Day two, part one: Lake Krn, 1394m

The General has this ungodly habit of sleeping really late - I swear, if I didn't drag him out of the bed every morning, he'd stay passed out until freakin' 8 or something. For postmen - witches (as per Pratchett) and hikers, 8 is noon. You're supposed to have done whatever you were planning on doing that morning by 8. But even though he acts like he's not going to comply, when I say 'you can just stay in, I'll go on my own, be right back', he secretly has no intention on missing out and will begrudgingly tag along, but quietly marvel at the very same sights as I.

So, day two, we got up at dawn, got down to the car, brushed our teeth, changed our socks and headed around the bend into Trenta - the magical realm of steep white rocks and cool green pastures - the realm of all the best folk tales, highland women and men and some of the more curious local Gods, the front-runner of which is the golden-handed, hairy and chthonic Kresnik, the God of midsummer night, smiths and industry, sun and war, a protector and lover, one of the really old ones. I should probably look for his famed cave/smithy at some point and also for the site of our most famous B&W movie about a cunning shepherd boy, Kekec on his surreal adventures. Though not this time. 

First thing we did, we dipped our feet in Soča - the Isonzo river - quite literally. It's so fucking cold that if you put your hand in, it starts to hurt. Some people were bathing and diving in it, but most just sat and basked on the banks, taking in the natural splendor. I imagine diving is only possible if the day is not hot at all, because if your body was pre-heated in the 100 degrees sun and you jumped into a few degrees above freezing water, it'd be the last thing you do.

We made a small run towards the horse-shoe top of the valley - 330° of 2000m mountains round and round, to find a chain of small but very lovely waterfalls and emerald pools, where water and pebbles carved cauldrons into the limestone. 

No idea what this was, but it was cute.

Then we began our ascend. Although the previous day we did not enjoy the climb particularly and were looking for an easy path, this one turned out to be just as much of a drag. Curious, really, because although it was placed inside a nearly vertical wall, it went up zig-zag and was really wide - wide enough for a car, if there wasn't for the rocks and roots and such. Perhaps once, a wild while ago, there was a cart road up, for military purposes. Either way, it was super wide, and really oddly level, but it went on for AGES. Every step you made you had to be careful how you make it. The board said 2 or 3 hours max. After 2 or 3 hours, we began to despair and ask people how we're doing. It would be quite sad if it was just the two of us, but on our way down the day after, almost all of the people we met felt the exact same way. It was a freaking drag! It wouldn't fkng end!

These are called 'možiclji', 'marking little men' and are normally found as road marks, but clearly someone was bored and had too much time on their hands :D

Eventually the path and the cable car line meet, a class of Italian scouts led by a black-skinned old nun in an azure blue habit having stopped there for a break. After that the road crosses the saddle and begins to descend towards the cottage for about 20 minutes. less, because we wanted to outrun the scouts so they wouldn't occupy every cot in the cottage.

The food being very scarce - the first day we brought too little water and now we brought too little food?? - and really expensive, we ate but a little. He ate a sausage (no bread) and I had half a handful of Bolonesse pasta, giving the other half to him. (The morning after I paid 9 euro for two bad coffees and bars of fruit chocolate - that's three times the value they'd have in the Real World. I don't care if things are costly up in the hills, I fully appretiate it takes a lot to get the supplies up, but i've had some of the biggest, best pieces of pie in mountain cottages, and on Velika Planina they give you a sausage with sour kraut in such a massive portion you can hardly eat it - it's damn delicious...)

The General got tucked in, slept while I wrote in my journal, then complained he's nippy, I put room's blankets over him. The bunk beds simple weren't made for two people - the mattresses were too thin and the edges too sharp, so for the rarest occasion we didn't share a pillow. I wanted to shower in the middle of the night, alas. No shower. While he retired early, I wanted to see how far the lake was (between 15 -30 minutes), so as long as there was daylight, I went out to explore the majestic Krn basin - the remains of an old, grindy little glacier that once ruled here. 

There used to be or sometimes are more lakes here, it would seem. And the summits all around seem extremely lovely. Alas, really not in the mood to do any more ascending. What was scheduled as half-a-day plans not only took all days but was beginning to also drain us. 

