Yep. My clumsy ass made it up to the top of a mountain…and it was magnificent.

Nestled in the center of the Julian Alps, Triglav is the highest mountain peak in Slovenia. At 2864m (9,395 ft) it is the crowning glory of Triglav National Park, Slovenia’s only national park. Triglav is a significant symbol of the Slovene Nation. A depiction of the white mountain with “triglav” (meaning three heads) comprises the Slovenian coat of arms and appears on the Slovenian flag. Although the origins of this name are uncertain, it is thought that an ancient Slavic deity was supposed to have a throne atop the mountain. Or it could just be that mountain appears to have three peaks when viewed from the south-east side. Either way, Triglav is impressive.

Slovenians are naturally very outdoorsy people. They are more in touch with “the nature” than anyone I’ve ever met. Therefore, it came as no surprise when I learned that many Slovenians believe that every true Slovenian must summit Triglav in their lifetime. It is thought of as a patriotic duty, and a rite of passage – whole villages will gather together to make the journey up to the summit.

My husband Matt and I learned of this tradition during our trip to Slovenia in 2016, and we were excited to take part. We vowed: when we return to Slovenia, we WILL summit Triglav! Luckily, this summer, we got our opportunity. We planned a trip to Slovenia this July to take Matt’s mom and sister to the “homeland” to visit relatives. So this was it, it was going to happen! The three Pogos (Matt, his sister Dee, and I) were going to summit the three-headed mountain.

Here we go!

After lots of research, I decided to book a guide for a two-day climb to Triglav, via the Krma valley route. I hired our guide – Miha Habjan, through Explore-Share and I can’t recommend them enough! Miha was VERY experienced – a certified international mountain guide, holding the prestigious UIAGM/IFMGA certification. I had no idea how intense this type of training was. Aspiring guides have to have years of experience in mountain ascents/descents and climbing before they can even BEGIN training, which can take from 3-5 years to complete. Needless to say – we were in good hands.

If you are a hiker, you might be thinking, a guide? Really? Aren’t you being a bit “extra” about this? After all, the peak is less than 10,000 ft…that’s peanuts if you are from Colorado. I must say though, it was VERY important to hire a guide – and we certainly couldn’t have done it without our guide Miha. The trail is rocky, steep, treacherous and very easy to lose track of – unless you are with someone who knows where they are going.  IFMGA certified guides, like Miha are trained and tested in every condition imaginable. He was also knowledgeable of the weather, and how safe it was to continue in certain weather conditions. He was indispensable for the “via ferrata” portion of the climb.

“Via ferrata” literally means “iron path.” It is a way of climbing that includes steel cables and pins inserted into the rock at various intervals of a mountain path. You wear a via ferrata kit that includes a helmet, climbing harness, and small leads with carabiners on them which you can use to clip onto the cables, preventing you from toppling off the face of the cliff should you slip. Not scary at all….

On to the climb

We started our journey to the top of Slovenia from the Krma valley. The Krma valley route is described as the easiest and most frequently used route to reach Triglav. The trail started out fairly level, meandering through lush forest on the valley floor, then began to climb steadily. Eventually we passed through a few alpine meadows full of the most beautiful wildflowers in every color of the rainbow.

One such alpine meadow was full of cows! Yes, cows. We had gained quite a bit of elevation at that point, I had no idea that cows were able to climb mountains. But there they were, and they were magnificent! Complete with actual cowbells, just dinging along in their pristine alpine meadow.

Miha informed us that it is typical for cows to be driven up into the mountains during spring so that they can graze in the high alpine meadows. A herdsman looks after them all summer, and produces milk and cheese from the cows. In autumn, they are driven back down and greeted by a celebration in the valley called Kravji bal (Cow’s Ball) full of music, dancing, drinking and of course, cheese. I think I may have my next trip to Slovenia planned already…..

