19 August 2009

Triglav in one day

As already posted, I took a day off in late July to get some fresh mountain air and stretch my legs. And my legs got stretched alright! :)
Ever since my teenage years I've wanted to climb Triglav via the Plemenice route. It's supposed to be one of the most demanding, precipitous and beautiful climbing routes in Slovenia as far as marked trails go.
It was a long day. After only 1.5 hours of sleep (yes, I was nervous and eager to go!) my brother and I set off at 3.30 a.m., parked the car in the Vrata valley and started hiking towards Luknja col at about 5 a.m. The sun slowly rose from behind the horizon and illuminated the peaks above us.

After gruelling two hours on scree this view of the Zadnjica valley on the other side opened up from Luknja.

Everybody had a short break to drink some water, put away the hiking poles and put on a helmet. Then the fun began.

Climbing! Yeah! Unfortunately there was a huge group in front of us, which meant a lot of waiting.

We overtook them at the first opportunity and enjoyed the climbing. We were gaining altitude fast. There is Luknja right below us.

My brother took photos, too. :)

It was really exhilarating, but at the same time, a word of caution - this is not a route for the faint-hearted. ;)

Every now and then the trail levelled out a bit and we had a chance to catch some breath and enjoy the views.

More climbing and more people on the trail.

All along the way we had breathtaking views. This is the Vrata valley below and Triglav in the background with its famous north face.


After breakfast on a grassy patch among the rocks we had to tackle a snow-covered slope. It was a bit slippery but the snow was soft and there was no need for crampons and an ice-axe.

Soon we reached the rock face again.


On the last stretch of the climb.

My brother had an advantage over most climbers with his long legs. :)))

At the top it's customary for everybody who's climbed Triglav for the first time to be 'baptized' with a length of rope.

The Kredarica-Triglav trail resembles a pilgrimage. Always crowded. :( The fog that rolled in from the south prevented us to see the precipice on one side of the ridge (which is good for those with vertigo :)).

Looking down towards Kredarica and Stanič huts as well as what is left of the Triglav glacier.


Jota - potato and cabbage soup - at Kredarica was delicious!

Our legs already hurt but we still had a difficult descent in front of us.

Climbing down is not as much fun as climbing up.

A few more snow patches to cross.

There are many reports of numerous ibexes around Triglav. We saw quite a few ...

... even cornered one with another group of hikers going up. The ibex didn't seem bothered at all, it just nibbled at grass, looking at us all the time, and then it leapt across some rocks and out of our way. Of course I had my wide lens on. :(

With lots of vertical meters to cover and knees that were already killing me, my will to take photos somewhat dwindled.

No more sun for us during the last part of the descent. This is one of the few stretches of the trail where you don't have to climb or crawl. ;)

What more can I say? A truly glorious day. And a total coincidence - while descending towards Kredarica I ran into fellow blogger Sandi! :)
More photos here.
Photos of me were taken by my brother Peter.

9 comments:

Jaka said...

Luštno, jaz bom s tem vzponom še malo počakal. Preveč ljudi je tam gor.

andrej said...

huh, nice bbA. I wish I was Chuck Norris, if only for a day :-)

Pika said...

Ana, hvala za čudovit opis poti, po kateri sama definitivno ne bom nikoli šla. Pa ne zaradi gužve (ta ti res kar zmanjša užitke, kaj?), ampak ker enostavno mislim, da moraš biti kondicijsko ful pripravljen. Mi "vikend" rekreativci (no ja, kakšen fitnes že pade med tednom), smo pa tu malo preveč... saj veš! Razgled je res fantastičen. Žal mi je, da ledenik tako izginja; a je tako z vsemi ledeniki. To bomo še enkrat drago plačali (že plačujemo!). Ti moram povedat, da grem po tvoji zaslugi kmalu na Veliko planino. Hudiča, upam, da ne bom še na Triglav lezla po tej poti!

Ana Pogačar said...

Jaka, se bojim, da bo septembra še več ljudi. :( Sicer pa čez Plemenice niti ni bilo tako hudo, samo z vrha do Kredarice je bila kar procesija.

Andrej, be careful what you wish for. ;)

Pika, hvala, z Velike planine bo pa kakšno poročilo, a ne? :)

Sandi said...

