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.
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| 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.)
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