Two and a half hours into our climb (trail distances are measured in time in Slovenia) we reached the herdsman’s hut. Here we enjoyed a short break, and some well-earned pivo (beer). After our rest, the climb started to get real. We climbed steadily and steeply up and up, until all of the trees faded away to green moss. Higher still we climbed, until finally the green moss faded away into pure white limestone.

Some several thousand steps later (yay for Fitbit), up ahead we could finally see Mali Triglav (little Triglav), the smaller summit before the larger summit. We saw people climbing it – little black dots clinging to the the face of white limestone. We thought maybe it was an optional climbing opportunity for climbing enthusiasts, because judging by how crazy steep it looked – surely that’s not where we were going, right? WRONG. That was EXACTLY where we were going. And it looked pretty damned intimidating.

The hut at Kredarica

A whole 5.5 hours from the trailhead (and with a little huffing and puffing from our group), we made the last push up to the hut at Kredarica. But it was so worth it. Kredarica was a cool experience. To me the word “hut” brings to mind a barely-there structure to huddle under, however this was totally not the case. Kredarica was a fairly large structure that could apparently sleep up to 200 people!

The hut also serves delicious, hearty, hot Slovenian food. Think goulash, sausages, kraut, macaroni, soups and stews. So yummy! There was also plenty of pivo and schnapps to keep you going.  It was warm in the dining room, not so much in the sleeping rooms, or the bathrooms, (yes there were bathrooms!) They were compost toilets, but they had actual stalls and (freezing) running water for washing up. There was also a chapel and large outside deck.

Sleeping arrangements were surprisingly comfy! I’m used to backpacking in the Great Smoky Mountains where sleeping in a shelter means a place to lay out your sleeping bag on a wooden plank surrounded by three walls… Here we had bunk beds with actual mattresses, pillows, disposable sheets, and two thick blankets. Talk about luxury! There are more than 180 mountain huts and shelters in Slovenia. Making it easy to hike in the high alpine region without having to carry a tent, sleeping bag or a ton of additional food.

On to the summit

After a little rest, and a hearty lunch (I had some macaroni with beef sauce) we decided to summit Triglav that afternoon – if the weather held out. Miha suited us up in our via ferrata gear, and tethered us to him in a line with a climbing rope. We felt a little silly at first, trailing behind Miha like little dogs. But as soon as we began our climb, we were grateful for the safety net. We began our ascent to the summit by first tackling Mali Triglav – the smaller summit we saw people climbing earlier. Yep. We went there – and surprisingly it wasn’t as scary as we thought!

Next we had to cross the tiny exposed ridge between the two summits – this was probably the most intimidating part of the whole climb. I’m not usually afraid of heights, but a few times I looked past my boots and got a bit of the heebie jeebies.

After the ridge, the path widened slightly for the rest of the way, so Miha let us “off leash” to walk the last bit to the summit on our own. You gotta see our video, it was a really cool experience!

It was a moving moment for me – those final steps up to the summit. Tears filled my eyes because I was so happy we actually did it. We set out to summit Triglav two years ago, and dammit we made it happen. There were lots of obstacles in the way (mostly physically for me) but somehow the stars aligned and my body allowed me to overcome, and get there. I am so very grateful that I was able to have that experience, and to share it with such amazing people.

The summit was truly stunning – the weather held, and the late afternoon sun illuminated the clouds and the never-ending mountains all around us. It was perfect! It felt like we were standing on top of the world – instead of just at the top of Slovenia. I hiked up a small bottle of fig schnapps that we purchased in Ljubljana, and at the top, we made a toast. We toasted to ourselves, for this great personal accomplishment. To Ilya, a friend of a friend who climbed Triglav alone, and never returned. To Matt & Dee’s Slovenian grandpa “Pop” who passed away this year. And finally, to my late father, who still inspires me to travel far and wide. Na zdravje!

Tradition and spirits

On the summit of Triglav stands another Slovenian landmark – the Aljaž Tower. This round metal tower was erected in 1895 by Jakob Aljaž, a Slovenian patriot, priest and mountaineer.

