The weather forecast wasn't optimistic for the past weekend so the planes that my boys had - to climb to the highest pic in Slovenia mount Triglav (2864 m) was cancelled.
On Saturday morning, however, we woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning so my oldest was devastated. He is a true mountaineer. As to climb Triglav takes two days (O.K., O.K. some do it in one), that wasn't possible anymore, so we had to come up with a solution.
Normally I let my boys hiking around themselves. Giving birth to two children was also the best excuse my laziness could get for avoiding hiking in a big circle. And only now I come to realise that maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I used to hike a lot. I come from a family that spent weekends and holidays going to the mountains.
It's been a while since my mountaineering days, so this time I was eager to join them. (I don't know what came over me, but actually, I was excited to go.) And we spent a great day!
I almost forgot an overwhelming feeling that overcomes me when on top, looking at the world below. And even though I never enjoyed the hike itself, I have always appreciated the effort.
Breathtaking views and the feeling of being almost at the top of the world keeps me wordless and one can only stand humbly before such a majestic creation of nature.
Mount Mangart is not the highest mountain, but still, it presents a great challenge especially if you are not fit like me. The strangest thing is that in my mind I'm still fit as I used to be, which can pose a problem, for me, afterwards, with painful legs the next day.
It lays on the Slovene-Italian border, with the pic on Slovene side, and the access is also possible from both sides Italian being the easier ascent, but still far from being easy (my oldest son would disagree).
Actually, the only way to the top is at least a bit of climbing. And that's ok. For the kids it was the time of their lives, for me it was fun too, but then I had to think about how to come down as well.
We started from designated parking at the Mangart ridge. It is possible to park higher up the road by the side. To come to the starting point from Slovenia we still needed to cross Italy (some of the most beautiful parts of Slovenia like Bovec and the valley of Soča are easier accessed from Italy's side than from Slovenia itself). From Kranjska Gora you head to Tarviso where you turn to Passo di Predil (Pass of Predil). On the Slovene side, you turn left towards the Mountain hut Mangart.
You can also start your climb from the lake of Predil in Italy, but this probably is whole another story.
We topped the day with swimming in cristal clear lake of Predil. It was freezing cold, but the second time around I couldn't feel the cold anymore and I could stay in the water for hours.
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