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SUMMITS
SUMMIT Nº2 : TRIGLAV (SLOVENIA)
SLOVENIA
TRIGLAV
22 / 08 / 2017
ALTITUDE
2.864 m
ALBERT ENGUIX AND ANDREU LÓPEZ
DIFFICULTY LEVEL
MEDIUM
CHRONICLE
Someone one day told me that I expressed myself a lot in terms of PROJECT and he was right. The “100 Summits” was a project that began at the end of 2014, the Top Summits of the World project was born at the beginning of 2016 in Tenerife…for me, a project is synonymous with illusion, the desire to carry out and undertake something, For me it is important and key to live surrounded by projects. The Top Summits of the World project is incipient, young and just beginning to take its first steps. It is a very ambitious project that, as if it were a 2-in-1 project, combines traveling with hiking, but not just any hiking, but high altitude, and it aims to reach the highest summit of all the countries on the planet.
Slovenia and Triglav take over from Teide, roof of Spain. The Republic of Slovenia is a Central European country and since 2004 a Member State of the European Union bordering Italy in the west, the Adriatic Sea in the southwest, Croatia in the south and east, Hungary in the northeast and with Austria in the north. The country is small in population (nearly more than 2 million people) and in size (20,771 km² which is less than the 32,108 km² of, for example, Catalonia) and its capital is beautiful Ljubljana with a population of less than 300,000 inhabitants. .
An independent country since 1991 when it separated from Yugoslavia, Slovenia is a country that more than half of its surface is covered by forest, being the third most forested country in Europe, behind Finland and Sweden. Along with its abundant forests, in EsLOVEnia, the only country in the world that contains the word love (LOVE) implicitly, we find mountains of relevance such as the Julian Alps, of which the highest mountain is Triglav (2,864 meters). The Triglav is the symbol of the country since its mountain is represented on the nation’s shield and it is for the Slovenes, the equivalent of going to Mecca for the Muslims. In Slovenia there is a saying that every citizen has to climb this mountain range at least once in their life.
Albert Enguix, who had already been an adventure partner in Tenerife and on Teide, repeats and we decided to make the trip a total adventure since we left Barcelona with my Ford Focus without any reservations, except for the Domo Planika Refuge, which will be essential for us the ascent to Triglav. The exit from Catalonia is somewhat complicated by the existing control servers on the border and the fact is that the day before a tragedy devastated Barcelona when terrorist attacks were perpetrated in the middle of Rambla. This makes us arrive late in Nice, where our mutual Polish friend Daria Wiecka is waiting for us. She is a great traveler and passionate about the mountains and listens with great interest to our plans for the imminent future in Slovenia. We took advantage of the meeting to weave new projects, both of us yelled at completing the GR-20 trail in Córcega (one of the most demanding treks in Europe) and we talked about going head-on in the summer of next year 2018.
Getting to Slovenia takes us 2 days by car and about 1,800 kilometers on tires. After the visit to Daria we have to cross the north of Italy and we take advantage of the journey to visit and get to know new cities as well as enjoy a good pizza and acquire future reserves of pasta. We arrived late at our Slovenian accommodation, it is an accommodation specialized in sports since around it is full of sports possibilities. We have dinner and chat a bit with Albert while we go over the program for the following day, which will be quite busy and very demanding.
We leave early from the Kovinarska Koca car park (890 meters) and take the first steps among very leafy forests and abundant vegetation, we really like the environment. We are gaining height and as we progress along the route it converges with the other trails and very soon we become aware of the importance of the summit for the country and it is that we find a lot of people and all kinds of age groups with hikers over 70 years of age and others under 10 years of age.
There is a very lively, happy atmosphere… and it is obvious in the atmosphere that Triglav is a matter of national pride. We let ourselves be carried away by the environment and we began to interact with the locals who are very friendly people… let’s make friends with a family that in our last days of stay in the country would welcome us to their residence on the coast of Piran (Slovenia is 15 km from coast). We eat with them in a mountain refuge that is located at an altitude of 1,500 meters and we see how good the Slovenian soups are and that to combat the cold and cold winter they have to be a great ally.
We do not entertain ourselves excessively with the gastronomic stop since there is still a lot of the program to complete; specifically more than 900 meters of positive difference in altitude until our next objective of the day that is not the last. The ascent to the Planika Dome Refuge at 2,444 meters presents a steep slope and is demanding, although the beautiful landscapes that surround us make for temporary effort and around 5:00 p.m. to the final ascent to Triglav and we leave the backpacks taking with us only a little warm clothing and liquid.
We love the section between the Planika Dome Refuge and Triglav and we had a great time. Multiple steps equipped with chains (there are those who use a harness but we don’t consider it necessary), steep slopes and quite aerial sections as well as a brutal landscape on both sides of our eyes. The journey to the summit is full of people coming from routes other than ours, specifically the one coming from the Valentina Stanica Dome Refuge. We went up a long ladder and began to see the summit of Triglav… a few more meters and the characteristic metallic house with the Slovenian flag appeared before our eyes. We are at an altitude of 2,864 meters, the ceiling of Slovenia and this means that we can already consider ourselves Slovenian. As a curiosity, at the top of the summit and during the summer season you can find a drink and if the day is hot it will seem like a gift and even cheap to pay 5 euros for a fresh Coca Cola at 2,864 meters high.
Slovenia is a great little country. Baptisms like “little Switzerland” are not great for this country of people with a cheerful and hospitable character. In Slovenia, among others, you can enjoy the beautiful capital Ljubljana and randomly lose yourself in its lively streets (in the summer season), Bled (a tourist spot in the country with the lake that has the wishing bell in its old medium), of the Postojna caves and their majestic calcareous concretions (32 million visits in total), of practicing adventure sports and rafting down the Tronco river in Bovec as well as taking advantage of the stay in Triglav and discovering Lake Bohinj (the largest and spectacular in Slovenia) and take advantage of the multiples available in the area.
GALLERY