I was a little irritated to find the Italian scouts not only bathed in the lake, but also set camp right on the shore of it - basically right next to the board saying camping and bathing is strictly forbidden to preserve the delicate natural habitat of the basin, already struggling for the amount of hikers coming through. I contemplated long and hard whether I should mention their crimes to the cottage keeper, but somebody's done it aside me,  because they all slept in the cottage and not a single one of them was in sight the next morning by the lake. 

On my way back, twilight slowly setting in, slowly, I ran into a minute obstacle: the shed which housed the sheep, cows and pigs and had no fence to speak of, allowed for the two pink pigs to come out and graze happily around, on the path. I had no idea exactly how aggressive pink pigs can be - the wild boards will kill you - and sometimes these are as timid as old cats, or they can charge and then what would I do? I had nowhere to run, nothing much to climb within range. I decided to wait until someone else passes, as one does, to see what will happen. But both pigs just slowly returned to their sty and I hurried pass. 

The plan, of course, was to catch the first light as it hits the lake. What I got was 400 shots of fog. I'm not complaining, fog is magic. But it was really fucking foggy. Being really cold, I used my travel blankie as a skirt. It looked stupid, but it is very warm. We circled the lake and then waited for two hours to see if the sun will finally show up. We tried having sex, but as soon as we began making out against a nice rock, a flock of sheep came down a slope and 'baa??!! baaa-ed" at us, which was certainly the cutest boner killer ever. It was cold and everything was wet, but it was most definitely a very TGEVE moment: time stood absolutely still and was not and was going to be and we were not but we could be and it was a standstill of perfection of creation. 

General stood by the lake - I later asked what he was thinking about and he said he honestly can't remember, and I sat about 30m above him on a boulder, just admiring the geology. Two hours went by on their own terms. Eventually we agreed the position we were in is never going to get sunny, and the light that managed to penetrate the misty veil hit the cotton-ball of fog which reacted like a lens, igniting the convex eastern side of it into a curious effect. There was also a moon on the screen, but I'll show you where, later.

Around the summit, on our way back, the light was fantastic, coloring the spruces silver and orange and blazing green, mixed with rivers of clouds and silver-looking grass, covered in dew. I had by then ran out of memory card, trying to get at least some sense of the foggy lake. The General warned we need to be back in the cottage by nine to return the room key, so I couldn't stop and shoot, i had to do it 'in the blind', just running after him, pressing the big button, using a single shot and hoping for the best. (In very sunny weather or if I can't get enough light to see properly, I always use the triple-frame shot, overlit, underlit and middle one, of which at least one should be a good base and the other two would work well as editing fillers.

On the way down we were the cool ones, fast-walking, confident-looking, telling other people nice little lies to keep their spirits up. We went back to the river to get our feet into the water, soothing them a little, washing some of our clothes, because we were starting to run out and stink. We sat on the rocks until the clothes dried.

Next stop: Franja field hospital from WW2.


PS - this is not my photo, it's from Wiki - view of the lake from above....

Hiking trip, part one: Kluže and Kota1313

We crossed the country to get to the Julian Alps (kudos to the guy Julian, having the Alps named after himself; mental note to check up on which Julian exactly it was, Roman or otherwise), swooshed pass the Kostnica in Kobarid you see here, a monument of bones of nameless soldiers (Italian, Austro-Ogrian and probably some of ours) from the WWI Isonzo battles. That was one of the shittiest battle sites (I think a dozen or more battles), a retarded, sadistic Italian commander by the name of Cadorna (fan of 'decimation' when it came to disciplining his own men for failure - killing every tenth in line) coming over the hills to invade what then was mainly an Austrian line, defended by the Slovenes and Prussians, among others. What killed most people ...and by killed I mean 300000 men perished for idiotic reasons like mustard gas turning on their own, avalanches and snow, and just general 'how about don't fight in the fucking Alps' reasons. Most bodies were in such bad shape their names were never found out, so they just pilled it all up and put a church on it. Let them rest in what they think is peace..

It doesn't really show here, my lens just won't capture the majesty of them, but once we entered the Soča (Isonzo) valley, we got flanked by maaaasive and massively beautiful hills, peaking into mountains the further in we went... 

