Climbing Mt. Prisojnik

Prisojnik was one of the mountains in the Julian Alps that I hadn't conquered yet, so when I was deciding where to go on a warm October Saturday, it wasn't hard to choose. There are at least five trails leading to the top, most of them quite demanding, and to satisfy my climbing aspirations I chose the Kopiščar route (Kopiščarjeva pot). My friend Sandi had no objections to my selection and off we went.
Setting off from the Erjavec hut through a larch forest we approached the north face of Prisojnik.

Soon we reached the rock face and started to ascend quickly. The first difficult section was soon behind us.

And then we saw her. The pagan girl. Staring into the valley.

By that time the sun rose high enough to illuminate the peaks on the other side of Vršič pass: Mojstrovka.

Higher up there was another demanding stretch of the route, and a few mountaineers were already there.

Steel rope and lots of iron pegs helped us climb.
Iridescent clouds above us.

We changed places all the time to be able to shoot up and down.

Photo by Sandi Ražman

And then there it was, right above us - the mighty Front Window (haha, funny translation for Prednje okno).

One look back towards the valley before we began the last ascent to the big hole.


The narrow and very steep ravine was hard to negotiate but at least there wasn't any snow.

The very wide view from the bottom of the huge cavern.

Of course, the only way up and out is to climb. :)

And so we climbed.

And on the other side: the sun! Looking back into the hole we stripped one more layer of clothing.

The ridge trail to the top which looked deceptively close. Razor and Triglav in the background.


Jalovec and Mangart behind us.

And finally at the top of Prisojnik at 2547 meters! The views were fantastic: from Škrlatica to Triglav and beyond.

The Kamnik Alps in the distance.

Beautiful Jalovec.

Vršič.

Ah, the clouds...

Because Sandi had to be somewhere before dusk, we chose the fastest route to return to Vršič, the south trail. It was very warm and sunny and Razor was smiling at us the whole time.

Only a few larches were really yellow. The prime time is yet to come.

Prisojnik shows a completely different face from the south: friendlier and more approachable.

Back at the car we couldn't help but observe that some mountains look pretty much unconquerable from afar, for mortals anyway. Did we really climb that almost vertical rock wall? :)

As usual I took loads of photos and it's impossible to cram them all into one post. But if you're interested (or just bored/feeling masochistic :), look at them here. Or have a look at Sandi's photos.

In the mountains above Bohinj

We'd been talking about organizing a multi-day hike into the mountains for some time in our photo club and finally, seven members spent a glorious weekend in the Julian Alps. Three of us hiked to Planina Viševnik on Saturday afternoon, just in time to catch the last sun rays illuminating the cabins.


Early next morning four more friends arrived from Planina Blato, and at the same time we could hear extremely loud and angry roaring ... by a bear! The beast was somewhere quite close! The views almost made me forget about it for a few seconds. ;)

The fog in the valley kept rising, but it never reached us.

Mountains to the east.

Triglav.

After a hearty breakfast we finally set off towards our goal of the day: Mala Tičarica.

The hike across the woods and pastures was very pleasant, especially when we didn't hear the bear's howling any more. :)

Planina Ovčarija.

At the foot of Mala Tičarica.

Mahavšček was enveloped in clouds.

Views from the top of Mala Tičarica (2071 meters) to the west. Double Triglav Lake below.

Views to the north: Veliko Špičje range, Triglav Lakes Valley, Zelnarica, Kanjavec.

Nice clouds!

We were too early for the truly golden larches, but that's just a convenient excuse to go back next weekend. :)
On Monday morning the weather turned sour, cold and windy with promises of rain, so we headed back to the valley. It was fun and hopefully it won't take another two years before we organize something like this again. ;)

More photos here.