I don’t know why we avoided to climb Mt. Razor (2601 m) for so long. From the first mention that we could climb Razor, we climbed most of the ten highest peaks of the Julian Alps, with an addition to forty others – maybe even more. Every time we were in the area we said to ourselves “we have to go to Razor” and then we would not go for some reason or other. This was really stupid because we consider these mountains our home and whenever we can we spend days (and nights) there. We would always comment how far and difficult it seemed to us, how we have to be really prepared and other blah blah blah unconvincing stories of people who have already wandered thousands of miles in the mountains and who occasionally talk nonsense😊.
Well, this time we did a few good ascents during the summer and we could no longer, accidentally or intentionally, avoid that mountain. We were aiming for one beautiful, hot, summer day so the adventure could begin! Unlike usual, we did not plan a completely circular route. We decided to start from the Vrata valley (1015 m), go in the direction of Luknja pass (1758 m) and then turn right in the direction of Mt. Bovški Gamsovac (on the left there is a fantastic ascent along the path called Plemenice which leads to Triglav, been there-done that 😁) and back through Sovatna couloir. To be clearer, we chose the path between Mt. Stenar and Mt. Bovški Gamsovac. All this due to the expected high distance of about 25 km and the total altitude difference of about 1900-2000 meters of ascent and descent accordingly! In the end, it turned out to be a bad decision, because we were in really good shape that summet and we did everything in ten hours without any problems, so we could have burdened ourselves a little more.
Every time we are in the Vrata valley, apart from taking pictures near a large piton and carabiner, I always get chills when I see the north face of Triglav. It’s not just because it’s so imposing in both summer and winter, but because I don’t remember looking at that face without having a fantastic day ahead of me. With the usual crowd for this time of year we set off from the parking lot towards our path. Most people separated at the crossroads for Triglav; most often towards the trails Prag and Tomniškova (which we also hiked in the previous ascents to Triglav).
This part is known for a large number of ibexes, but today we saw only one – a beautiful, large male who did not care too much for our camera and cell phone clicking. They are the stars of this region and are used to attracting a lot of attention – when you are lucky enough to meet them along the way.
We continued on a well visible and marked trail and along the way discussed why we postponed this ascent, when we will go back to Triglav (it turned out in ten days since then) and our usual conclusion that we should hike more often. It always makes me laugh – we don’t even start the hike and I open the topic of our too rare hiking trips. This, of course, borders on insanity because we spend all our free time hiking or being outdoors. She said that I am getting on her nerves and that we needed to change careers into those of professional mountaineers and so we continued on to Pogačnik’s mountain hut (2050 m), laughing and in good spirits. We stopped there for the first short break. Along the way, in addition to the wonderful views of the surrounding mountains, we passed by the Kriško lakes – as if it wasn’t beautiful enough without them.
After a short break we continued to the summit. The path was without any special features, except that (as always) we needed to be careful and use a helmet because of a really loose rocks all around.
Towards the very end, an iron ladder still needs to be climbed to reach the summit. You can secure yourself by attaching into an iron cable, but it may be needed more going downwards than upwards.
On mountain tops like this, when you are greeted by a beautiful day and few people, you can only enjoy. The view was absolutely amazing so we took photos in all directions. We watched the a map and checked our knowledge of the surrounding peaks and valleys. We celebrated as if we were on Mont Blanc, considering how long it took us to decide to climb this mountain 😄. With mountain peaks that don’t have a big plateau at the top, it’s really a wonderful feeling when you squeeze into a small section and around you are only the verticals of scattered rocks and dizzying views down. You are full of pride as how you dragged yourself to the top😊.
Through our descent, we mostly enjoyed the northern faces of Triglav, Bovški Gamsovac and Pihavec. We returned back to the valley where some cold beers and a box of Domaćica cookies waited for us in our car. It’s been a really long time since we’ve been here, but as I write this I still remember many details from the climb. I can freely say that this is one of those climbs with which I will surely bore people in conversations “when we were at Razor…” 😅. What awaits us next is Triglav – we use good fitness level that summer to make some great climbs, but more about that in some future stories…