Our first stop was the Kluže bottleneck - a super narrow bend on the way to the Isonzo valley further up, where a fort was built way back, since you could hardly ask for a better strategic gateway. The limestone terrain enabled the water to create some really drastic paths for itself - here the gorge is so deep I wasn't able to see the bottom, only hear the river rushing. 

Kluže was a 19th century fortification, burnt down several times, but not hit once during the invasion. The position it is in is a perfect blind spot - from any which way you try to hit it it will either be in the shade of a near-by wall or rock, or too low to hit, too buried in. Supposedly 150 people manned it during the war, but after the use of it was obsolete, Italians took it when no-one was watching and then later still people looking for metal kind of ravaged it, since it was full of gear remains. Lately they rebuilt it and it's a popular monument and a stop on the way to Mangart and Predel pass.

Ironically they had water issues, so first they had a rainwater tank, but precipitation can be fickle in these parts, so they then dug a hole or widened it, a stone-throw away from the castle, in a tiny cavern beneath the road.

Our next stop was the satellite fort, the ruins of it, above Kluže, Fort Hermann. Though impressive in position, built and gun-power, it got hit so hard and fast ... well, here's a Wikipedia photo of what it looked like after they grenaded the bedidJesus out of it, the side of the hill still riddled in pool-sized craters...

Note a part of it completely broken off. And on the photo below you can see the ceiling and how a whole crater collapsed after the roof was hit. 

It's rather spooky, full of noises, birds, critters, dripping constantly, some tunnels completely dark, some you can see through the entire building ... It seemed like a good idea for sure and their view is great. Their luck ... underestimating the enemy's range and aim, not so much...

We had two options of further ascending: To Kota ThirteenThirteen at the 1313m elevation, or all the way to Rombon, a little bit higher. By the time we made it to Kota, we were already so tired, Rombon looked like Everest. For some odd reason, the General was in a much worse shape than me for once - whether he was in pain and wouldn't tell me, or I've actually managed to get myself into such a good shape, I've surpassed him.

The view of Bovec and the valley are looovely, and this site is carved with trenches, supply channels and tiny fort chambers. As all war sites, it feels weird.

It's full of weird trees and in the trees a LOT of the damn dormice which kept bombarding me with shells of beech pods, playing in the branches above me all night.

As romantic as he is, G carved our initials in a logotype on the bench (TN), and then we returned down. As a rookie move, we didn't bring enough water with us - he needs a LOT and I don't really need much, so thankfully the descend was cool and smooth and we just brushed our teeth and had coffee from our little stove once we got back to the car, my theory there's always springs in these types of hills completely backfired. First lesson of the trip :D 

Next stop: Krn Lake (similar elevation, ironically.)

Break from a break :P

... Literally taking a short break from going on a break :D We've hiked and explored for four days, saw a shitload of magnificent sights, but then a massive storm front rolled in and we decided to drive home over the weekend to shower, wash our clothes, download the pics from the camera cards and kick back. Weather permitting, we take off come Monday again, south-wards this time. 

Am too tired to go into details now, but will, soon. If rainy, I'll tomorrow, promise.

Two idiots on top of Kota 1313

First light as seen from Kota 1313

Bog basins, a diving spot on Soča river... I think...

What remains of the Fort Hermann, an old post overlooking the Isonzo valley, blown up during the WWI.

Leaving Krn Lake

Foggy lake Bohinj at seven in the morning ...

“Wanna grab a bottle of wine and a blankie and find a tree to lie under, reading dirty poetry?”

Sometimes I don't even bother to flirt.

"Red or white?"
"Red, it needn't always be chill."
"I thought you didn't drink?"
"I'm not."

Aaah, the first time in AGES the General was forced to bushcraft :D And by bushcraft I mean we drove to my brother's estate where I offed to photograph a Medieval fest at a local castle and he had cushy dinner and drinks and conversations reclining in the cushy garden chairs, until late at night I joined them and he watched me set up out camp just off the cushy garden deck. So ... not exactly washed ashore in the jungle mangrove or Alaska. It was my standard setup - garbage bag base, foam, blankie, sleeping bag, mosquito net and the tarp. We were next to a small creek, so, dew galore. He didn't have the foam, and he rolled his blankie as a pillow, but by the sound of him, he fell asleep instantly. I slept much better with him near, and when I didn't, I listened to a hedgehog who came to snack on doggie biscuits one noisy crunchy biscuit at the time. (Brother's wife sets them out for it.) Half a moon was golden and the Mars was rising red.
           It was really very nice. I've gotten mostly used to it by now, the hard ground, the heightened sense of awareness, the fact you're completely wet by morning regardless of the tarp. Sex was so cute, because we tried really hard not to make noise, and kept rolling off our only foam mat, the dog occasionally lifting it's humongous head (they have a bullmastif, the nicest, cutest one I've ever met), to check what the heck is happening. Why are there strange people cotting in the garden? Why do they seem to be in an odd style of distress?.. :D

