well. It was very tempting to go
and find a room in one of the hotels, dry out and watch the Tour de
France for the rest of the afternoon. Instead, I set off along
the road out of town, which I needed to follow for a couple of
kilometres, and was probably in much more danger of being hit by a
car on the narrow puddle-strewn road in the heavy rain, than I would
have been of being hit by lightning up on the ridge or falling to my
death.
It was with relief that I turned off the road onto a
lane and more relief when I found a trail sign pointing to Crna
Prst. The trail marking in Slovenia has, on occasion, been a
little erratic and ambiguous, and I was worried about finding the
right trail for the afternoon. The trail soon entered the
forest and began climbing steadily. Although the path was very
wet, it was pleasant enough walking through the woods, even if I was
soaked through. Apart from one missed turn, which cost me
about 20 minutes, the climb went as well as I could have hoped and,
around 4:00pm, I emerged above the treeline for the last stretch up
to the ridge. It was windier up here and very cold, but I
didn't want to stop and put more gear on in the rain, so kept going.
I reached the ridge about 4:45pm, and it was bitterly cold in the
wind and I could feel my hands freezing up. A sign said 15
minutes to Crna Prst so I set off along the narrow ridge going as
fast as I could in the buffeting wind. I noticed the rain had
stopped and there were even a few breaks in the cloud allowing
glimpses of good views into the valleys below.
I reached the
hut at 5pm and checked in. I may have looked worse than I
thought because the kindly lady running the place kept on asking me
whether I was "bene" for the rest of the evening. No shower
and limited washing facilities, but I think I can get by without a
wash tonight. Just before going to bed, I went for a short
walk outside where the thermometer showed 1°C. With the gale
force wind that was blowing, the wind chill would have been way
below freezing.
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