Tag Archives: Slovenia

HIGH ATOP MONTE NERO, THE COLONEL WEPT – MAGIC OF KRN

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View from atop Krn looking northeast into the heart of the Julian Alps, Jezero Lake far below.

Over a hundred years after the tumult of the Great War, vestiges of the struggle remain in visible evidence around the 2245-meter-high mountain top of Krn – Monte Nero (Black Mountain) in Italian.  Strands of barbed wire twirl about on the slopes adding to the drama of the incredible views from the Adriatic Sea to the Italian Dolomites and into the heart of the Slovene Julian Alps.  Here on Krn and its surrounding ridges, mountain warfare on a harsh scale took place from mid-June 1915 through to the end of October 1917 when the Battle of Caporetto moved the unmovable front far to the west for the Italian Front’s last acts.

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ITALY IN SLOVENIA – NEW “Natural Borders” TO DEFEND

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Postcard shows new ‘natural borders’ added as a result of Italia irredenta,

It is easy to forget which ruins are from which war as you wander about in the Julian Alps.  Many trails have beginnings in one of the World Wars or in the events preceding or suceeding.  Many mule tracks still hiked on built by either Italian or Austro-Hungarian military engineers.  Vršic Pass became a main road only during the First War. The cost of hundreds of Russian prisoners of war dying during in its construction by some ten thousand POWs. The Julians were set to become Italy’s new “natural borders” with the east.

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KARAVANKE – FORGOTTEN MOUNTAINS OF SLOVENIA

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Mountain haze shared with cows atop Dovška Baba with Visoki Kurjek ahead on the Karavanke crest

The geography of Slovenia’s greatest mountain range, the Julian Alps is a confused mess. Mapmakers are much more at home with the Karavanke.  This chain extends for about 75 miles – 120 kilometers – in a west to east fashion geographically separating the Drava and Sava river valleys.  They form a border between Slovenia and Austria. The Karawanke continue the function of the Carnic Alps separating Italy and Austria further to the west.  As a border, the Karawanke have served that purpose since at least Roman times.

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HOW TO CLIMB TRIGLAV IN ONE DAY – OR NOT

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Triglav rising with the Krma valley on the left and the Kot in the middle. Peak to Triglav’s left is Rjavina. View is from Jerebikovec.

Hiking route taken on my one day “climb” of Triglav – route is in light green.

There are not many countries thinking enough of their mountains to emblazon them on their national flag. Slovenia is an exception. Triglav, the highest, represents the strength of the Slovene soul. On a summer weekend, the goal of every Slovene seems a whack on the ass – the reward for a climb of Triglav. “Thank you sir. May I have another!” Afterall, Milan Kucan, the first president of Slovenia said, “It is the obligation of every Slovene to climb the mountain at least once in one’s lifetime.

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SOMETIMES, HIGHEST IS NOT BEST – JEREBIKOVEC AND DEBELA PEČ

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Rjavinja, Triglav and Skrlatica from Jerebikovec.

Slovenes love mountains. They love them so much they put one on their flag – Triglav. Triglav is all and good. If not for the fact that everyone wants to climb it, Triglav is still a pretty neat peak. But there are so many other peaks in Slovenia, just as fascinating with views as good. Sometimes, the best views are not off the highest peak, but of the highest peak. Here are two such cases, Jerebikovec and Debela peč. We have already seen other cases further west in the Julians.

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