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.