It is time for a new story from the past, though this pace of one fresh story and one from the past will come under great temptation, given the current (COVID-19) circumstances. As if this has not been clear to us by now, with this ban on leaving the place of residence the brilliance of hundreds of our small municipalities and cities truly is striking. It turns out that now when you can’t go anywhere, you realize that this division doesn’t really have any purpose (to us, ordinary citizens) – we have a very large number of cities/municipalities where you can’t walk 10 kilometers in a circle because, well, there aren’t that many kilometers in a city/municipality 😁.
But since this (thankfully) is not a blog about politics, and is about wonderful places we can’t get to right now, today’s post will be dedicated to one great and not technically demanding climb in the Julian Alps – to the top of Krn (2244 m).
This is one of those peaks you see from the parking lot, and then after two hours of hiking you realize the meaning of the term optical illusion – you’re not on top yet, but somehow you see the summit all the timeJ. We have been to this summit several times, combining it in a circular tour. Usually at the ascent we pass by the lake Lužnica (1801 m), then turn to the nearby Vrh nad Peski (2176 m) and across Batognica (2164 m) head to the summit of Krn. We will also insert some pictures of this route (like the beautiful lake Lužnica), although this is not the route we took on this last trip to Krn.
You can, of course, go the other way around, but there are also convenient options from the direction of lake Krn (1391 m) or longer tours from the valley, for example via Krnčica (2142 m) from some of the villages along the Tolmin-Bovec road. The western part of the Julian Alps may not be so famous and popular to hikers in Croatia, but it is a really beautiful area. After all, Soča Valley is located here, one of the most beautiful rivers in our part of the continent. So, there are other kinds of beautiful nature to see if you are not a fan of the mountains (for example, there is a hundred-meter waterfall Boka, 106 meters long, located at 608 masl on the Tolmin-Bovec road). In this area rafting is popular in the summer, as well as skiing in the winter at the ski resorts of Bovec-Sella Nevea. There are also some fantastic routes from Sella Nevea and the nearby Pecol plateau to the Italian part of the Julian Alps – personally, my favorites are Montaž and Viš and the ridge between them, then Mangart (on both sides of the border) or Kanin (also on both sides of the border) with the associated ridges. Kanin is also approachable by the beautiful via feratta paths Divisione Julia and Rosalba Grasselli. There are a great number of mountains in this circle – maybe one of the most powerful is Jalovec (2645 m) which stands out from the Trenta valley and, also one of the most interesting climbs is Bavški Grintavec. Otherwise, this area is an opportunity for rock climbing as there are numberless of rigged and natural directions in the rock and you can try some fantastic via ferrata paths and free routes in the rocks of the Italian parts of these mountains. I have to mention that the distances are really big here – a lot of the climbs start at 500-600 meters above sea level and mountains that may not have some pedigree regarding their height, are actually really demanding and require a lot of condition and good form, especially if you like round tours like we do.
Let’s return to Krn. We started from the mountain Kuhinja (1002 m) which can be reached by the main Tolmin-Kobarid road from which you have to turn to the village of Kamno, and personally this is my favorite approach. We took our full winter gear because, despite the lack of snow and the gentle nature of this mountain, the southern slopes often become icy surfaces in the winter under the influence of melting and large temperature changes, and the transitions from snow to pure ice are unpredictable and very dangerous.
Also, at the saddle crossing to Batognica great concentration is required for a very short part of the trail, since this part is extremely exposed in winter and every time we passed there we were greeted by pure ice on the worst possible section – so you need to be smart and have crampons on your feet and ice axe in your hands!
We were not in a bad shape, but also not in a very good one either. That fact became obvious as we noticed along the way that some older and seemingly retired (but lean and in shape) touring skiers from Italy were climbing the summit for the second time (yes, you read that properly). As we tried to get to the top for the first time, they have already passed us, reached the top, skied down (though not all the way to the parking lot but only to the snow line) and climbed again, chatting casually in Italian, and once again passed us 😅. We accepted that we are miserable and lame without much debate and excuse 😏. Continuing to the summit we put crampons on just as a precaution, although it was not really necessary and there was no need for ice axes. What awaited us was marvelous as always – if this is not one of the best views from the summit, then I don’t know what is.
After enjoying the summit, taking photos and having a short meal we concluded that it wa enough for today so we descended through the short ravine directly into the parking lot, quite tired but satisfied.
These climbs always fill us with energy and, of course, we start with the usual conversation of where will we go next weekend. I know it will seem like I’m exaggerating how much I like this region but for a number years we were vacationing a couple of days in Bovec. We would always come home with burnt faces and tired bodies, but filled with energy and mountains in our heads and cameras 😊. A small vacation in this area really pays off to all those who love the mountains and various outdoor activities – there are endless possibilities and everyone can find something for themselves.
The next story was supposed to be something fresh, but if I don’t plan for you to read about our city streets, books we read and movies we watched within our four walls, I think it is better to remember some of the other mountains that conquered us like this one and the ones before…