Noro, čista poezija. Pohvale, tako za (as usual) odlične fotke, kot vzpon. Po videnem sta tudi vidva uživala na polno. Divji svet se odpira in drami naša čutila. Ahh, ni kaj, lepe so te naše skale! Kar obnemiš ob pogledu na mogočno Sfingo, ki se bohoti s svojimi previsi in daje občutek samote.

Po drugi strani me je kar zmrazilo ob pogledu na vso to gužvo v vstopu plezalnega dela poti. Človeka kar mine. Ampak kaj, ko je to že stalnica nedeljskih procesij na očaka in z LEPIM ima bore malo skupnega.

A si vse panoramske fotkala s Pelengom? Imam občutek da ne, zato me zanima, kaj za en arzenal tovoriš s seboj.

He he, moram povedati, da me je prijetno presenetilo to najino nepričakovano snidenje. Če se bi menila, se ne bi mogla tako dobro zmenit ;)

Lp, S.

P.S.: A novi kucelj je že nagledan?

Ana Pogačar said...

Hvala, Sandi! :) Jah, res sva uživala, in zadnjih 10 let se vsako leto ob zaključku kopne sezone tolčem po glavi, zakaj nisem šla večkrat v gore. Včasih je bilo drugače, zdaj pa je časa vedno manj. No, jesen bi letos res rada bolj izkoristila, nagledanih kucljev pa je, kolikor hočeš. :))) Kamniške dosti bolj poznam, ampak me vseeno mika, da bi ponovila prečenje čez vse vrhove med recimo Kamniškim sedlom in Krvavcem. Fantastična tura, pa nimam je še pofotkane. :) Julijci so pa itak čisto premalo raziskano področje zame, zato je primernih kotičkov, ki bi jih rada osvojila, ogromno. Predvsem pa držim pesti za lepo jesensko vreme!

Aja, glede objektiva: saj se kar vidi, katere fotke so narejene s Pelengom, a se ne? Drugače pa imam še Sigmo 10-20 in Tamrona 18-200.

Sandi said...

He he, se vidi, nič bat! Ob prvi priložnosti te moram malo izprašati kako se Peleng dejansko obnese (po videnem, se je izkazal). Se zanimam za nakup.

Tudi sam upam, da bo vreme OK, ter da se bo dalo čimveč v gore zahajat. Sicer me že en čas mika, da bi opravil prečenje Kamniških v enem kosu :)

Če ti čas dopušča in če se ti bo zaluštalo, se oglasi, saj tudi ta vikend ne bom ostal križem nog ;) Kam točno, še ne vem.

Lp.

Aleš said...

Ker vem, koliko volje in truda moraš vložiti v to, da v hribih narediš tako dobre fotke, kot so predstavljene v tej objavi, lahko rečem le kapo dol.
Pri meni včasih pride dan, ko tovorim fotografsko opremo v hribe, pa ne naredim niti ene fotke. Enostavno se mi včasih ne da. Spet drugič prinesem domov tudi 500 fotk. Čudna je tale fotografska. Pa da ne rečem, kako včasih ljudje, tudi sopotniki, čudno gledajo, ko greš na trebuh, da ujameš motiv in ko vsaj 30 krat vzameš kramo iz nahrbtnika ali snameš z vratu.

Ana Pogačar said...

Sandi, maš mail. :)

Aleš, hvala. Tukaj je bilo tako, da sem bila nad turo navdušena, nad fotkami pa malo manj, saj se mi je zdelo, da ne prikažejo tistega, kar sem v resnici doživela. Potem sem malo premišljevala in prišla do spoznanja, da je tako najbrž velikokrat, sploh v tako izrednih pogojih, kot jih nudi plezarija. Tisto glede tovorjenja opreme in na koncu nobene fotke pa zame velja samo, kadar grem na kakšne piknike, žurke in podobno, ko ne naredim niti ene fotke. :)) Pri pokrajini se mi to še ni zgodilo, ampak nikoli ne reci nikoli. Ja, v gorah se veliko ustavljam in fotkam, zato zadnje čase raje hodim sama ali s takimi, ki razumejo morebitno valjanje po trebuhu :) in so tudi sami fotografi. Pa smo vsi zadovoljni. :))