Me and my dad decided to go up to Bohinj and climb at least one of the mountain peaks of the Julian Alps surrounding the lake. We planned to stay overnight on the mountain lodge Komna in order to be able to visit one mountain peak the first day and another one the next day so I prepared my backpack with a couple of items to help me on the way. I packed some clothes, some food and of course something to drink since I find it very important to stay hydrated on long trips.
So the following day me and my dad start off early in the morning. We travel to Bohinj and we get there so early that there was no one there yet to charge us for parking at the lodge. So anyway we take our backpacks out of the car and take off towards the first checkpoint the mountain lodge Komna somewhere at 1520m way up there on the mountain.
It took us nearly 2 hours to reach the lodge Komna up on the mountain. On the way I drank all the tea that I have prepared for my self so I was eager to replenish my supplies before heading off towards the top of a mountain. I also ordered some chocolate pancakes to build up some strength as I did not want to get hungry on the way there.
There are a couple of mountain peaks to chose from and neither of us made any plans as to which one we would visit first. Somehow we concluded that Bogatin would be the mountain we would visit that day.
So we slowly start to head off towards the mountain Bogatin. It was really pleasant as the wind was blowing a bit so it was not hot at all and I was wearing a sweatshirt.
When I finally came up on the mountain at 1977 m and I gazed upon the scenery that surrounded me I was really amazed. There was this silence up there that I have encountered for the very first time since everywhere I have been to there had to be some noise but up here only the wind that was blowing faintly made any noise at all and I thought to myself how have I ignored this beauty for so long and this rock formation that has been around here for millions of years and is going to stay here for millions more.
I felt so empowered for some reason up there. For one I proved to myself that I am capable of a couple hours uphill hike so all those exercises that I do daily sure did there thing.
Up here only grass could grow and for some reason I immediately remembered that valley where we live and how we need to cultivate our backyards and fight every type of pest each and every summer but up here some of the mountain tops were already barren. I enjoyed gazing upon that line where no greenery was able to take hold while the city I imagined if it was abandoned for some reason all buildings would disappear in a couple of centuries and the area would become covered in grasslands and trees but this place up here on the mountain would stay the same and it would retain all its beauty.
I built quite an appetite and when we came back down to Komna I immediately ordered some mountain dew. I was also very exhausted as was my dad and afterwards both of us had a beer and gazed down upon the lake.
Up on Komna they even have an WiFi but of course I did not bring my laptop as it is 4 years old and it is about 5 pounds heavy with all the equipment so that was out of the question and since I do not have one of those smart mobile phones I was not able to connect to the internet so the rest of my evening nothing much went on about at Komna worth mentioning. I am a bit behind the times regarding technology but I saw someone using one of those small laptops and he said that the internet connection was fast enough. Maybe next time I visit those mountains I may already have something more portable and light to be able to take with me so that when I retire for the night at Komna I am going to surf the net.
Unfortunately the for us the next day my dad realized that the blister he got during the hike was too much for him to continue hiking up another mountain. He insisted on wearing some sturdy leather hiking boots that he never wore before and he had just one pair of socks so that apparently was not to be enough not to cause blistering. On the other hand I was just wearing sneakers. While I noticed some guy wearing those rubber clog boots called crocs that have become so popular in the recent years that I felt were the worst possible thing to wear on a hiking trip.
So after a healthy breakfast we headed back home but this time we took the longer route. On the way up to Komna we took the short and easy trail but now we wanted to see the Black lake so we had to take the longer and more difficult track. Indeed at times we had to grip to some steel cable but the scenery was awesome so I took a few pictures with my mobile phone and one of these pictures I am still using as a wallpaper for my mobile phone.
So when we finally reached the lake the surface was of course so calm since it is sitting there in the valley and the water really did seem black come to think of it now. So of course I would have done anything to go in and have a dip but it is forbidden as all mountain lakes are but of course laws are meant to be broken but we were too late and too many people were already making their way up to the mountain so it was out of the question.
There was another chance for me to have a swim though a little bit further down the trail at Slap Savica. That area is very much secluded and it seems like no one goes there since it is somewhat of the main track and being a running water it is much cooler than in the lake and as well being more dangerous so I did not have a dip but I concluded that if any where this would be the place to try. Yet in spite of it being a running water I happened to notice that when I drank the water from it that there was something very small swimming in it.
I had a really nice time and I got to see a part of Slovenia that I have not seen yet. It is nice to remember some times what a beautiful place Slovenia is and on top of that no one charged us for the parking!
