Thursday 15 November 2007

Thursday 8th November 2007







We had decided to visit the local waterfall and get close to Triglev mountain today if the weather was good. The outside temperature this morning was 0.7° C and there was a thick frost but the sky was blue with small white clouds – ideal. The internal temperature was also a little low but the heating worked well whilst we had our morning cup of tea.
After showers, breakfast and chores, we set off for the Pericnik waterfall. This lies just beyond the neighbouring village of Mojstrana up a good quality dirt track. We took Henrietta to the car park below the falls and then walked up. There are actually two waterfalls here, the lower one being 52m high and the upper one 16m. The best time to see them is said to be winter when they are a frozen into curtains of ice. However they are very impressive in the autumn and we had them to ourselves. It is possible to walk behind both of the waterfalls, which involves getting very wet from the water that drips down everywhere, but it gives a very different view of the falls with rainbows playing around them as the sun shines through the spray. The waterfalls eventually spill their water into the river Bistrica which then flows through Mojstrana. It is a crystal clear, cold river that looks for all the world like liquid Fox's Glacier Mints with a hint of blue.
A further six kilometres or so up the valley we stopped at the main car park and, after a picnic lunch sat in the sun, we walked up to Aljazev Dom where there are a few (closed at this time) forest lodges. This is the start of many trails up the mountains although purists would say that the ascent of Triglev, an aim of every red-blooded Slovenian, should really be started from Mojstrana. The ascent of Triglev is not to taken lightly, our host at the campsite told us that many people attempt it totally unprepared. She had climbed it twice, once well prepared and fit and once when she had not done any training. She completed it both times but the second time, she couldn't walk for a week afterwards. She also told us that there is a fatality every one or two weeks in the season, often caused directly by falls, but also by people being hit by rocks dislodged by people above. Every time that she hears a helicopter, she knows that there is a fatality or serious injury on Triglav. We decided not to attempt the climb, especially when there was snow on the mountain.
We walked to a monument to the Partisans who fought to defend the area during World War II. This consists of a huge karibaner and piton mounted on a rock in a wonderful setting surrounded by mountains.
We then took Henrietta gently back down the valley to Mojstrana and on to Dovje and Camping Kamne.
Photos: Chores are necessary on the Odyssey, but what a place to hang your washing!; Pericnik lower waterfall; Pericnik upper waterfall; Bistrica River – liquid Fox's Glacier Mints; Memorial to the World War II partisans with Triglev's North Face in the background.

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