ENTERING TRIGLAV NATIONAL PARK

VIA ALPINA DAY 07  – SUNDAY 28 JUNE 2026

VRHO BAĆE TO MOUNTAIN HUT KOMNI

DISTANCE HIKED:  24.8 km
ELEVATION GAIN: 1,860m

TOTAL DISTANCE HIKED: 185.7 km
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 9,196 m

I was woken by the first birdsong at 4.20. It wasn’t long before the rest of the chorus joined in. While we were not quite ready to sing, we were certainly refreshed and re-energised ready to face another day. It was predicted to be an even hotter day then yesterday.

We are so happy to have stopped when we did last night. We were exhausted and new we wouldn’t make it to the hut.  Two hikers passes us last night. This morning we passed them, camped about a kilometre along. So Slovenians do camp, even though it is illegal. Camping inside Triglav NP, is subject to a 1,000 Euro on the spot fine.

The five and a half kilometres to the Mountain Hut Zorka Jelinćića took us a very difficult 3 hours. It was steep  the sun was already hot on our backs. But it was the last kilometre with really tight switchback that was particularly tough going.  

A relief to reach the hut  get a cold drink and recover, before we hit the ridge for the next 19 km to the next hut.  Before leaving we filtered 3L of water for each of us. It was warm and it was getting warmer and there is no water till we get to the hut at the end of this stage.

The first 3 kilometres of the ridgewalk was super technical and very slow going. At the hut we met a group of young men from Israel. They left before us but it wasn’t long before we caught up to them and had to wait while they traversed every difficult pinch. They were super chatty and did not stop talking. Eventually they stopped for a break and we passed them.

It was slow going as it is, so it was good that we could do it at our pace. I found this early section particularly challenging. The trail was narrow with steep rocky dropoffs. Many section had steel cables or steel spikes to hold onto.  I was feeling adrenaline spikes at each tricky traverse while Hammer scooted along like a mountain goat. This early section was slow and needed concentration.  The whole day was pretty much like that. Hairy in parts,  technical and challenging in sections.

But the view from the ridge was simply spectecular. Tall craggy peaks in almost every direction. And closer to us where masses of wildflowers. I stopped so many times to take photos of flowers I’ve not seen before , or other simply because they were beautiful.

As the afternoon wore on, our energy waned and we were running low on water and had no food. Each kilometre seemed to take forever. I was taking small sips of water, afraid to run out if we are slowed even further.  We passed a small patch of snow by the trail and stopped to put some snow under our hats.  It was so refreshing. It gave us a boost.

We made it to the hut, overlooking the beautiful Lake Bohinj just after 7pm. We got a 1.5L bottle of water each and drank like we were rescued from a desert, which we kind of were. Except the desert was rocky.

We almost finished the water before our dinner arrived. I soon started trembling uncontrollably,  it scared me.  Hammer soon developed the same symptoms. Maybe internal temperature shock or too much water too quickly after being dehydrated. The trembling eventually stopped as we finished dinner. We went to bed absolutely smashed.  Week 1 done 11 weeks to go.