Taking the opportunity to end the 'trial run' by using the bathroom like a normal person, showering and brushing my teeth, G still slept for a few hours while the sun slowly got out and people got up, and had breakfast. (Yummy stuff, as they are amazing cooks. I ate soooo much ...) He was incredibly grumpy, 'broken' and stiff, telling everyone he will beat me later in the car for making him do this. Ahhhhh, my love my love my love, everyone knows you never do anything you don't want to do and sleeping in my tarp tent without foam mat next week, for a week, in the mountains, was your idea :D Z-Lite Therm-a-rest looking not so pricey now, is it? That's not cushy garden grass coming up, my sweet, that's pale rock and fast winds and mountain goats trying to eat out flippy floppies :D I can't fucking wait :D

Expansion arrival ...

... pleasure delaying :D

Carob

Still in heat wave. I'm coping a wee bit better; it's ACed where I work and the ride home is breezy, then I rest and go out late. Dog may be in rutting season, not sure, or she's just cranky. Drink a lot of water. And milk. General bought me a tiny rear view mirror for the bike. I am still unpleasantly clumsy and kind of a paranoid. Saw a wreckage of a car which got hit by a freight train the other day. One of the old cats on G's parents' farm was killed by a combined mower. One of my parents' dogs is sick from heat. It's BlowjobWeek for me, a week later than usual. I feel overall unpleasant and uneasy. 

That said, and supposedly it's not a brain tumor, my sense of smell has returned almost full fledged - after 30 odd years. MyMaja explained eating vegan, organic, raw, eco, bio, super fancy healthy food sans gluten, as I am these past two weeks to no fault of my own, causes the body to clean up and the senses to sharpen - mainly the sense of smell. It's absurd how much I am smelling. I didn't even know people can do that. I can smell wet trees as I pass them, car fresheners, drinks, bad stuff, flowers and coffee for miles - I can smell freaking apples if someone is eating them in the next room! ... On the minus, as it turns out, the left of my eyes is a lot worse off than I want it to be. I am still far better off regarding sight than my peers, it's still an almost flawless vision, however allowing light to come sharply though all those lenses all these years, has somewhat blurred the left. Not happy about that. I want to be a 40 year old sniper :P

Too tired to really read or write much, I do spend a lot of brain time in a loop of fan fiction or the like. I miss music. Overheard a good Otherside cover by two girls on the street, so I'm murmuring that a lot. Some lines of dialogue pop up from time to time, some conflicts, roof chases. I added a scene to 'Elf sex Crime' in which it is explained why Kay was the one asked to come help with the investigation - Spiff, accusing her of faking her indifference, remarks he was in on that meeting, he saw the letter and recognises her pen and handwriting: she once wrote to all elf kings on the land to draw attention to a slaver's market where an elf woman was being sold at, enabling the woman's prompt rescue. 

Also coined two lines, one about losing virginity orgasm ("Seventeen years of being curious exploded out of him...") and another about being in lust with someone in broader terms: I felt from time to time I put myself in disadvised situations just for the off chance of running into him. His body reacts every time I touch him, it swells - I cannot get enough of it. Nobody fucked like him. Nobody talked like him, nobody thought like him - nobody even looked like him. I was simultaneously terrified and all ovaries. 

Well, ye. I'm horny AF. It's too hot and I'm too tired and too leaky to do much about it except watch hentai and then near die from over-heating. Besides, I come home in late afternoon, by which time my lover's already left, and I leave very early, when he's only just fallen asleep. He hints at the end of the month, when we are supposed to have a fair hiking vacation in the mountains ... Right now it feels a thousand years away, anything can happen, but it certainly is something to mentally head towards.