At the tower, we also had the business of tradition to uphold. Apparently every person who summits Triglav for the first time has to be “baptized” as Miha called it. You put your head inside the tower and are spanked on the bum three times with a rope. Nobody is really sure where this tradition comes from, but we received our ritual spanking anyway.

On our climb back across Mali Triglav we saw an ibex. Just one. He was climbing ahead of us, and would stop and look back in our direction. It was almost spooky, and spiritual. It felt like we were meant to see him, that it was either my dad or Pop, or some guardian angel. Just saying, “hi, I’m with you guys”. He climbed in front of us for a little while, then disappeared. We were the only people around at the time, and the only ones who saw the ibex.

Time to celebrate

We descended to the hut for much earned dinner of sausages and kraut with mustard along with a big ol’ pivo and some schnapps to finish it off. Then (with Miha’s urging) we climbed up the hill next to Kredarica and watched the sunset. It was probably one of the most stunning sunsets I have ever seen. With views all the way to Italy in one direction, and Austria in the other. The layers upon layers of the mountains seemed never-ending. It was truly magical, and very moving. Shortly after sunset, sleep came swift and deep in the hut, with those two thick blankets to keep out the cold.

What goes up, must come down

The next morning, we woke to a beautiful sunrise through the window at 5 am. Then, after a breakfast of eggs, toast, coffee and Slovenian mountain tea, we suited up and began our hike down. It only took a 3 hours to get down what took us 5.5 hours to get up. I’m not going to lie. Going down was TOUGH. The top portion of the trail as you descend from Kredarica is STEEP, rocky, and very slippery. My whole body was tense as I tried to not slip and die on the way down (I busted ass twice, but I obviously didn’t die). Next time I’m definitely going to pack my hiking poles, no matter how much of a pain in the ass they are to fit in a suitcase.

We hiked down past our friends, the alpine cows, and through the beautiful wildflower meadows, where we saw two chamois. Then the last slog to the car was so painful, I almost blocked it out. We could barely walk by then, and were dead tired, but we did it! Mission accomplished! We made it down before noon and headed back to Ljubljana for some much-needed showers.

Giving thanks (Hvala)

We couldn’t have done it without Miha. He was a wonderful guide, so very knowledgeable of everything – the mountain, of climbing, of Slovenia.  He guided us expertly, put up with our (my) endless stream of curious American questions, was funny, and encouraging, and made sure we were safe AND that we had the best time. Miha even took pictures for us and sent them to me afterwards. Which, looking back, was a really really good idea. There were many points in which it was SO not a good idea for any of us to be distracted taking photos. I couldn’t recommend Miha more!

Check out our video!

Check out our GoPro video of the climb! It is chock full of highlights like my resting bitch face, clumsy tired walking, and wide angle booty shots… heehee. 😉 But really though, it is full of breathtaking views of our best adventure yet! A must watch!

TIP: Make sure your YouTube player is set to HD, click the “gear” symbol next to the YouTube logo in the lower right hand corner and select HD.

Peeps Pointers

This is the section where I usually break it down for you, where to go, how to get there, etc. However this time, instead of re-posting a bunch of information, I will refer to the experts.

We hired our guide Miha for a private trip to Triglav via Explore-Share, an online booking service that connects you with qualified mountain guides for mountain adventures all over the world. We had a great experience with them! Explore-Share also has all the answers to your burning questions about Triglav. Such as:

• The best time of year to climb Triglav
• What are the different climbing routes to Triglav
• What to wear and what to bring
• Why and how to hire a guide
• How much does it cost
• And much more…

And now I leave you with the lovely sounds of Oh, Triglav, my Home (Oj, Triglav moj dom) a song about Triglav composed by Jakob Aljaž, which now serves as the official anthem for the Alpine Association of Slovenia. Dober dan!