30 January 2012

Christmas midnight mass on Velika planina

For those who have been waiting for this post: better late than never, they say. :)

After two years of really bad rainy weather for Christmas I was finally happy to hear a nice weather forecast for December 24, so I headed up the mountain in the evening to take photos of an extraordinary event that only takes places once a year - on the Christmas eve. The procession of people hiking to the Velika planina chapel with torches and flashlights is a sight you don't get to see very often, religious or not.

Procession of people hiking with torches to the Velika planina chapel for the Christmas midnight mass

Procession of people hiking with torches to the Velika planina chapel for the Christmas midnight mass

Procession of people hiking with torches to the Velika planina chapel for the Christmas midnight mass

Velika planina chapel at the Christmas midnight mass

Velika planina chapel at the Christmas midnight mass

Procession of people hiking with torches from the Velika planina chapel after the Christmas midnight mass; fireworks at the chapel

Procession of people hiking with torches to the Velika planina chapel for the Christmas midnight mass

After everybody was gone, I climbed the ridge overlooking the valley and took a few photos of Kamnik, Mengeš and Ljubljana in the mist below.
Views from Velika planina into the valley: towns of Kamnik, Mengeš, Trzin, and Ljubljana in the background

An hour later the chapel was deserted again.
Velika planina chapel after the Christmas midnight mass, after everybody was gone.

15 January 2012

Views from Stari grad on a windy January afternoon

I climbed Stari grad above Kamnik yesterday after a long abstinence from any hiking. It felt so good! Due to the cold and windy weather my fingers almost froze off while I was taking photos at the top, but the views made up for it.

Is this winter?? Where is the snow? Come on, it's the middle of January. I want snow!
Path through the woods to the top of Stari grad

This is the view from the top towards the Kamnik Alps:
View towards the Kamnik Alps from the Stari grad hill

Kamnik:
Views of Kamnik

You can sort of see my house from here. :)
Kamnik

My favorite "training" hill, Kamniški vrh, was glowing red in the late afternoon light:
View towards the Kamnik Alps from the Stari grad hill; Kamniški vrh in the foreground

Mt. Brana and Mt. Planjava, as well as the clouds, turned orange-pink as the sunset was approaching.
View towards the Kamnik Alps (Mt. Brana and Mt. Planjava) from the Stari grad hill

Then the sun was almost gone:
View towards the Kamnik Alps from the Stari grad hill

Mt. Triglav and the Julian Alps in the distance:
Mt. Triglav in the distance

Stari grad castle ruins and the after sunset sky:
Stari grad castle after sunset

Even after running all the way down the steep trail back to Kamnik my fingers didn't thaw. I really need to bring my gloves next time. :)

Oh, and all these photos were taken with my new compact camera, Canon Powershot S100, fitted with a polarizing filter. Around 200 grams altogether, heh. It was strange to go on a hike with so little weight. :)